Do Recruiters Need to Be on Twitter

Do Recruiters Need to Be on Twitter We know how important social recruiting is in this  current digital climate. You need great people in your organisation, so why wouldnt you  tap up the ginormous  talent pool flooding public social media platforms? Even the likes of Instagram and Slack are being coined as candidate sourcing tools, alongside market leaders LinkedIn and Facebook. But what about Twitter? Twitter. Its the social network that offers real-time updates and requires brevity,  but no longer appears to be growing, at least not at the same speed of its rivals. Whats been happening in the Twitter HQ and should you be investing time and resources into making it part of  your  recruitment marketing and sourcing strategies? Ive had a chat with  James Tozer of The Economist  to get his take. Have a listen to the interview on iTunes, SoundCloud or keep reading for a summary. Firstly, tell us about The Economist and what you do there please? Sure thing. So The Economist, obviously most famous for its print newspaper,  has  been producing one for about 170 years now.  In recent years, in the last 20 years, the paper has been supplemented by online coverage which has been much more broad and covers a whole range of topics from culture, sports, religion, lifestyle, loads of different things. I was employed as a digital analyst and a data analyst to look at how our content is being read online, and on apps and by social media. And its been really interesting because since Ive been here, theres been a very noticeable change and an acceleration in the amount of resources and attention the papers been looking at its online presence.  Im part of an ever expanding data team that looks at how our content is performing. Whats Twitter all about and why do people use it? Twitter was founded in 2006,  a couple years after Facebook, but in that era, and in some ways, Twitters initial proposition was close to Facebook in that it was a way of people to connect with one another and share information about their lives. But, in some ways its very different from Facebook. It has a very different proposition in the sense that Facebook very quickly became like a locker of things that exist in your life, it was a  personal record of all your photos, of your holidays, of your life experiences and a way of sharing those things with your friends. Twitter became more of a soap box, here you would share your opinions, and sort of narrate what you were thinking about. Big issues at any given time and obviously there was a degree of overlap. People share photos and talk about their daily lives on Twitter and they also use Facebook statuses to talk about how theyre feeling about, about big issues at any given time, but theres very much the sense I think early on that Twitter became more of a platform whereas Facebook became a social network. And Twitter accordingly got this reputation and image as being a bit wonkish, as being sort of the people who are particularly interested in sort of, you know, policy or  technology. What challenges is Twitter faced with at the moment? When we talk about evolution  its really interesting if you look at, you know, again if you compare with Facebook because its the obvious comparison. When you look at their early uptake of monthly active users and they both for the first five or six years of their existence had a very straight upwards line in terms of every quarter, theyre gaining more and more users. And then what seems to happen to Twitter, well, it was very clear, what happens to Twitter at the start of 2015 it just levels off. Twitters seems to have reached this natural ceiling of 300 million monthly users, and it cant seem to get beyond that. Its sort of found its maximum audience. Whereas Facebook has continued to grow and it looks like its going  get to two billion at some point. And I think one of the reasons why Twitter reached this critical mass, but never managed to get beyond it is as you say, you know, one of the problems is trolls. Another problem is generally speaking I think the user experience on Twitter was not as friendly or as accessible to people as the one on Facebook was because, you have these problems with trolls. You have these problems with loads of junk. Accounts that were clearly bots or spam. And also it was because Twitter had no algorithm or no way of rating content. If you were just a standard person who wasnt famous or wasnt involved in a news organization or whatever, and you were just on there to share your opinions, it was like shouting into a thunderstorm because there was just so much content for it being put out by publishers and celebrities, and you know, youd get drowned out as a personal user on Twitter which is why I think , lots of people would try it for the first time. You know, send a couple of tweets, realize that no one was paying any attention to them and hit the road and never used it again. Whereas on Facebook, the opposite happened because it was entirely based around personal interactions. As soon as you started posted things on there, your friends would engage with you, and so there was a real reason to keep coming. So, I think that was Twitters real problem and it continues to be its biggest problem; just from a usage point of view its not easily accessible. And you really have to work to get into it and to feel like youre getting value out of it. Whereas on Facebook immediately youll link with friends and everything you do is seen by your friends. And I think if that was the core problem with Twitter, is that it wasnt good at holding on to people that then