Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Are They Getting and Reviewing Your Resume?

The scenario... Your looking for a new job. You have spend the past few days electronically sending your resume to countless jobs, sending your resume everywhere you could. You have no idea if anyone has received what you have sent. You are wondering not only if they have gotten your resume, but whether or not they have any interest at all in you. A few painful weeks later you are again online looking for a job. You cannot recall who you have sent your resume to and who has responded. You are very frustrated, and you are not alone.

Keeping track of where you are sending your resume for job seekers who have been unemployed for months is a task. Knowing who has received or reviewed the resume you have sent can be near impossible. Knowing right away if someone is interested or not is also near impossible...... or should I say, used to be impossible.

MyJobCast.com has beta launched and you can get a completely free membership by going to http://www.jtlservices.com where you will find a free coupon code right on the home page.

MyJobCast.com offers some very cool interactive job tools. With regard to my scenario above, the tools include functionality that will let you know who has reviewed your sent resume/profile. For those who actually have received your online resume/profile, there is a very easy interactive tool for them to check whether they are interested in you or not. This is powerful. After all, knowing is more than half of the battle.

I strongly encourage job seekers to check out the new site and what it has to offer. It may not be free too long so jump in now to take advantage. There are no strings attached and they do not ask for your credit card information or anything like that. As a job seeker, what do you have to lose? You only stand to gain. This can also help separate and differentiate you from the others.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

MyJobCast.com Not Meant to Bypass ATS Systems

With the upcoming official launch of myJobCast.com, there seems to be one consistent question from it's beta users. How can we use the application to apply for a corporate job that uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)? My response generally is that the member missed the point of the product. The point of myJobCast.com is several-fold, but certainly it is not a means to bypass corporate ATS systems in attempting to connect with an open corporate job. When applying for corporate jobs at a company that does use an ATS system, the reality is you should use that channel to initially apply. However, that stated, do not just assume that because you applied via an ATS system that someone has seen your resume. You should read my post on my reasoning - click here.

Many times your resume goes unnoticed by a human in the ATS process. I recommend using the system to apply and then trying to find someone internally to inquire as to whether or not it was received, reviewed and considered. Perhaps someone in your personal or online social network has a connection at the company that can provide you with someone internally to connect with and ask. Otherwise, it is not all that difficult to find someone in HR via the corporate website, to connect with and inquire.

Once you do have the internal individual's contact information (email address), that is where myJobCast.com can help. Send a general email to the individual stating that you uploaded your resume and was curious if it was received. Also let them know that you will be sending them a full online profile for their additional consideration. Then, use myJobCast.com to send your resume/profile to this individual. It can help differentiate you from the many. Even better, the system can tell you whether or not that profile send was actually opened by the individual. Once the individual opens the profile link sent by the myJobCast.com system, they can review your profile - resume, references, general career information, etc. The point here is that it is not just a simple resume that the individual gets to review. You can provide references upfront which can be very important. Want more information why? Read this post.

They can also, on the same sent profile web page, respond as to their interest level - even if their interest level is zero. The point is, when they do this, it will inform the myJobCast.com system and you as the member will know because you will receive an email indicating action was taken on a profile send. To take it a step further, the myJobCast.com system will even (if elected) send you a text message that action was taken, prompting you to login to the system and review the action(s) taken.

If there is interest, the myJobCast.com system can be a great tool in the sense that it can track all your profile sends. Unfortunately we are in an economy where job seekers are applying to dozens of jobs a week. Loosing track of where you send your resume is easy. This tool keeps track of where you sent your profile, who opened it, who is interested and any notes you wish to include on each particular profile send.

If you are fortunate enough to land an interview, myJobCast.com is a great tool to assist you through your process. Aside from the valuable interview tips, there is a calendar system that will allow you to schedule interviews and then remind you about an upcoming interview. Once you complete your interview, another reminder will be sent to you, guiding you to send a thank you letter. Don't think a thank you letter is important? Read this post.

And 12 hours after your scheduled interview, you will get yet another reminder for you to use the myJobCast.com system to send out an interview feedback request to the individual(s) that provided the interview. This is crucial. Interview feedback is critical. More information on the importance can be read at the this post.

Now as far as the main topic of using myJobCast.com to go around an ATS system - you shouldn't. However, I want to stress a valuable point. When you consider every available job opening, what percentage of them do you think use an ATS system? I would think the answer is minimal. Especially when you consider how many small to medium companies there are out there. Small businesses dominate the job market. They by and large do not use an ATS system, nor do they use the traditional Monster, CareerBuilder sites. Typically their jobs are filled by word of mouth, local print ads, their own websites and various other avenues. For these jobs, myJobCast.com can be a perfect tool.

We encourage you to give myJobCast.com a consideration. Should you use the application, we also encourage your feedback.