The Game of the Job Search

Sometimes I wish the job search was like playing a game of monopoly. You roll dice and BAM! You have a new occupation; pass go and collect $200. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, and it’s a painful, time consuming processing.

The cycle of searching online job posting, networking, customizing resumes and cover letters continues until you find that perfect position. Below are several tips that can save time and ease the pain during the job search.

1. Google Yourself. Before you start your job search, Google your name and see what comes up for your name. Companies are now checking social media websites to find more information about their potential employees. Your Facebook profile should be at the highest privacy setting and uncheck the “make searchable” option. Do you have a common name like John Smith? Add the city where you live or work behind the name in the search box. Ask yourself, “Would I hire myself based on the information I found online?”

2. Set up Automatic Email Notices of New Job Postings: Websites such as USAJobs.gov, Monster.com, and Indeed.com offer email notices on saved searches. I’ve also seen many company websites that now offered the same feature on their company positions. Let the website do the work for you alerting you by email on new job openings based on your search criteria.

3. Network on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social networking website designed for business professionals. It allows you to share work-related information with other users and keep an online list of professional contacts. Similar to Facebook, users can create profiles within LinkedIn that are business-oriented rather than personal. For example, a LinkedIn profile highlights education and past work experience, which makes it appear similar to a resume. I have found this to be an excellent resource for networking with recruiters and land the interview.

4. Find the Niche sites. Does your profession have a dedicated website for job postings? To find these niche sites, type your profession then job posting (nursing job posting).

5. Hire a Professional Resume Writer. Not getting any hits on your resume? You might want to check into having your resume professional re-written. There are several companies out there, and they are not cheap, but utilizing the service might speed up the job search.

Good luck on your search for the perfect position.

Turn Old Gadgets into Money!

A few years ago, a boyfriend gave me a new IPod Touch for Christmas. With my search hat on and armed with my laptop, I went off in search of a website to sell my old iPod Classic. After a few moments, I stumbled upon Gazelle.com, a reCommerce service helps you sell and recycle your used electronics. I answered a few questions regarding the condition and hit the magic calculate button. I was offered $150 for my old iPod Classic. SCORE!

After confirming the sell, I printed off my prepaid UPS slip and then restored the iPod to factory setting to erase my data. Next I packed my iPod Classic in a box and dropped the package of at the Post Office. A few days later, I received an email confirming the condition of the iPod and my money was on its way!

Interested in selling you used iPhone3 when the iPhone 5 comes out? You will get more money for your used iPhone3 if you answer the product condition questions and confirmed your order before the Apple press conference is over. The longer you wait, the less money you will be offered for your iPhone3. The offer from Gazelle is valid for 30 days from the day you confirm the buy back amount in case you change your mind on selling the item.

Occasionally Gazelle will run a bonus code worth between 5-10% of the buy back amount. You can also get paid in an Amazon Gift Card and get another 5-10% of the buy back amount. These two offers can typically be used together. Gazelle will also buy back DVDs, gaming systems, games, phones, e-readers, and mp3 players. If you gadget is too old or they no longer offer a buy back on that product, Gazelle will offer to recycle the product for free.

Why have old gadgets gather dust when make money by recycling them?

It’s not the end of the world.

Recently, I was unfriended on Facebook. I know, what a travesty.  Why would someone want to unfriend me? That’s what a lot of people think when trying to figure out why they were dropped.

In today’s social media,when someone unfriends you, it's a shock, and and you might feel an explanation is needed. There are many reasons someone might unfriend you on Facebook and don’t take it personally if you fall into one of these categories.

The High School Friend: It’s now 20 years later and you discovered you actually have nothing in common with each other and honestly don't care either.

The Double Poster: These are the people who post everything on their business fan page and then the same post on the personal page. Do I need to be a friend and a fan of your business?

The Oversharing Parent: These people have to share every little thing about their growing family including what color their poop is ...really, TMI (too much information).

The Serial Poster: These people share every moment of their day like we all want to hear what they had for breakfast, followed by a trip to Wal-Mart, etc. Honestly, I don’t care what you did every second of your day just give us the highlight reel.

If you do get unfriend don’t forget it’s not the end of the world, it’s just Facebook.

Let’s break it down:  How to Unfriend Someone
1.  Click the name of the friend you want to unfriend.
2.  In the top right corner under your name, there will be a friends button. Move your mouse of the button
3.  At the bottom of the list is an unfriend button.  Click the button and confirm.

You don’t want to claim me as your mother?

