by Ashley Mancill, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama

Tackling the Job Search with Evernote

Those familiar with the note-taking app Evernote know that it serves a variety of uses. It helps researchers organize and track data, collaborate and share drafts and documents with colleagues, and delegate study-related tasks. Foodies use it to manage and share recipes and plan menus. Anyone traveling overseas or plane hopping across the country can store all of his or her travel documents and itineraries on the app as well as photographs from the trip. And for job seekers, Evernote keeps all job-related materials in one place, making managing and tracking job applications much easier. 

With Evernote, job seekers can build a notebook for each position that they apply for and fill it with the required application materials, such as a tailored résumé and cover letter, academic transcripts, and work samples. Files can be imported or simply dragged and dropped into the app. And the Evernote’s search function lets users quickly sort through notes to find a needed document.

Evernote is also great for creating e-portfolios that showcase job seekers’ skills and highlight their professional development. Not only can individuals create backup copies of their work, but they can also share with others by creating a public link or a customized private link. It’s worth noting that most hiring managers still prefer hard copies of a candidate’s work unless filling a position that centers around technology and design. Still, creating a portfolio in Evernote makes collecting and organizing professional documents easier. Materials can be scanned or photographed straight to a note, imported, or dragged and dropped as previously mentioned and organized accordingly. And because Evernote syncs across devices, users can access their files anywhere. Here’s a useful guide that details how to build a professional-looking portfolio in Evernote with additional tips and tricks by the author.

Job seekers can also use Evernote to manage career resources. While bookmarking lets individuals save links in their browser, keeping all those links organized can become problematic over time and a tedious undertaking if there are enough of them. Evernote lets job seekers save career articles, résumé and cover letter writing guides, sample interview questions, and other employment resources to a designated notebook or notebook stack for quick and easy reference. The web clipper extension even allows users to save urls to their favorite job pages (like INALJ.com) and search sites so that they can create their own private job-search database.

It’s important for job seekers and career changers to stay focused on long-term goals and not just the short-term goal of getting a job that pays a livable wage if they want to feel successful and have a sense of fulfillment and purpose in their career. That’s why career coaches suggest anyone looking for a job or new career make and keep a written list of goals and research organizations and companies he or she would be interested in working for. Keeping these types of notes along with a list of skills and core competencies in Evernote alongside career documents can help job applicants stay focused on achieving their goals. The app’s reminder feature even lets users pin goals to the top of a notebook and sends active alerts so no one loses momentum with the ups and downs of searching for a job.

There are a number of other ways to use Evernote and its many features for job searching and career management. It’s a powerful tool that can greatly impact productivity, even for those who are not currently looking for a job. Did I mention it is free?