Finding the perfect job is hard work. You need to research brands and hiring managers you want to work for, work on your CV, practice interview questions and keep an eye out for every opportunity. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t tools available to make life a little easier on you.
It’s important that you be as relentless as you can in hunting down opportunities but you can use tools like Google Alerts to make some of that information come to you. Google Alerts is an email alert tool that allows you to get articles, blog posts and news delivered to your email by Google. The idea is to tell Google what topics interested in and they will send you updates when new content is posted about those topics.
It’s a handy tool for staying on top if news about your favourite celebrity or football team, and a great way to simplify your job research.
Get job announcements first
‘Jobs announcement’ should be the first search term you add to your Google Alerts list. Everyone loves a good news story and adding jobs has become the best news companies can share as Ireland’s economy recovers. Select news articles only and receive mails daily to make sure you know about every announcement first. When a company you’re interested in makes an announcement, start your in-depth research, identify the relevant hiring manager and get in touch. Don’t wait for ads to go up on their website; strike while the iron is hot.
Track your industry
When you attend an interview, you should be ready to present yourself as an industry expert and Google Alerts is a great way to make sure you’re aware of every industry movement. Add your industry as a search term and track news articles and blog posts, once a week, to make sure that you can discuss every new industry innovation. This will also help in identifying companies that are growing or have a need in your area, so that you can make your application at just the right time.
Follow brands you want to work for
The same goes for using brand names of companies you want to work for as an alert. Again set these up weekly and stay on top of news about those brands. This will give you plenty of ammunition for conversations with contacts or potential hiring managers within the business. It might even allow you to spot a need that you can fulfil and use to pitch your application.
Prepare for interviews
When you secure an interview, you need to do much more specific research on the brand, industry and function you are applying to. Create new job-specific alerts based on the industry and brand alerts from above but set them to arrive in real time or daily and focus them on areas you want to discuss at interview. If anything new comes up while you are doing your normal employer research, you’ll be right up to date. Employers are always impressed when candidates are up to speed on the latest news about their business so use Google Alerts to make sure you have the most up to date research.