How to Use Jibber Jobber

I am wrapping up my active job search for the time being - I have decided to accept a job that I was offered, but I wanted to share some details on a cool tool I learned about during my job search process.

I've been using Jibber Jobber for a few weeks now to help manage my job search, and thought I'd outline the overall process for using Jibber Jobber, as well as some tips I've learned along the way! The best of Jibber Jobber is through its premium account features, which you have access to during the first 14 days of the time. My "free premium" time recently ran out, and I'm still exploring whether JJ is worth using on the free version, or exactly how I should use Jibber Jobber without access to its coolest features.

1. Set up your contacts. You can easily import your contacts from LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook or whatever other email or contact database you might have. They even have a video on how to do this (doublecheck!). You can also rate your contacts, which is an interesting feature that I'll talk about more in a bit.





2. Set up your companies. These are target companies, recruiters you work with, or even job boards that you use. You can also rank these companies!





3. Search for jobs within the Jibber Jobber context. Search for jobs on Indeed.com, Yahoo, Careerbuilder, from within Jibber Jobber. If you find a job that interests you, you can easily add it to your JJ job list.





4. Add jobs to your Jibber Jobber job list. In addition to adding them from the job searchs, you can also manually add a job.





5. Log thoughts and create action items. This is like a journal of what you're doing. You can log to a contact, a company, or a specific job. When you log an action taken, you can also create an Action Item. These can make up your to-do list for the job search or even just in general networking. These will be translated more generally throughout the application --> e.g. see a list of action items for this week, related to networking.
   For example, log that I sent in my resume and cover letter to XYZ Consulting. I can make an action item to call my contact at XYZ Consulting after 5 days to check that they've received my resume and ask about follow-up. Jibber Jobber sends me an email reminder before this action item is due. I can also view all my action items at a glance for this week.

These are the basics on how to use Jibber Jobber, which took me a little while to figure out. Now I appreciate how the process (sometimes seemingly tedious) can help to streamline the job search, a proactive networking strategy, and also save all of your information in one place for you to come back to next time you need to look for a new job or freshen up with new ideas from my network.

Tools for the Job Search

I have been in a full-time job search for the past month now, and I wanted to share some of the tools that I have found most helpful or otherwise entertaining:


-Indeed.com - a must for any job searching. It searches all of the other job boards!
-LinkedIn - This is a good site even if you're not specifically looking for a job. It's a professional networking site that allows you to see the compounding value of your network. As you connect with more people, the people that they know can become part of your loose network!
-jibberjobber - I'm playing with this as a tool to track my job hunt and networking efforts. It's takes a bit of learning… We'll see how much I continue to use it for my job tracking.


Job/Career-related Blogs I have enjoyed:
-Penelopetrunk.com - This is one of the first blogs that I checked out, and it has lots of good advice, and not just about career topics. Explore the categories that interest you in her archives!
-Keppie Careers - a good site that's regularly updated and focused to the job search and resume creation!
-Water Cooler Wisdom - Alexandra Levit provides interesting thoughts on what's going on in the work environment. While not specifically about the job search, she's very interesting to read!
-Dan Schwabel's Personal Branding Blog - personal branding guru! Tons of stuff, although I sometimes find it a bit daunting to package oneself as forcefully as I sometimes feel that he presents.

A month in Chicago

I've been in Chicago for just over a month now, and I'm really liking the city! Overall, I've found people here to be friendly, and I seem to enjoy myself more in the more urban environment than Madison, WI.

What have I been up to?

• Lots of running, especially in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. I recently ran the Bucktown 5k and did very well for myself!
• Hot Yoga. This is yoga in a 105 degree room, for 90 minutes. Yes, it's very sweaty, but I like it, and you get to do each pose twice, so you get an immediate chance to improve upon your first try.
• Exploring the city. I saw a bunch of "aircraft" try to fly but mostly fall into Lake Michigan, explored a Mexican street market, and also seen more of the city's nightlife. Whatever you might be looking for, there is definitely something to do in Chicago.
• Meeting up with old friends.
• Reading more.
• Searching for my next job.

The job search has been my main focus, but I would be going crazy if it weren't for the other fun things going on! I'm definitely enjoying my free time here, although I appreciate the more active and slightly more structured environment of an office. But I'm sure that once I start a job, I'll be looking back wistfully on these more open-ended days!