How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches

igoogle thumbSo technically the recession has lifted in the US which means there should be some more jobs created in the US of A. Correct? Yes. At least there will be soon. But how prepared are you to start finding these new jobs?

You have to remember that hundreds of thousands of people who have given up their job search in the depths of the recession are all going to pile back onto the job market quicker than you can say “˜credit crunch’.

So I thought I’d share with you a tip I use when I’m looking for more blogging jobs. This tip can be applied for when you’re looking for work, a new house, great deals and other thing that are hard to come by. I simply set up iGoogle to perform how I want it to so it can become my Mission HQ.

Firstly, go to Google (if you don’t already have an account, create one). In the top right-hand corner click iGoogle. Then, from the tabs located to the left of the screen click ‘Add a tab‘ and give it an appropriate name in the box which appears.

Now that your new tab is created we have to add some gadgets which will help you in your job search. Our main tool here will be the RSS gadget so I need you to do the following.

igoogle - feed

Visit sites specific to your job search. Craigslist will cover pretty much everything from jobs to houses to items for sale. Most other jobs search websites also offer RSS feeds as a way of bringing you back to the site with the promise of alerts. Right-click on the feed’s icon and copy the address. Then go back to iGoogle.

igoogle - add RSSClick on the ‘Add Stuff‘ link at the top right of the screen. Along the left-hand side in the sidebar you’ll see an Add Feed or Gadget link. Click on that and paste in the link address you copied from the RSS link on the job site and click ‘Add‘.

The RSS feed should now appear in iGoogle like my example at the bottom of this post. Keep repeating this procedure for all the job searches (or any other search) you like. Here are some popular websites which offer RSS feeds and jobs, apartments and more are frequently posted.

For more job search websites, click here.

Finally, click on ‘Change Theme from Classic‘ and select one of the cool themes they have there. This doesn’t really improve your iGoogle HQ but you don’t want to turn on your computer every day and see the same generic theme, do you?

igoogle - home

Now all you have to do is check back daily and follow up on anything promising. Without a doubt you’re ahead of the competition by making iGoogle your search HQ because while you’re giving the advertisers a call they’re still rummaging through search results.

Photo Credit: Danard Vincente

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Dean Sherwin

My name is Dean Sherwin. I'm a freelance writer specializing in technology, culture, politics, how-to and all other cool quirky things. I started contributing to MUO in July 2009. I like console video games and have been know to play the odd MMO. However, my real passion is in writing and reading about technology and the evolution of our fast paced world. My Twitter is www.twitter.com/deansherwin and my website is www.deansherwin.com Personal Blog: tappingthought.blogspot.com If you wish to contact me directly my MUO e-mail is dsherwin@makeuseof.com

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  • http://www.devilsduke.com kishoremylavarapu

    Nice job.Thank you

  • Kevin Reynolds

    I do the same thing in Google Reader. I look at that every day anyway so in my case, I’m already there. I stopped using I Google as it takes to long to load.