2 hacks to automate your job search and free up time

{NAME}, When you're searching for a new opportunity, have you ever felt like there are literally not enough hours in the day? Maybe you even felt that way before you started searching! I feel you. Between tweaking resumes, writing cover letters, emailing hiring managers, filling out applications, and preparing for interviews, you barely have any time to yourself. It's pretty much a full time job all on it's own! To ease the pain, I want to share two tools that I used (and still use) to help me free up time when I was on the hunt: 1) Google Alerts & The Company Interview Process Thorough company research is critical to being successful throughout your job search process but it takes a TON of time. What if there was a way to comb through the entire internet and have the most important headlines about that company drop right into your lap every morning? There is a way! It's called Google Alerts and [you can find it by clicking this link](). Alerts lets you plug in any company (or skill, or celebrity crush) and then Google will deliver all of the news that's fit to print right to your inbox at whatever time you choose: [Image]( Even if you don't have time to read through the articles, just having the headlines is hugely helpful if you need to whip out a question or talking point on the spot. 2) Boomerang & The Outreach/Follow Up Process If you're in the market for a new job, email is probably going to take over your life (if it hasn't already.) Does anyone have the same problem where that little red circle on your email app drives you nuts? Or am I the lone crazy person there. Probably the second. You're reaching out to hiring managers, responding to recruiters, setting up interviews, and sending thank you's - it's ridiculous. Thankfully, there are some tools that we can use to automate parts of this process and help us stay on top of our game. Canned Responses Canned Responses are a Gmail add on that allows you to create email templates. Let's say you're sending the same email to 15 hiring mangers. Rather than copying, pasting, changing the company's name or changing the person's name, you can just drop in the the template, make a few tweaks, and fire it off. [Click this link to see how to set up and use Canned Response](=)[s!](=) Boomerang Boomerang is another Gmail add on which allows you to schedule your emails and remind you to follow up if you don't get a reply. Still emailing those 15 hiring managers? Write all of your messages using your template, select a time for them to be sent, and then hit the schedule button. You can bang out all 15 emails at once and then make sure they reach each hiring manager's inbox at the right time, regardless of what timezone they're in. If the hiring manager gets back to you, awesome! If not, Boomerang will remind you to follow up with them (and you can use that template I sent you yesterday!). BONUS: Email Tracking With Sidekick How many times has this conversation gone through your head after emailing a hiring manger: After Hitting Send: "OK, my resume is solid and I'm totally qualified for this position. I'll probably hear back pretty soon, Nah, I definitely will." 6 Hours Later: "Wellll, they've probably been stuck in meetings all day. Or maybe their kid is sick and they had to take care of that. It's all good. They'll get back to me." - Proceeds to refresh inbox 700 times over the next 24 hours - 2 Days Later: "I wonder if something happened? Maybe my internet cut out at the exact moment that I hit send? Let me check my outbox...no, ok...Wellllll maybe their email has been down...that happens right? Or maybe their whole company's server crashed!" 3 Days Later: "Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" It is excruciating not knowing if someone has read your email or if it got lost in the clutter. Sidekick to the rescue! This little app syncs up with your Gmail or Outlook and allows you to track all of the emails you send, see who opened them, when, on what device and even their location! [Image]( This isn't necessarily going to help you "automate" any part of the process, but it's an insanely helpful tool when you're trying to get people to respond (or are pitching drafts to Huffington Post). If someone has opened your email 7 times over the past day or two, they probably want to chat but keep getting sidetracked! Hit them with a follow up. If someone hasn't opened your email - hit them with a follow up and bring it back to the top of their inbox! You can [download it by clicking this link](=) (it's totally FREE)! Have success out there! Austin [Cultivated Culture] Land a job you love without applying online. How Can I Help You? 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