sparked a whole load of bigger problems, corporate problems. The fact that they cant grow anymore, that theyre really startling to grow has obviously led to massive turmoil. At the corporate level, Jack Dorsey has come back as the CEO in order to try to drive the company forward but that hasnt been enormously or obviously successful yet. They had a very high turnover in terms of management stuff. Last year there were a lot of very senior people leaving. The share price has stagnated. So I mean really, its a case of that core usage problem spiraling down into a massive existential problem for Twitter about, whats going happen to it now? It cant get any bigger. Does that mean its going to  shrink or go away or whats going to  happen to it? And I think not many people have a very clear answer to that. I dont think there is a clear answer yet. So yeah, so I think thats the main problem and things have sort of spiraled off from it. When we talk about threats to Twitter from other platforms, I still think theres not been a platform thats been developed yet that can rival Twitter in terms of its qualities as a soap box, or a platform for expressing opinions because obviously there are things like, in terms of sort of throw away comments that you share with your friends. Snapchat has really cornered that so that Twitter is no longer the place you go to share an update in 20 words or whatever. Snapchat is now there for that. Instagram has obviously taken over this corner of the web for sharing quick photos along with Snapchat. Messenger is there. Facebook Messenger is there for small personal interactions but I dont think theres any platform yet that has been able to rival Twitter for laying out your opinions and commenting about big events that are going on. So even though it has this user experience problem, I still think of broader image of whats going to happen to it over the next couple of years, its safe from the threat of being replaced by something completely. What can Twitter  do to turn its  fortune around? I think usability and UX are really important because as Ive said, it works as a soap box. Its a good way for influential people, like Donald Trump is a classic example of someone whos used Twitter very effectively of getting up and saying what they want to say. But the problem is for ordinary people what you say gets lost and so what you need is to have a better system, like what you say gets seen and engaged with by other people in your circle. You know, friends and other ordinary people because otherwise theres no point of you putting it out there. And I think one of the things that Twitter has started to do which suggests that it might be able to turn its problems around and seems like a very sensible innovation is an algorithm on the feed which is obviously, one of the very basic tenets of Twitter was that there was no algorithm. And it was just a live feed and it just updated as it went. And Facebook was the algorithm platform so if you wanted curated stuff, you went to Facebook. And if you just wanted a live scroll of what was going on, you went to Twitter. But because Twitter has put an algorithm on, it means that when you log back in what pops up at the top of your feed is a sort of while youre away feature, which tends to include people that you are friends with, rather than a deluge of updates from a media company that youve followed. And so that means that you have a better idea of what your peers and colleagues are talking about and you can then engage with that. One of the things youll see now in your feed is tweets that other people close to you have liked and that you might be interested in. So theres a lot more curation going on which is I think is giving people a much better user experience and means that if youre new to the platform and you show up for the first time, you no longer get this feel ing of sort of being a lone voice in the desert. There are people listening to you and you feel more engaged with the platform. And I think there are loads of people who have used Twitter before for the first time, come on to it, had an awful user experience, left and they might never be recovered. But for new people coming to Twitter for the first time, I get the sense that its going  be a more accessible experience for them and theyre not going  be as turned off by it. And I think working around that and working around having a highly curated, enjoyable, relatable experience on Twitter will be the way that they can serve and possibly start to grow their user base again. Should marketers start to dial down their investment into Twitter before it turns into the next Google+ like ghost town? Sure, I think the problem with Google+ is that I mean it was a ghost town from the beginning. Everyone signed in, but no one did anything with it. Whereas Twitter at least, people have always done stuff on Twitter. Theres always been a critical mass of stuff happening. So, I dont think Twitter is going to  disappear entirely. One of the really interesting things that weve seen from a data perspective is that, at The Economist our following on Twitter is growing all of the time, but actually, the number of people seeing any individual tweet is shrinking. So theres two possible reasons for that. The first is that no one is logging in anymore and so your tweets just arent being seen by anyone. But the second, is that lots of people are logging in but because Twitter has introduced algorithmic element only certain users are seeing your tweets, or the personal tweets of people they know being prioritized at the top of their feed and so they only occasionally get