Liz Ryan on Wasting Time with Online Job Applications (Dont Do It!!)

Liz Ryan on Wasting Time with Online Job Applications (Dont Do It!!) I was going to copy my favorite lines from Liz Ryans LinkedIn article into a post, but there were too many of them.  Almost the entire post.  I remember using online applications in my job search, back in 2006, and it went something like this: Upload resume to job I wanted to apply to. Spend 45 minutes to fill out a form, which basically asked questions that were all in my resume. So, a lot of copy/paste, and 45 minutes of wondering why they didnt just take the info from my resume I just uploaded. No kidding, this happened more than not: after I finished, get some kind of error message that the process failed, and to come back and do it again. This happened enough that I dreaded the online application process. I got anxiety when I got to the point of filling one out.  Yuck. Lizs post (read it here) talks about what to do instead of filling out the form online.  She is spot-on. The thing I dont agree with is her point #8: 8) Log your sent Pain Packet in a simple spreadsheet youve created to track your job-search activity. JibberJobber is clearly the right place to log any job search activity.  A simple spreadsheet, even a complex spreadsheet, is a waste of time and effort.  Check out the comments she put in her article from Arthur, a little bit lower: Im never going completely off the job market again! and I completely forgot about my second Pain Letter. and Now that my eyes are opened about managing my career, I figured Why waste a potential contact?' Each of these statements support using a more robust, long-term tool than a spreadsheet. When you are at this point of realization in your career management, youll know that a spreadsheet is NOT a long-term career management solution.  Not only is it a pain, and not as functional (or feature-rich) as JibberJobber, its not going to last as long as a SaaS solution will. What are you waiting for?  Its time to get serious about JibberJobber! Liz Ryan on Wasting Time with Online Job Applications (Dont Do It!!) I was going to copy my favorite lines from Liz Ryans LinkedIn article into a post, but there were too many of them.  Almost the entire post.  I remember using online applications in my job search, back in 2006, and it went something like this: Upload resume to job I wanted to apply to. Spend 45 minutes to fill out a form, which basically asked questions that were all in my resume. So, a lot of copy/paste, and 45 minutes of wondering why they didnt just take the info from my resume I just uploaded. No kidding, this happened more than not: after I finished, get some kind of error message that the process failed, and to come back and do it again. This happened enough that I dreaded the online application process. I got anxiety when I got to the point of filling one out.  Yuck. Lizs post (read it here) talks about what to do instead of filling out the form online.  She is spot-on. The thing I dont agree with is her point #8: 8) Log your sent Pain Packet in a simple spreadsheet youve created to track your job-search activity. JibberJobber is clearly the right place to log any job search activity.  A simple spreadsheet, even a complex spreadsheet, is a waste of time and effort.  Check out the comments she put in her article from Arthur, a little bit lower: Im never going completely off the job market again! and I completely forgot about my second Pain Letter. and Now that my eyes are opened about managing my career, I figured Why waste a potential contact?' Each of these statements support using a more robust, long-term tool than a spreadsheet. When you are at this point of realization in your career management, youll know that a spreadsheet is NOT a long-term career management solution.  Not only is it a pain, and not as functional (or feature-rich) as JibberJobber, its not going to last as long as a SaaS solution will. What are you waiting for?  Its time to get serious about JibberJobber!