by Elena Bubelich, Head Editor, INALJ Quebec

Searching for Jobs Using Apps (for smartphones and tablets)

Over the last few years, smartphones and tablets have become accessible for most people. For owners of these devices they have even become an essential tool, especially after many useful applications appeared (here application means software for a mobile device). There are thousands upon thousands of apps for all sorts of things you can imagine: for divertissement and for fun, for education and for Internet browsing, for sending emails and for reading electronic books and so forth. It is little wonder that there are some apps for searching for jobs: more than one hundred of such apps are for iPad and no less than two hundred – for iPhone. In this review I’ll examine some apps for iOS, but I’m sure that similar apps also exist for Android.

I will mention common points of applications before each one. I chose only free apps offering an embedded search engine for jobs. Obviously that I preferred multilingual apps that let searching for jobs all over the world (INALJ is an international site now!) All apps need the Internet connection (by Wi-Fi or 3G). Usually such applications offer simple user interface with simple search upon two queries: keyword(s) (job title) plus location (city, state, country, zip/postal code, etc.). Usually, they offer some additional features if you sign in (alerts by e-mail, the possibility to save favorite jobs or to apply for job within the app, etc.). Most of the applications have search history, so you don’t need to retype your request every time you use an app. Any of them have a real advanced search, but each app offers interesting options. I found them by typing in AppStore an obvious query – “search jobs”. I’ve downloaded more than ten apps but finally I’ve examined only four of them:

• Jobs by Indeed
• Monster Jobs by Monster Worldwide
• Careerjet by Intervog
• Search Jobs & Find a Career by BEYOND.COM

After some weeks of using of each one, I must admit that Jobs by Indeed is by far the best application for job hunting. It’s fast, simple, well-designed for all iDevices and its search engine is really good. I recommend you to sign in the app and to choose your country, then to type keywords and location (or to ask to find automatically your location). Since I’ve used it, the app has never recommended me any job with a wrong location (this is the most annoying defect of other apps for job searching). The app remembers your last queries and even shows you how many relevant jobs were added since your last session. Other useful features (saving and sharing jobs by e-mail, creation of resume and applying for job within the app, searching in more than 50 countries in 26 languages) let me strongly recommend this app to everybody.

In one review I read that Monster Jobs by Monster Worldwide would be an appropriate alternative to the app of Indeed but I don’t agree with it because of an obvious defect of Monster Jobs: it has access to many fewer jobs than Indeed. The same requests in two apps demonstrate manifest superiority of Indeed. Moreover, Monster Jobs has advertisements within it. As for standard features, Monster Jobs offers similar options as Indeed.

You don’t need to register to use Careerjet by Intervog. I recommend this app because of simplicity of interface and rapidity of search. I’ve noticed only two problems: ads and sometimes it shows jobs with wrong location (that you don’t ask to show).

BEYOND.COM offers at least 18 jobs applications (for all sorts of job seekers in various fields) and one of them is Search Jobs & Find a Career (a general app for all). All these apps distinguish from each other very slightly (colors in design) and have the same search engine. Unfortunately this engine really needs some work. It can’t treat request in another language than English and the search by location doesn’t work correctly. The possibility to pick distinct categories of jobs is promising but in our category (Education, Training & Library) there are not many job offers. And one more time, this application has annoying ads.

In summary, I recommend that you download some jobs apps. They can’t replace a real search on computer but their benefits are simplicity and rapidity: search from anywhere when you have a spare time, save interesting jobs and then apply for them from your computer. I invite you to share your favorite applications for searching for jobs in this LinkedIn discussion.