I found this article on Job-Hunt.org: How to Organize and Track Your Job Search. There is a link to another article about following-up in a job search.

I like everything Hannah is saying in her articles.  End your frustration, and impress recruiters by not sounding lost or uninterested, by staying on top of this.

Hannah suggests some systems, I used an Excel spreadsheet, but I don’t think there is anything better than JibberJobber.

Read her articles and just about everything she talks about can be done within JibberJobber… even the free level!

When I first started JibberJobber I had a few marketing people who said I must promise that this would help people get a job faster.  Even, get a better job faster.

I could not claim that.  I know unscrupulous companies would claim that but I really had nothing to back it up with.  I was too new to have testimonials from people who had gone through a job search.

Unlike switching from a horrid resume to a clean and effective resume, I couldn’t say the purpose of JibberJobber was to “get a job faster.”  I didn’t want to be like some college career centers who, on the day of graduation, called their recruiting friends begging to get little Johnny into ANY job, even entry level, so they could say they have high placement.  Yes, this really happens.  The recruiters tell me about the frantic calls, just so the school can save face.

Let’s go back to one of my favorite concepts in marketing, branding and positioning: The Pill vs. The Vitamin.  I wrote this post in 2011 and it is one of the most profound concepts I think everyone in sales (that is, any entrepreneur and every job seeker) needs to understand.

I can’t promise JibberJobber will get you a job faster.  There are too many factors that I have no control or influence over.  The economy might stink, you might stink (literally), your resume might be folded up in your back pocket, you might be in a dying industry, your competition might be ten times better than you, you might be wasting your time on job boards like I did, instead of networking effectively… the list goes on and on and on.  And I can’t say JibberJobber will be the job search silver bullet for you.

I’ve blogged about the job search silver bullets various times, including here and here and here and here.

So what is JibberJobber’s Promise?  I’m not sure. After almost seven years I think it is:

Hope and Inspiration.  Not through blog posts.  These blog posts are my therapy more than help to/for you.  But I want you to remain hopeful, and be inspired, and that is why I do what I do.

Empowerment.  I felt so powerless and out of control as a job seeker.  JibberJobber should empower you, and make you feel more in control.

Career management has changed.  The Vitamins and Pills need to change, too.  That’s one reason why I am working on 51 Alternatives to a Real Job.  It is a new set of vitamins.

Venture Capitalists would hate that JibberJobber is not a Pill.  You can sell and monetize Pills quick and easy.  Vitamins are harder.  But that’s what we are, and I’m not going to make fraudulent claims that we are the Silver Bullet Pill that will make all your wildest dreams come true.

What is YOUR promise to an employer, or your career?

There is a post on Brazen Life (aka, Brazen Careerist) that breaks down job postings, also called job “ads.”   This is worth your while to read, even if you don’t spend time on online job boards.

How to Decipher Job Ads So You Actually Know What You’re Applying For

Amanda Abella breaks down the job postings into five different types… read her post for the details:

1. Legit direct-hire ads posted by the company hiring for the job
2. Positions posted by placement agencies and career consultants
3. Scam ads that aren’t for real jobs (they just want your money)
4. Ads for non-salaried, commission-only jobs
5. Postings for temporary or contract jobs

I spent much time getting frustrated using job boards… and one of my major frustrations was finding I had applied to postings that weren’t real… !

JibberJobber is an online job search organizer.

WHY organize your job search?

• So you don’t miss follow-up opportunities.
• So when the recruiter calls you, you can speak intelligently about the job you applied to 3 weeks ago.
• So you can see the progress you are making.
• So you don’t lose track of contacts and companies that you initiated a relationship with a few months ago.
• Because this is a very complex process, with lots of data points.
• Because you are collecting awesome and powerful data that will help you in your job search, in your next job, and in future job searches.

HOW do you organize your job search?

The simple answer is get on JibberJobber, and sign up for the live weekly user training.

JibberJobber replaces the job search spreadsheet.  A spreadsheet simply can’t handle the complexity that you create in your job search activities.

JibberJobber complements your email system.  Especially with the awesome email2log feature.  Outlook alone will not manage the complexity that you need to manage.

JibberJobber helps you track the five most important things in your job search that you need to track:

1. Contacts: who you meet, who you want to meet.
2. Target Companies: companies you are and want to network into.
3. Jobs you apply to: whether you apply online or have found them in the hidden job market.
4. Conversations and important notes: about interactions with any of those (we call these Log Entries).
5. Action Items: to follow-up on any of those.

Want more “how?”  Sign up for the next JibberJobber webinar here.

In the release this week we added the “Custom Fields manager.”  Amazingly we have never had this… but it is there now.  The Categories and Tags managers have been in the system for a while but I don’t think I’ve properly introduced them.  So, let me introduce all three in this post.