down to the tweets being pushed up by larger accounts, by publishers or by brands, those things being pushed down the feed. And if that is the case, then what it suggests to me is that any given post that you put on Twitter is going to  get less attention than before, which means that, you need to adjust your expectations accordingly. If youre putting out say a couple hundred posts a week and you used to gain, X number of impressions and Y number of referrals to your website. You should probably expect those numbers to go down because your tweets are getting seen by fewer people. And, you need to manage that accordingly . You need to make sure that if youre paying money behind a branded campaign you know youre going to  expect slightly smaller returns because your tweets being seen by fewer people. But on the other hand, while thats true in the short-term, the brands posting on Twitter might see less return on any given posts they put out. In the long-term if this curation element means that more people are joining Twitter and retaining their accounts, then its going be good for the brands and publishers right, because there will  be a bigger audience there and even if any given tweets are being seen by fewer people, having a bigger audience means that you can potentially reach more people. In short, I think marketers should be prepared for a little bit of short-term pain perhaps in terms of the potential reach theyre getting from their campaigns, but if Twitter can use these changes to increase the following, I think in the long-term its possible that Twitter will start to pick up again. Its current trajectory doesnt suggest that its gonna turn into a sort of empty platform like Google+ or MySpace. Follow James on Twitter @JCDTozer.

Manchester Gold Mentors available now University of Manchester Careers Blog

Manchester Gold Mentors available now University of Manchester Careers Blog Why would a busy professional with lots of experience want to help someone at the start of their career? Well, it feels good to help others who want to succeed. Heres a real life example of mentoring at the highest level. Mentoring at the edge of space If youd held a world record for 50 years, and found out someone was seriously attempting to break it, would you: grumpily ignore them and hope they failed? or support them to the hilt, and pass on all your knowledge and good will? If youre Joe Kittinger, record holder for the highest freefall jump from the edge of space, its a no-brainer you sign up as a mentor to the person with the best chance of breaking your record, Felix Baumgartner. (If you want to know if Baumgartner succeeds, the latest launch date is Sunday live updates here UPDATE: Sunday he did it. Had to watch it through my fingers though!) Mentors want you to succeed, theyre part of your support team. A good mentor wont tell you what to do, but they will ask you questions to get you to think about the right things, and if youre lucky, theyll give you honest feedback so you can learn from their experience. Because we know that a mentor can make a big difference to your career, we run two programmes to help you: Manchester Gold This is our award-winning de-luxe option, where you get matched one-to-one with a mentor in an appropriate career area. The programme lasts for 9 months and lets you ask questions over ~ a 6 month period. Meetings can take place face-to-face, over the phone/Skype or by e-mail. Its competitive, so you need to think seriously about what you want from a mentor, and where you hope your career is heading. Any of our students can apply for our general Manchester Gold programme. We also have mentors who have indicated that theyd be particularly interested in passing on their expertise under one of our specialist strands disabled students; black and minority ethnic students; LGBT students; international students planning to return home (to China, India, Malaysia or Nigeria); PhD students (this is a new programme which will launch for the Spring programme only). Deadlines There are two rounds of mentor matching, one in Autumn and one in Spring. The Autumn round has just opened, and closes on Wednesday 24th October, at 5pm. Dont miss out! You need to apply through CareersLink and all the instructions are now online on the Careers Service website. NB: There will be a list of mentors available very shortly (just being finalised), but the current list on the website refers to mentors from last year. However, it gives you an idea of the wide range of areas we will be able to cover. Online QA This new service launched last year and is ideal for specific questions you want answered, without setting up a one-to-one mentoring relationship. We have around 400 online mentors who have volunteered to answer questions by email, through the CareersLink system. Around half of these also have postgraduate qualifications, so theyre ideal for those postgrad specific questions. You can only send two email requests per month, so use them wisely. Also, if mentors have had lots of requests, or are unavailable for a period of time (eg on hols!), the system will let you see their details, but you wont see any button at the top of their profile saying Contact mentor. In that case, you can either try and find another suitable mentor or try again later in the month. Online QA is open all year round. Full details of the service are on the Careers Service website. Find your own mentor Lots of people, particularly in academia, find their own informal mentors. A recent Guardian article gave some hints on what you can get out of a professional mentoring relationship and how to find one. Weve also got some suggestions on seeking advice and support for aspiring academics on our website, An Academic Career. All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate

