{"id":9931,"date":"2013-03-05T13:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=9931"},"modified":"2013-05-27T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T17:19:07","slug":"looking-for-jobs-on-the-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=9931","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Jobs On the Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Looking for Jobs On the Go<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"MTansek\"<\/a>For this blog post I thought that it would be helpful to get to know a few job seeker applications for your smartphone. \u00a0I took a look at four that I had not heard of, and I purposefully avoided apps that were directly connected with popular job sites such as Indeed or Monster (although most pull some their listings from such sites). \u00a0I rated each application on the quality of the posts, the ease searching with it, and \u00a0the interface quality. \u00a0I approached each as a North American library job seeker, and tested each app function using many types of criteria and locations.<\/p>\n

JobMo<\/h2>\n

Quality of Listings – OOOOOOO<\/span>OOO
\nSearching – \u00a0OOOOOO<\/span>OOOO
\nInterface – \u00a0OOOO<\/span>OOOOOO
\nThe first app that I looked at was JobMo by Kiefer Consulting. \u00a0It advertises that it has millions of jobs to view, and that applications for these can be done right from your phone, and with a decent rating from Apple\u2019s App Store I thought it would be a good place to start.
\nLike other job apps JobMo provides you with the basic search box and map feature to allow you to see where exactly the job you are looking at is located. \u00a0Its search filters allow for basic narrowing such as salary, age of post, type of position, distance, etc and has the best advanced search functions out of all of the apps reviewed. \u00a0Interaction with the app however was a bit clunky, and required frequent adjustments and backtracking to get it to display what I was really looking for. \u00a0The application process was hard to use on my smartphone, and only allowed for a basic paste function when it came to submitting a resume or cover letter but was the only app reviewed that allowed this feature.
\nWhat sets it apart is its inclusion of job trend graphs and national salary trends. \u00a0Additionally it showcases a variety of forums that are job related, but when clicking on them takes you to the web address outside the app. \u00a0While I thought that these features were interesting, I found them rather superfluous to what I felt was the real reason for the app.<\/p>\n

Seek – Jobs<\/h2>\n

Quality of Listings – OOOO<\/span>OOOOOO
\nSearching – \u00a0OO<\/span>OOOOOOOO
\nInterface – \u00a0OOOOOO<\/span>OOOO
\nSeek, while at first glance may seem like a good choice for mobile job hunting is far from it. \u00a0As librarians we understand how important good search features can be, and this app simply does not deliver – only allowing for salary range, location and type of position. \u00a0From the start I was concerned with the international scope of this app, and when I learned that the USA and Canada is as narrow as you can go for searches in this country, I was very disappointed. \u00a0Seek was on the right track allowing for saved searches and creation of your own job shortlists, but then really dropped the ball with its inability to narrow down your searches. \u00a0Seek also requires you to create an account, which is tiresome if you are only looking to search and display.
\nPerhaps Seek would have scored higher if they were exclusively an Australian \/ New Zealand job search tool, but as it stands they advertise themselves to anyone seeking a job and then fail to deliver for residents in North America.<\/p>\n

JobCompass<\/h2>\n

Quality of Listings – OOOO<\/span>OOOOOO
\nSearching – \u00a0OOO<\/span>OOOOOOO
\nInterface – \u00a0OO<\/span>OOOOOOOO
\nJob compass I found to work well, but leaves me wanting in a couple of key areas. \u00a0Like other job apps reviewed it relies on the map function to display its results, but unlike others this seems to be the only way to view them. \u00a0In practice I found that a lot of postings got grouped up, and it was difficult to sift through them and impossible to see which were new listings, and where the app was pulling its data. \u00a0It offers no advanced search functions, and so getting only the jobs you want was a bit clunky as well. \u00a0I feel that it also should be noted that I had repeated bugs with the text interface, and the program crashed several times during my testing.
\nWhat I liked about JobCompass was the fact that you could save the listings, and open them in your mobile browser should you want to. \u00a0If the bugs were fixed and a bit more search options were added this app could be a contender, but until then I found it too frustrating to be useful.<\/p>\n

Jobtweet<\/h2>\n

Quality of Listings – OOOOOOO<\/span>OOO
\nSearching – \u00a0O<\/span>OOOOOOOOO
\nInterface – \u00a0OOOO<\/span>OOOOOO
\nFinally I took a look at Jobtweet, the only mobile job app that I reviewed that did not rely on a map function to display its listings. \u00a0My major problem with this app is the fact that each listing is really hard to decipher. \u00a0They are presented as a series of links, with the total number of hits displayed at the top, unfortunately however the developers do not take the time to link to each individual posting and instead you are sent to the main category page of a compiling site such as JobsDirectUSA. \u00a0Add to this the complete lack of search parameters such as distance from location and whether or not it\u2019s a part time job, you could be facing lot of loading screens before you get anything useful.
\nIn practice Jobtweet did seem to pull from a large variety of sources, and to its credit the postings reviewed were very recent. \u00a0All in all however due to the fact that each posting was not adequately displayed made me not want to recommend this one.<\/p>\n

In the end what I found with these apps is that there are a lot of big claims made, but rarely are they worth your time. \u00a0I would recommend using your smartphone to search for postings, but should you find one you are truly interested in to go back to your computer to get the job done. \u00a0
\n<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Looking for Jobs On the Go For this blog post I thought that it would be helpful to get to know a few job seeker applications for your smartphone. \u00a0I took a look at four that I had not heard of, and I purposefully avoided apps that…<\/p>\n

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