The idea behind these three “managers” is to give you a place to clean up your Categories, Tags and Custom Fields.  You can delete them and you can edit them.

From the Contacts, Companies or Jobs drop downs you’ll see these three options:

When you click on any of those you’ll go to the “management” page.

I do this when I feel like I have too many Tags in my Tag dropdown.  I order them by the number of times the Tags is used, and then delete the Tags that have zero or one or two Contacts associated with it.

Same with Custom Fields… I have a ton because I set some up with good intentions but haven’t ever used them.

Thank goodness for these managers!  To access them, mouse over the Network, Companies or Jobs menu items and then click on whichever manager you want.

(note: there is still some work to do on the Custom Fields to polish it, but you can delete unused Custom Fields right now)

Last week I announced a massive change in the levels on JibberJobber.  We had to tidy up some code before we released it, and the release happened late last night.

You can read the details in last week’s post.  In short, this means the free verion of JibberJobber is way, way more powerful.

In fact, as of right now, there are only a few reasons to upgrade.

This change prompted job clubs and other organizations that help job seekers to re-evaluate JibberJobber, and recommend it more.

I hope this change helps YOU re-evaluate JibberJobber (and taking ownership of your own career management) more.

Please spread the news with your contacts, job coaches, outplacement companies, university career centers, and family and friends, whether they are in transition or not.

JibberJobber just became way more relevant to you.

So, why would anyone upgrade now?  It’s simple… choose one of the following four reasons.  If those don’t matter to you, use the free level forever

Reason 1: The Email2Log feature is awesome.  Imagine you send 20 emails a day.  This premium feature will probably save you one to two hours each day, as you track and organize your job search and networking.

What does the Email2Log feature do?  Simple: each time I send an email to someone (or multiple people), I BCC (blind carbon copy) the JibberJobber server and the email will (a) create a new Contact, if that email isn’t associated to an existing Contact, and (b) create a new Log Entry out of the email.

Reason 2: Import in bulk. If you want to import contacts from another system (any system that exports to a csv file, which is pretty much any system out there worth your time), you can import in bulk to JibberJobber.

Reason 3: Have as many Contact and Company records as you want.  The free level is still capped at 250 Contacts and 250 Companies… upgrade and you can have more.

A common question is “what happens if I am over the limit when I’m Premium, but then go to the Free level?”  Answer: We will not hide or remove your Contacts.  They are still there.  We do not hold your Contacts hostage!  Use them, edit the records, associate them to Companies, create Log Entries… they are 100% useful and functional!  So, during your Premium trial, add as many as you want (import thousands and thousands from Gmail, Outlook, etc.), and then later decide if you want to delete them… but get them in.

Reason 4: Get Action Items sent to your email or SMS.  Don’t want to forget things coming due?  Premium users get messages in their email or through text messaging on their phone.  Don’t regret missing a follow-up phone call just because you forgot to look and see what you had going on that day… get them pushed out to you!

I might be forgetting one or two features, but those are four compelling reasons to upgrade.

Like I said, if those don’t do it for you, use the Free level, with all the new bells and whistles that used to be Premium!

I had the pleasure of interviewing and chatting with Nick Corcodilos for last week’s Ask The Headhunter.  It was a blast.  I had questions for Nick but the audience had a lot, too.

Here’s the conversation, enjoy!

Note: Vimeo video.  To make this full-size, push play and then on the bottom right click the icon that looks like this:

I love meeting JibberJobber users. Here’s a note that one use recently sent me:

I’m a business lawyer who graduated the year they froze most of the transactional / real estate law jobs. I’ll say two things:

(1) most of the networking advice I got from my career services office was HORRIBLE; and

(2) after taking the initiative to re-educate myself years later, I (literally) cried tears of joy when I found JibberJobber.

This is such a well thought out and incredible service. Thank you for being passionate and obsessed enough with the idea of streamlining your networking process and generous enough to share it with the rest of us.

I wish you the best in all that you do!

I sure love getting emails like this.

I am, and have been obsessed, about the networking process, and making it better (or, as this person mentions, streamlined).

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feelings – it strokes our ego and is fuel for our obsession!

On Friday I told my JibberJobber LinkedIn Group that I was going to make a massive announcement on the blog today.

We were going to do a release (that means, change the software on the server) last night and I was going to be ecstatic to to share what we did.

Alas, we didn’t make the release last night but should in the next week or two.  I wasn’t excited about postponing this release but we had a good reason to wait.

I’ll make the announcement anyway, though.  Instead of “here’s what changed last night” I’ll tell you what to expect in the next week or two:

These weren't free before, but they will be soon!

First, we are moving most of the Premium features to the free (Regular) level.