Recently, I got an invitation from my mom on Facebook to list her as my mother through the Family Tree App. I declined the request then got an email with the subject – “You don’t want to claim me as your mother on Facebook?” So I scrabble to find my cell phone, hit the speed dial to my mom armed with my shovel to start digging myself out of a hole. I explained that by identifying her as my mother on Facebook I was holding up a sign in big letters providing an answer to the most commonly used security question – What is your mother’s maiden name? Not to say I don’t trust the people I’m friends with on Facebook, but how do I know they are friends and not some secret crazy hacker. To make matters worse, I’m also giving the company running the app through Facebook the same information.

So, I am sorry to say this, but yes, mom, I don’t want to claim you as my mother on Facebook (via an app).

Let’s break it down Barney style: How to remo
ve an application

Follow the directions below.

• Click the little arrow right of the Home button on the top right of any Facebook page then click Account Setting.
• Next, click the apps button from the menu on the left. This will bring up an entire list of applications with an edit and X (for delete) for each application.
• Click the X to remove the application from your profile or edit to edit the access of the application to your Facebook profile.
• Most applications require a certain amount of information to be require but other information can be edited such as the time of day the application accesses your information.

The smart woman’s way of sending greeting cards.

People are always surprised when they hear that I send out 4-10 greeting cards a week to extended family. I’m going to share my secret for a smart woman’s way to send greeting cards. Here’s the secret but sshh..don’t tell the family.

I make one card online and mail everyone the same card. Crazy right!?!

How do I do it?

I use subscription based Send Out Cards to send all my cards but Hallmark, American Greetings, and Shutterfly also provide similar services without subscriptions. Typically I sit down Sunday evenings while catching up on the DVR and make the weekly card. I also schedule birthday and anniversary cards for the next couple of weeks. I cheat and schedule the cards to be mailed on specific dates so I don’t forget a birthday or anniversary. Sometimes I even download pictures from Facebook to use in the card if a friend has had a baby or buys a new home. It’s a great way to personalize a greeting card! As I send greeting cards to new people I add their name to the address book so I only have to enter their address once! No more hunting for addresses for me!
Just the other day I read that Selena Gomez has invested in Postcards on the Run, a mobile postcard making service. I see this as a great app for moms on the run, the business traveler, or the vacationer.

Let’s say that your son just got braces, you snap a picture at the dentist office, click a couple of buttons and bang! The grandparents now have a mailed postcard of little Johnny with a mouth full of braces to put on their fridge! This would also be a great application for the traveler. Snap a picture of your world travels, add the words “Having a blast in (insert location here)!” and click! You now let your great-grandma know you had a blast on your awesome vacation or how boring your business trip really is!

Now some people may ask, “Why don’t you just text, email, or post the pictures to Facebook?” For one reason, my 89 year old great aunt doesn’t own a computer or a cell phone, so this allows me to include her in my life is through snail mail cards.

And isn’t it exciting to get mail in the mailbox that isn’t a bill?

- GG

When the unexpected happens to your stuff…

There are times when the unexpected happens to your household items. This is a true story that happened to my family during a military move from Germany to Kansas in 1992. In what we didn’t know would be our last move for the Army, it was the move that most impacted our lives for years.

As the packers started unhinging the giant wooden crates we quickly realized that something was not right and a lot of our items were missing. We started making lists by going through old photographs and home movies of items that were stolen. It wasn’t until months later and hours of my mother’s time assembling the final home inventory list that we discovered that we had $40,000 worth of items stolen.

With today’s technology, we can avoid having to go through so much pain and delay in home insurance claims by utilizing home inventory software programs. Although, I’m not moving with the military anymore, I am still concerned about recording my home contents. I use Collectify Home Inventory to record my home contents while attaching pictures and serial numbers to each item. When I don’t have time to enter each detail of the item, I take a picture of the serial number and attach that picture to the item. After I enter a new item, I run a digital report and place the report in my lock box.

There are also apps on mobile devices that can be used to quickly add items to different rooms via a cell phone or tablet. You will want to check that the inventory list can be exported in a report form from your phone or tablet. Search for “home inventory” in the Android Market or the Apple App Store to read reviews of each app before downloading.

Some people may just find using an excel spreadsheet will work just fine for them. But whatever program you choose, just ensure you have all the important information recorded and stored in a safe place. You never know when the next natural disaster may effect your home.

Three questions when buying an iPad

The past couple of days I have been approached with questions regarding what size of an iPad to purchase. Here are three considerations to consider when looking at purchasing a new iPad.

