Hack an App: Non-Job-Hunting Apps to Brighten Your Search

by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire

Hack an App: Non-Job-Hunting Apps to Brighten Your Search

alexisrohlfingThese days, everyone seems to live on their smart phone– you can take your whole life on one tiny device, you can even manage your job apps and CV from your phone. There are scores of apps out there designed to help with productivity and goal tracking, but sometimes you need something that’s one fun. That’s where these apps come in!

Schemer – This app is designed to give you a checklist of things to do when you’re bored, but why not put in your continuing ed or professional goals? Things like learning to code, attending a conference, or doing informational interviews can become your list of schemes, and if someone else in the community adds it to their list, you could have a whole group of people who want to accomplish the same goal, working on it at the same time and leaving feedback and encouragement. For both iOS and Android.

Songza – If you’ve ever been working on your apps and you find you don’t quite have the right music, this app can fix that. These are curated playlist available for all types of moods and activities. My personal favorites for applying are Superhero Soundtracks and Saving the World from Evil, but if you don’t want something quite so epic, there are a variety of soundtracks to help motivate you. For both iOS and Android.

Touchnote Cards – If you have trouble remembering thank you notes to your interviewers, this may help. The app itself is free, though be aware that you do have to pay to send your postcard or greeting card. Still, you can spend a few minutes typing it up and getting it sent when you’re just out of an interview to ensure that it gets sent! For both iOS and Android.

Zite and Flipboard – Two of my favorite news aggregators. If you’re already using an RSS reader, you may find these useful as supplements. Rather than pulling in your RSS subscriptions, these two apps will pull stories from areas of interest. I’ve found that by telling it to pull from librarianship and various topics related to what I’m interested in within the library world, its easy for me to see trending topics and keep it separate from all my knitting and cooking blogs. Both devices also allow you to share to twitter, so if you are keeping a professional twitter its just a few clicks to share the latest interesting article. Zite is on iOS and Android. Flipboard is also on iOS and Android.

Do you have a favorite non-work app that helps your jobs search?