3 Awesome (Free) Tools Every Job Seeker Should Use

While there are hundreds of websites that offer tools and advice for job seekers and those looking to advance their careers, everyone has different priorities and needs. That said, I don’t want to spend time telling you about job aggregators on sites like: TheLadders.com, Indeed.com, Monster.com,  CareerBuilder.com, and SimplyHired.com. Those sites are packed with free advice about job search basics. Instead, I want to tell you about the these (free, with paid upgrade options) tools that give you “superpowers” when pursuing leads and networking:

Hubspot Sales

When sending an email to someone you don’t know, it’s likely they receive numerous emails per day, including other cold emails like yours. Wouldn’t it be nice to know where and when a prospective employer opened your email and clicked on links, which may indicate if there’s even a slight interest in what you had to say? It’s especially helpful, after you took the time to write a well-crafted message, to know that someone on the other end is reading your note. (Need help writing a compelling email that hits every bullet point? Check out this simple framework.)

Hubspot Sales! sends live notifications when someone opens or clicks on your emails. This tracking tool lets you when, how many times, where, and from what device they opened your email. You can also schedule an email to be sent later, so you can make sure it arrives in your recipient’s inbox at a specific time. This allows you to follow up in a productive way if you get no reply. Of course, when you follow up with the prospective employer, it may be best to not indicate that you know that they read your email. Keep that intelligence to yourself, but use it to your advantage when asking for an opportunity to meet in person. 

Crystal 

Cold emailing a prospective employer can help you get a foot in the door, but it can be a challenge to know the recipient's preferred communication style. Should you utilize a short, casual approach or a formal greeting and closing? Crystal knows!

Crystal aggregates online data about your email recipient, and provides you with suggestions for your email exchange. Examples: State your purpose for the email in the first sentence; Don’t use a formal greeting and closing; Use an emoticon :)

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(Haha - "might seem aloof at times.”)

Calendly

Everyone hates the back-and-forth emails trying to nail down a time for a quick call or meeting. Calendly is a simple scheduling tool that exposes your Google calendar for the recipient to select an open day and time that works best for their schedule based on your availability. You can put parameters in place to ensure you do not have meetings booked right next to each other, or after hours.

Calendly makes it simple for recruiters or prospective employers to connect or schedule an interview with you. Instead of signing off with “I look forward to hearing from you,” you can share a Calendly link, which puts the ball in their court to initiate a conversation. 

Bonus: Reputation management tools

I wrote about how important it is for a job seeker to build a strong digital footprint. Potential employers are going to Google you to see what they find. Are you best represented by the links on the first few pages of search results?  If not, you'll want to add content that will enable you to push down undesirable search results. In addition to having "YourName.com", you can utilize tools like About.me, BrandYourself.com and Vizibility.com make it easy to develop content about you.

Utilizing these tips will help you get an edge in the job search. What other tools have you found useful?

Best,
Joe