I think this is going to be a significant boost to JibberJobber and to you (a rising tide raises all ships, right?).

For almost seven years we have had a bunch of bells-and-whistles that were Premium features.  We have identified just a handful of things to keep Premium and we are moving the rest to the free side.  The handful of features that will remain PREMIUM include:

• Limit of 250 Contacts and 250 Companies on the Regular level* (see footnote below),
• Email2Log to create Log Entries and Contacts,
• Importing in bulk (from Outlook, Gmail, etc.),
• Action Item reminders to email and text/sms

Features that will soon be on the free Regular level include:

• All of the reports,
• Exporting your data,
• Merging records from the List Panels,
• All of the icons under List Panel, including: merging, exporting, the two reports, managing Tags, etc. (very useful features!),
• Ability to add multiple email addresses and phone numbers on a record,
• Categories in the Interview Prep area,
• Features on the Action Item panel on the homepage, including RSS, the Calendar, etc.

There are others that moved from Premium to Free but they are less important.

There are two reasons for this change (here’s a peak into our business and strategy):

1. It is now a lot easier to understand the value proposition of the upgrade. I think before it felt like nickle-and-diming… too many little features here and there, and it was just too complex.  Plus, the features we kept as Premium are the features most people upgrade for (not many people said they upgraded because of the features that we are moving to the free side).
2. If you can’t upgrade, you will still get significant value out of using JibberJobber. I tell my team that I want more (a) signups, (b) users, and (c) upgrades.  If we make the free level of JibberJobber more useful to you then you are more likely to become a hardcore USER.  I want more of my signups to become users, and I this should have a significant impact on that.  (and, more users will turn into more upgrades – use it, love it, get hooked on it, and you’ll be more okay with paying for it)

If you upgraded for a feature that is now free, simply downgrade by clicking on Account and then clicking the button to stop your subscription.

Second, we are introducing the Duplicate Finder.

This is something I’ve wanted for years.  I have almost 6,000 Contacts in my system and I thought “how cool would it be if we could push a button, see a list of duplicates, and then easily merge dups?”

I’ll tell you: it is VERY cool!

We’ve worked hard to make this easy to use and not overburden the server as it sifts through tons of records.  It’s taken lots of development, tweaking, testing, and more to get it ready.  I hope you enjoy it and get good use out of it!

I’ll explain more when this feature is available. And yes, it will be in the free level.

More exciting changes are in the works as my programming team is moving forward quickly!

I was going to say “go read this post” but as I read through it I found there were too many gems that I didn’t want you to miss.

So really, go read this blog post from Tom Bolt, an HR and recruiting expert : That Other Black Hole – Job Seeker Amnesia

Here are the things I LOVED from this post:

Tom starts off empathizing with the job seeker who gets a call and isn’t ready for the call.  He says that when asked about a particular job you have applied for, and it doesn’t go as you probably planned.  He says:

“How do I know this happens? It’s because I’ve been that voice on the other end of the line. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened while calling a job seeker and the conversation went strangely silent.“

How about you?  Have you gone strangely silent yet?  It’s embarrassing.

He then talks about the irony that if a recruiter doesn’t remember you (even if you are absolutely not a fit for the job), the recruiter is considered thoughtless, lazy and stupid. And he says:

“When the shoe is on the other foot and the recruiter is sucked into the job seekers’ bottomless void of amnesia, is it really so different?“

Read that again.  You have probably bashed that stupid, inconsiderate and rude recruiter (or you’ve heard others bash).  Don’t you think that recruiters think of you, the unprepared, the forgetful, the unorganized, as thoughtless, lazy or stupid?  Or perhaps uninterested, aloof or simply not the right person for the job?

Recruiters are looking for people they can confidently present to their client (the hiring manager).  If you are any of those things the recruiter isn’t going to CONFIDENTLY present you!

Tom goes on to say:

“…it is absolutely imperative that you keep detailed records of all of your contacts, applications, leads, conversations and anything else that could keep you on track.”

ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE.  Seriously.  I’ve thought that since I started JibberJobber.  Some people, rookies, beginners, think they can remember this stuff.  I tell you, as your job search goes on longer and longer, you can’t remember it.

ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE.

He continues:

“JibberJobber is an excellent online contact manager designed specifically for the job seeker and leaves little to be added other than entering your data every day of your search.”

And, with our Email2Log feature we make it easier to enter data every day. You simply send an email to your contacts and blind copy JibberJobber and that’s it!  It is SIMPLE to update your data every day.

He says:

“Really, the reason for keeping records is not just to prevent embarrassment.”

You’ll need to read his post to learn why… and what his “finally” advice is.

Great post, and thank you to Tom Bolt for the props about JibberJobber!