10 things you need to know about starting a career as a Solicitor or Barrister University of Manchester Careers Blog

10 things you need to know about starting a career as a Solicitor or Barrister University of Manchester Careers Blog It All Starts in 2nd Year Most activity starts in 2nd year of your law degree. So, enjoy your vacation, and then start your research as soon as possible into Semester 1 of Year 2.  Why be a lawyer? Be honest with yourself and be able to answer these questions very early on: Why specifically do I want to be a Solicitor/Barrister? What exactly attracts me to this career? What sort of work am I drawn to, and why? What clients? Why, specifically?  Think carefully If you can answer question 2 above, please read on to point 4. If not, then stop right here. Have a really long think about what attracts you to a career in law, and whether you might want to explore other options alongside law options. There is no rush and it is important you make a decision that is right for you. Come and have a chat with a Careers Consultant to chew over your thoughts.  Meet Employers Start looking around for all the employers who are on Campus from September/October onwards, wanting to meet you. Make the effort to go and see them, even if you don’t fancy working for them â€" they are very useful sources of info and a good chance to get some networking practice in.Attend employability sessions that will give top tips on how to write a CV or application form. All visitors and events can be found listed on Careerslink and look out (and read!) for School emails detailing employer events. The Law Fair held here in Manchester every November and any Open Days at individual law firms are a must-do.  Work Experience Start planning some work experience for the vacation time over Christmas, Spring and Summer vacations in your 2nd year. These are often referred to as Vacation Placements and run for 1-2 weeks. Many employers use these as a gateway to find their Trainee Solicitors, so if you treat the applications as a serious pre-Training Contract step, it will serve you well.  Deadlines R Us Deadlines dictate the pace in law applications, and can be as early as mid-October of your 2nd year, so do act fast if you want to look at larger firms, and some smaller. Remember to start with the application deadlines in your diary and work backwards. A good timeline guide can be found at LawCareers.Net. ‘2 years in advance’ rule for Training Contract Applications For historical reasons, applications are made for Training Contracts usually 2 years in advance of the start date. This means that for Law undergraduates, applications are submitted before July 31 in the vacation between second and third years. Start your research early and combine with Vacation Schemes at the same time.  Set aside time for applications â€" they take ages You need to factor in a lot of time in your schedule for application forms. Seriously, they will take you much longer than you expect and need considerable thinking time before you even start typing. There are numerous support teams in place to help you learn how to apply, including  Applications Advice appointments guides and Careerslink will signpost you to additional workshops. The Law School runs drop ins and advice clinics 3 times a week in Semester time (for law students only)  so book in. Non-Legal Work Experience counts Really, it does. When you consider that lawyers have clients, and those clients tend to be in retail, hospitality, finance, insurance, sales etc, then if you have had jobs in any of these sectors, it gives you a commercial outlook, an understanding of selling stuff to people who want to buy it, whether that’s beer, coffee or shoes.  Don’t Panic If you miss deadlines, then move on and either resolve to re- apply next year, or turn your attention to other ways of gaining work experience. Keep it positive. All Careers advice 10 things you need to know about starting a career as a Solicitor or Barrister University of Manchester Careers Blog It All Starts in 2nd Year Most activity starts in 2nd year of your law degree. So, enjoy your vacation, and then start your research as soon as possible into Semester 1 of Year 2.  Why be a lawyer? Be honest with yourself and be able to answer these questions very early on: Why specifically do I want to be a Solicitor/Barrister? What exactly attracts me to this career? What sort of work am I drawn to, and why? What clients? Why, specifically?  Think carefully If you can answer question 2 above, please read on to point 4. If not, then stop right here. Have a really long think about what attracts you to a career in law, and whether you might want to explore other options alongside law options. There is no rush and it is important you make a decision that is right for you. Come and have a chat with a Careers Consultant to chew over your thoughts.  Meet Employers Start looking around for all the employers who are on Campus from September/October onwards, wanting to meet you. Make the effort to go and see them, even if you don’t fancy working for them â€" they are very useful sources of info and a good chance to get some networking practice in.Attend employability sessions that will give top tips on how to write a CV or application form. All visitors and events can be found listed on Careerslink and look out (and read!) for School emails detailing employer events. The Law Fair held here in Manchester every November and any Open Days at individual law firms are a must-do.  