In last week’s blog post, “How to Conduct Company Research for your Job Search,” I provided a number of free resources for conducting your research. There are several other resources that should prove helpful for each step in your job search journey:
- Twello.com – social media is a great way to both conduct company research and to expand your network. If you are a user of (or are considering using) Twitter, then Twellow is a great resource for finding people on Twitter in your city, industry, and profession. Twellow can be thought of as the “yellow pages” of Twitter.
- FillPerfect.com – this is a downloadable add-on to Internet Explorer which auto-fills and tracks your online application forms. It comes with a 14-day free trial, and the regular price is $34.95 US.
- Grammarly.com – if you need extra support in proofreading your resume, cover letter, or thank you letters, Grammarly is a great solution. Not only is this compatible with the Chrome and Safari browsers, it is a great add-on for MS Word. There is both a free version and a premium version. If you’ve relied on the spell check and grammar check in MS Word, you’ve probably noticed that it sometimes misses some errors such as the misuse of homonyms (i.e. there and their). Grammarly catches the errors that the MS Word checks miss.
- Visualize.me – this is a great tool for building an Infographic resume. Although it is not recommended to use an infographic resume when applying to company’s online applicant tracking systems, you may want to bring an infographic resume to your job interview – especially if you are interviewing for a creative role. Keep in mind, although it is free to create your infographic resume with this tool, there is a fee for downloading it. As a side note, be sure to use your judgement when deciding if it is appropriate to use an Infographic resume.
- Cover Letter template – in another previous blog post, “When and How to Write a Cover Letter,” I provided a link to a free downloadable template. This template includes the key elements of a cover letter, including how your unique background can address the key pain points for the role or organization. To access this free template, click here.
- Thank You and Follow-Up Letter templates – a key way to stand out as a candidate is to send a thank-you letter after your interview. In addition, while you wait for feedback, you may also need to send a follow-up email. I have developed templates for both, which can be found in one downloadable file (for free) by clicking here.
If you have any other recommended resources, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. For personalized advice, check out the services section by clicking here.
In the meantime: Happy Hunting!
