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Let IFTTT bring the job leads to you.
As we all know, job hunting can take a seriously long time.
We're talking 1-2 months, (maybe more) depending on the type of job you are looking for.
First, you spend time on the job hunt itself and then you spend time applying to the jobs that interest you.
Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to automate the application process .. yet .
But I have found a way for you to automate the job search.
Please note that this works best if you are doing a local job search.
For work at home opportunities, it may still be best to keep an eye on my job leads page or my newsletter in order to avoid work at home scams.
What IFTT can do is have the job leads come to you rather then the other way around.
That means you will spend less time searching for jobs and more time applying for jobs. (Woohoo!)
So, what does IFTTT stand for?
It stands for:
If this .....
Then that ....
What that means is that you create a trigger = (IF THIS)
For example:
If = a job lead comes up in your niche
and you will get a consequence once that trigger is activated = (THEN THAT)
For example:
Then = an email will be sent to you when that job lead comes up in your niche.
So, since you will be notified immediately when jobs that fit your search criteria come up, you may then have a leg up on other job seekers if you respond quickly.
Cool, right?
Let's take a look at how to sign up / register on IFTTT
It's free and relatively painless.
Head on over to IFTTT.com
If you are on your smartphone , you can click on the link below to download the free IFTTT app.
Simply click the sign up link
(See the green arrow pointing to the sign up link in the picture below)
and you can log in using either your Facebook or Google accounts, or if you prefer to sign up by creating a username and password, you can do it that way instead.
IFTT will then take you through a How-To course on how to best use their site.
Basically that means that you will set up whether you will be notified via email or SMS (or some other channel).
To do this, you are going to click on the Channels tab at the top of the page, scroll down until you find either the email icon or the SMS icon and then click on the one you would prefer.
If you choose email, you will need to enter your email address.
Keep in mind that this is the email address that will receive notifications every time a job lead comes through.
If you choose SMS then you will need to enter your cell phone number.
Don't worry, IFFT only uses your number to send you the notifications you set up.
Personally, the way I set it up is to be alerted via email because I would hate to receive a million SMS messages directly on my phone , so the method I will show you is so that you get email alerts
when a job that fits your criteria is posted.
However, you may want to enable push notifications on your computer to be alerted the moment the emails arrive, if you want to be alerted as to the job leads immediately (as they come in) - which is the whole idea here.
So next what you are going to do is create what we call a "recipe"
This is what we are going to set up on IFTTT so that you receive alerts for local jobs in your city courtesy of Craigslist.
If you think you can't set this up because it might be too difficult, let me assure you that this process is very simple and I will take you through it step by step with LOTS of pictures.
Head to Craigslist.com in your city and launch a search for the type of job you are looking for.
This works best if you narrow down the type of job you are looking for.
You want to try to get as specific as you can, because doing a more general search can lead to hundreds of emails a day. (No bueno).
Ideally, you will want to get somewhere between 5-20 emails a day if done correctly.
Use specific keywords to find the exact type of job you are looking for.
If you find several different categories that you want to get notified about, you will need to create different "recipes" for each one.
Once you feel that you have narrowed down your job hunt, simply highlight the url of the page that you are on and copy it.
You will use this URL in a bit.
See the picture below with the arrow pointing to the URL you will need, once you have created the perfect job search on Craigslist.
Notice that I launched a search for real estate jobs, but of course you can search for jobs in any field listed on Craigslist, then simply go to the left of your screen and narrow down your search
(eg, part-time, telecommute, etc.)
Now let's create the actual recipe on IFTTT.
Head back to IFTTT.com and click on the tab at the top center that reads: My Applets.
See the picture below.
Then simply go to the top right corner of the page and click on the tab that reads:
New Applet
See the picture below:
Now you will get to the next page that should look like this:
Step 1.
Now you will start creating the recipe.
Click on the word "this".
That will take you to this next page where you choose your service.
In this case, it will be Craigslist.
Choose the tab that says "Classifieds".
See the arrow in the picture below pointing to it.
Step 2
Create a Trigger
Do you remember that Craigslist URL I had you highlight and copy earlier?
You will paste the Craigslist URL into the spot shown in the picture below, thus creating your trigger.
Once that is entered, you will go to the next page:
Click on the text that reads "that".
That will take you to the next page that looks like this:
Step 3
Click on the "email" tab as shown in the picture above.
You will not enter your email here if you have already entered your email address when setting up your channel.
This will take you to the next page:
Step 4
Here you will click on the box that reads, "Send me an email".
That will take you to Step 5:
Here you will simply click on the tab that says "create action".
Click Finish and you're done.
You should check to make sure your Recipe is "on.
So, what you have here is that:
If a new job posting that meets your search criteria is posted on Craigslist
then that means you will receive an email.
If this, then that.
Hope this helps with your job search.
Please let me know if you have any questions via the comments below, would love to hear from you.
If you are interested in more ways that IFTTT can automate the mundane tasks in your life, check out this Udemy course on the topic at:
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