Work Experience Start planning some work experience for the vacation time over Christmas, Spring and Summer vacations in your 2nd year. These are often referred to as Vacation Placements and run for 1-2 weeks. Many employers use these as a gateway to find their Trainee Solicitors, so if you treat the applications as a serious pre-Training Contract step, it will serve you well.  Deadlines R Us Deadlines dictate the pace in law applications, and can be as early as mid-October of your 2nd year, so do act fast if you want to look at larger firms, and some smaller. Remember to start with the application deadlines in your diary and work backwards. A good timeline guide can be found at LawCareers.Net. ‘2 years in advance’ rule for Training Contract Applications For historical reasons, applications are made for Training Contracts usually 2 years in advance of the start date. This means that for Law undergraduates, applications are submitted before July 31 in the vacation between second and third years. Start your research early and combine with Vacation Schemes at the same time.  Set aside time for applications â€" they take ages You need to factor in a lot of time in your schedule for application forms. Seriously, they will take you much longer than you expect and need considerable thinking time before you even start typing. There are numerous support teams in place to help you learn how to apply, including  Applications Advice appointments guides and Careerslink will signpost you to additional workshops. The Law School runs drop ins and advice clinics 3 times a week in Semester time (for law students only)  so book in. Non-Legal Work Experience counts Really, it does. When you consider that lawyers have clients, and those clients tend to be in retail, hospitality, finance, insurance, sales etc, then if you have had jobs in any of these sectors, it gives you a commercial outlook, an understanding of selling stuff to people who want to buy it, whether that’s beer, coffee or shoes.  Don’t Panic If you miss deadlines, then move on and either resolve to re- apply next year, or turn your attention to other ways of gaining work experience. Keep it positive. All Careers advice

Top Tips For Working In Sales

Top Tips For Working In Sales A career in sales is not for everyone. If you do decide to start working in sales it can be incredibly hard work, but also very lucrative with the potential to learn a lot. Here are some tips to help you through the first few months in your brand-new sales role. Be prepared to graft Sales is not a job where you instantly slot into and excel at the top level â€" you have to work for every penny, and put in a large amount of hard graft at the start of your career without much return. Having said that, you will see a direct return on the work you put in, and the satisfaction you gain from seeing your numbers slowly increase in direct correlation to the hard graft will be considerable. Know your product Whether you’re selling cars or advertising space, you need to know your product inside out if you’re to have the confidence to sell it to someone else. Specifications, prices, and the details about how something works and has evolved since previous models are all crucial pieces of info. Be confident However well you know your product and have the get up and go to put in the hours of work, you will get nowhere without confidence. Presenting yourself in a self-assured, confident manner is a skill that develops with time. You do, however, need to start your sales journey with a certain degree of confidence in order to succeed at all. Don’t be shy about your phone voice Your first job in sales in 99% likely to be phone-based. Whether cold-calling consumers, or building up links with long-standing clients, you need to carry your confidence and ability in your voice. Speak professionally, enunciate well, and most importantly don’t be shy about volume. If you’re one of only two or three sales-people in a whole office, this is a skill you’ll need to learn particularly quickly. Getting into the habit of using a hushed voice on the phone so that your next-door neighbor can’t hear what’s said will be detrimental to your career. Get good at improvising Whilst you will know everything you can about the product you’re selling (remember point 2!), the person at the other end of the phone is always highly likely to ask questions that you don’t know the answer to. Being able to confidently improvise, assuring your customer that you can solve all their problems whilst delicately skipping around actually answering the question until you can go and find out the answer is an all-important skill in sales. Resilience is key You have probably heard this a million times already, but in sales you will get a lot of rejection. The key here is not to take any of it personally, and rather than get back up again, don’t get knocked down in the first place. Keep going and remember it’s very normal in sales to hear ‘no’ more often than ‘yes’. It may take some time before you even get your first sale, but once you’ve begun things will get easier, and you’ll see your numbers go up. Competition comes with the territory The competitive element of the job is one of the top reasons that sales is not for everyone. This is an unavoidable part of the role, and whilst some people are hugely intimidated and shy away from it, others will thrive in a competitive environment. Alexandra Jane writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in sourcing candidates for  internships and graduate jobs, including digital jobs.