The first decision you will need to make is whether you want a Wifi iPad or an iPad with a data plan. I have a Wifi IPad because I'm not a fan of having duplicate services with two data plans- one for my cell phone and one for my iPad. When I first purchased my iPad I had a hotspot on my phone which turned my phone into an instant internet hub for Wifi devices. Just keep in mind that Wifi hotspots from your phone will be slower than with a normal data plan.

Next, you need to look at the iPad memory sizes and decide which size fits your budget. To give you an idea of usage, a movie downloaded from iTunes will use 2GB. I like to compare buying iPads to buying children's shoes, you will want to buy enough memory to start but you will want enough extra memory to grow with your iPad.  Most people will naturally choose the cheapest model with the lowest memory, but you can double the size of the memory for an additional $100. Check out my list below with the memory size and who falls into each group.

• 16GB - The Wannabe User:  You just want to check email, watch YouTube and check Facebook - the important stuff in life.  Having an Ipad will make you look tech savvy with all your friends.
  
• 32GB - The I Know Enough to Be Dangerous User:  You want to check news, watch movies, read ebooks, update twitter and Facebook.  Danger is your middle name and your not afraid to max your iPad with 10 different versions of Angry Birds.
  
• 64GB - The Tech Geek User :  You eat, live and dream Apple products and never let your iPad from your side.  Some people may suggestion you attend a 12 step program for your iPad addiction.

The last decision to make is when you will make an iPad purchase. If you are not in a hurry to purchase an iPad, you might want to wait a couple of months. Rumor out in the Tech world is that Apple will be announcing the iPad3 in Feb with a release date in March. This will follow the same timeline as last year. If you decide to wait for the iPad3, you will want to place an order the first day Apple allows orders. It would be disappointing to spend that much money for a new iPad only for it to be back ordered for weeks.

I want my Facebook back!

Missing Facebook Updates? Here’s how to get them back!

Like most people, I saw the new highlighted stories feature that came out a few months ago and immediately screamed “I want my old Facebook back!” with my feet stomping like I was a four year old.  It’s funny how quickly you turn into a four year old when things change when you want them to stay the same.  So like any person desperate to hit the undo button on the new feature, I went out looking for a solution.  And ta da!  I found one in customs lists!
What is custom list you ask?  Think of it as a series of books on a book shelf and each book contains different friends or page you add to the book.  For instance, I have a book, or custom list, for my high school friends, one for the pages, and one for a news feed.  The news feed list contains all my friends and all their activity and tad da! I have my old news feed back!  Just remember that when you log into Facebook to click on their news feed list on the left menu.

Let’s break it down Barney style:
To make a custom list, click on the Facebook icon on the top left of any page.  On the left side you will see a section called List.  You will need to move your mouse over list for the word “More” to appear.  Click the More link next to the word List.  At the top of the page you will see Create List.  A pop up box will ask you to name your new list.  Once you give your list a name, a new page will appear with Add Friends in the middle of the page.  Your new list will appear in the list section.  To make a list a Favorite and appear in the same list as the news feed, click more under the List section and click the little pencil on the left of list name.  This will bring up a list of options for the list such as add to favorites, hide list, and delete list.

Welcome!

Welcome to Gadget Girl Tips! I’m so excited (with the help of a little caffeine), that you’ve stop by to read my little stories about technology.

In David Letterman’s style, here are the 10 top reasons you should read Gadget Girl Tips:

10. I post funny and sometime embarrassing technology stories. Like the time I told my Mom I wouldn’t claim her as my mother on Facebook…yes, it’s a true story, but you’ll have to read the post to see if I got disowned.

9. I play with all sorts of apps, computers, phones, tablets, well pretty much anything that has an off/on button….I like to call this “research”.

8. Have a problem or question, leave a comment and I’ll take my best shot of answering your questions/problems. Be warned that I occasionally resort to my magic 8 ball for answers.

7. I too sometimes want to throw the computer out the window, but together hopefully we won’t have too many more of those moments. Be honest you know you have those moments too.

6. I try to put everything in plain, simple English so you won’t feel like your reading an alphabet soup of strange, cryptic words also known as techie speak.

5. Own a small business? Guess what? I do too and I have tips to make your life easier! Because we all know it’s always a one (or two) person show when running a small business.

4. Repeat after me….technology can be my friend.

3. I don’t make any money from any of my posts. Yes, it’s true. I just do this for fun. Crazy I know.

2. You may not agree with me, but that’s ok…we’ll just agree to disagree and I’ll get my voodoo doll out. (Just kidding.)

1. You might learn something new or at least a shortcut…because don’t we all need those in our life once in awhile?

Thanks for stopping by!