Job hunting is more refined now than ever before. Long gone are the days where it was okay to make a generic CV and spam it across all the “wanted” ads you could find. In the past 10 years, extreme focus has been placed on creating a specific CV and cover letter for a company and job that you’re applying for. Candidates are expected to have thoroughly researched everything possible about the job from the background of the organization to the people they’d be working with.

As expectations change, so do the tools available to you for meeting them. You must be smart when it comes to what tools you use to get yourself ready for your next job hunt process.

Interview Workbook

I must admit I was a little bit blown away about the simplistic effectiveness of maintaining an interview workbook. This tool does apply more to fresh grads who are mass applying for jobs to start their careers. Consider an interview workbook as a type of CRM for job hunting – a tool that helps you keep track of leads, contacts, updates after interviews, interview question reflections and much more. I’ll be providing an Interview Workbook to my readers so if you haven’t already, sign up to the blog to get the link to download this tool.

Job Hunting Apps

So of course you’re not going to get away from apps when you read about “tools” for any topic. If you haven’t installed apps to help you during your job search process you’re definitely missing out. There are the generic apps that you’d use for your job hunting process such as Google Maps to help you get somewhere or a good To-Do list app to keep yourself organized. But what about job hunting specific apps? Here are a couple that you really should consider:

iPQ Career Planner: It can be hard to figure out what career path is right for you, especially when you’re just starting out. This web based app has a number of paid tests but there’s much to be gained from their free ones as well. Use the Career Planner test to put yourself on the right career path.

Monster: Monster’s app isn’t only for getting notifications for job openings. It will actually help you manage your resumes and even help you practice interview questions. It’s a really great app if you want have all your bases covered and organized in one place.

Social Media

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ (for a little while longer) – you really should be using all these social media tools for a number of job hunting activities. If you’re still using social media to only stay up to date with family and friends then you might as well be using your smartphone for making phone calls only. Are you doing all of the following on social media for your job hunt?

• Finding Jobs
• Building Your Personal Brand
• Networking with Interviewers
• Becoming a Subject Matter Expert

If you’re wondering exactly how how to go about all that, ask me on Twitter and we’ll connect. I know there are still a couple more months left in the year but it never is to early to start thinking about how you’re going to improve. If you’re not thinking about switching jobs, at least consider improving your personal branding, becoming a subject matter expert and networking more this year.