Help With Resume Writing For Madison, WI

Help With Resume Writing For Madison, WIIf you are in need of help with resume writing for Madison, WI, you should know that the area is full of fantastic resources that are specifically designed to make your job as easy as possible. There are plenty of options out there that you can choose from to make sure that your resume is not only clear and concise, but also that it has the proper information. When you start using these services, you will be surprised at how much time you will save!The first place to look for resume writing services in Madison, WI is online. There are dozens of websites that have created a huge database that you can use to get the job you want. A great number of these services will also provide you with all of the other things that you need to make sure that your resume is as professional as possible. This includes the appropriate fonts, style, and content, which can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.The best thing about looking at these availabl e services is that you can browse through the website and see which companies offer what services. You will be able to see how many people have used the services and what types of things they need help with. This will allow you to make a list of companies that you feel would be the most suitable for you.The next place to look for help with resume writing for Madison, WI is in the local library. There are probably hundreds of books that can give you tips on making your resume look professional and make you stand out among the crowd. This is a great resource to take advantage of as it is rare that you will find someone in a public setting who does not know about a resume.Another place to look for these resources is in person. It will take you a few minutes to find the one you need, but it is well worth it. Many libraries have professionals who work on the side for them that can help you with your resume writing needs.Of course, the best way to find help with resume writing for Madison , WI is to visit your local bookstore. You will find many books on this topic that can help you along the way and you will be able to get help on the computer too. This way, you can get the same amount of help as you would in person without having to travel anywhere.If you do not have anyone to help you out, you can always hire a professional to help you out in resume writing for Madison, WI. You can find some excellent professional's online or in the library who are ready and willing to help you with all of your resume writing needs. These professionals can even answer any questions that you may have regarding resumes and make sure that you get the results that you are looking for.In the end, if you have tried other methods of help with resume writing, you should find that this is a great solution. There are many great resources out there that can help you in your goal to get a job in Madison, WI.

Review Sumo Omni bean bag chair - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Review Sumo Omni bean bag chair - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog A while back I got an email from Andrew at Sumo, asking me if I would review their bean bag chair for the blog. I struggled with the question for a while. On the one hand I was afraid to sell out. Could I maintain my integrity in the face of free stuff? On the other hand: Yaaay, free stuff! I accepted and my Sumo Omni arrived two weeks ago. Ive been thoroughly testing it and the verdict is in: Its an insanely comfortable piece of furniture. My favorite position is to lean it against a wall and sit there with my a laptop, as Im sitting right now writing this. It works even better if you can out your feet up on something. The material is cool to the touch even when youve been sitting in it for a while and the bag strikes just the right balance between firm and squishy. Also: The thing is huge! Further testing found that it is fine for two people watching a DVD together. Or, say, an episode or two of Dexter. If anything, the damn thing is too comfortable I dont really want to get up out of it. When they ship the Omni overseas, they do it without filling, so I had to order 400 liters of those little plastic pellets on line. This is what such a package looks like: And let me tell ya: They do look at your strangely at the post office when you pick up those kinds of parcels. My dream: Make a meeting room where all the walls are whiteboards and the only furniture is bean bag chairs in various sizes. The Omni and its smaller cousin The Otto would be perfect for this. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Doing Mobile Job Search Right

Doing Mobile Job Search Right Using Your Mobile Device to Job Search â€" Watch Out! Call me old school; I’m torn. As a hiring decision-maker, I didn’t care to receive mobile-based messages from a job seeker for several reasons: It came across as “the easy way out”…something they were doing while driving or watching TV. There were inevitably typos, the use of “THX,” and no signature block with a phone, e-mail, or anything. Just “sent from my X-phone.” I wouldn’t want them using that device to respond to customers or executives. However, I’m slowly coming around to the future. To help me (and you) learn some of the tricks of mobile job search and recruiting, I asked a pro. Kimberley Kasper, Chief Marketing Officer at Jobvite was kind enough to share some ideas about how job seekers can best use mobile devices to land their next jobs. Here are her top 3 recommendations: 1 Don’t let someone else steal your dream job. Picture this: you’re in a meeting and you receive an alert informing you of a job opening at your dream company. In just a few taps of your smartphone, you could have filled out and submitted a job application before another candidate vying for the same career change even checks their laptop. While I can’t condone job searching while at work, you can see how being able to job hunt at all times means edging out the competition. With so many qualified workers searching for jobs, an “always on” mindset is critical to edging out the next competitive candidate. The benefits of using mobile in your job search are obvious: anytime, anywhere, you can stay plugged in to your job hunt, beating those that are loyal to their laptops to the punch. But having your smartphone handy isn’t enough to have a competitive edge in your job search; you must be savvy with your job searching tactics. Without the ability to quickly upload and submit a résumé or cover letter, there’s no way you can get there first. Store a variety of résumés and documents in a Dropbox app or Google drive on your mobile phone for easy access, so you can apply quickly and easily to similar roles that have different titles. In that same vein, keep your LinkedIn profile as current as possible with information on who you are, why you’re a fit, and what you’ve delivered in the past. In the end, you’re applying to jobs on mobile because it is easy and efficient, so make sure your strategy facilitates that. If you’re not prepared, your colleague on their mobile phone will assuredly beat you to it. 2 You can judge a book by its cover. It’s no secret that we’re spending more and more hours at work these days. In fact, the average American workday is significantly longer than the traditional eight hours we’re used to, and we’re only expecting work commitments to increase. As a result, recruiters are hiring even more for culture fit â€" if we’re going to be spending more time and energy at work, it better be with people who have the same priorities, right? As a job seeker, a work environment that aligns with your priorities is essential to a harmonious match â€" before you apply. But how can you know what a company is like from the outside? While some questions will need to be answered by an interviewer, take a look at their career site for some insight into the company’s commitment to innovation. If the company has a mobile-oriented career site, they are on the leading edge of technology. Spend time going through other pages on their website to learn how forward-thinking they really are. 3 Are you grabbing recruiters’ attention? In this “always on” job market, job seekers aren’t the only ones constantly on the hunt. With such a scarcity in high-quality, qualified people, finding the right candidate is like searching for a needle in a haystack. So when great candidates come along, recruiters are ready to pounce. When getting hundreds of responses to a specific post, the first 20 résumés might be attention grabbing. If you’re not quick, however, yours runs the risk of becoming white noise. After all, most recruiters spend an average of six seconds on your résumé, so finding a way to stand out has never been more necessary. This is exactly where mobile comes in. If getting your résumé in front of a recruiter’s eyes quickly is the key to nabbing the perfect job, mobile facilitates that tenfold. Many of us already spend over two and a half hours per day on our mobile devices, so if you find yourself checking Facebook mobile or playing Candy Crush, change your routine and be proactive. Be the first one to apply for a job â€" right when the requisition appears â€" by checking mobile career sites, signing up for alerts, and staying on top of your application status. Also, try applying mid-afternoon since emails tend to pile up overnight. To get a recruiter to spend some serious time on your application, go for the 1pm-3pm window. However, be sure not to swing your pendulum too far. Don’t just spray your résumé around, triggering R.A.A. (Random Acts of Application). And I strongly recommend a tailored cover letter as page one of your résumé, which may be a challenge to do on your mobile device. Be professional and thoughtful about which device you use for each aspect of your job search. Don’t rush to push something unprofessional out on your mobile device when you can shine brighter from your laptop or desktop! Join Dana Manciagli’s Job Search Master Class now and get the most comprehensive job search system available!