Whether you are currently looking for a job (like I have been) or thinking about making your next career move, you need all the free job search tools hat will help you level the playing field as a job seeker.

I remember when I was looking for internship opportunities as a new college graduate in 2007/2008. Craigslist, my university’s job board, and monster.com were the only resources that were available.

Fast forward to 2017, everything is now online which also means your personal network is more connected than ever. Someone who may give us a reference or pass our resume into the hiring manager’s hands is a click away in today’s world. Additionally, the way we look for potential opportunities, the way we present our professional profile and portfolio, the way we stay connected with our network has all been turned on its head. In 2017’s workforce and career advancement, it’s more important than ever to stay visible, understand what your competitive strengths are, know how to leverage them, and lastly, put yourself out there and stay connected to the right network.

Here are 5 tools that you may not know about that will help you do these things more efficiently:

1. Glever: AI-based Resume Generator

This is the job-search part of the internet’s best-kept secret- you can literally create a resume from scratch in minutes! The way it works is that you enter in the title of the position(s) you’ve held (for example, social media specialist, marketing communications manager, etc) and the system will generate all the related responsibilities related to this function. You can then pick and choose from a seemingly never-ending list of job function descriptions, to describe your experience and role. Then, this is a very important step – you want to modify them so you are not plagiarizing others’ work. Also, you want these descriptions to be a 100% reflection of your actual experience. Try it out, let me know what you think!

2.     Glassdoor Know Your Worth: Gain Leverage in Salary Negotiation

It’s one thing to research what the average salary is. It’s another to calculate your worth based on the specifics in your job history. The things your salary worth depends on years of experiences, your location, and the positions/titles you’ve held. Glassdoor helps you figure out what you are worth based on your career history. Get this free piece of information today and so you can negotiate like a pro!

3.     Levo: Present Your Career Like a Story

Think of it as a more dynamic, lively, and flexible version of LinkedIn. Levo is great for those that feels like their employment history doesn’t represent their career holistically, or that they have a side hustle or amazing life experiences that make them an attractive job candidate. Levo is a great platform to use to tell your career story, one “card” (the building blogs of your Levo profile) at a time.

I have only very recently discovered Levo (see my profile here!), so you know of more ways to utilize it, let me know!

4.     Good & Co: Find Out Your Workplace Personality

If you ever struggle with figuring out what your professional strengths and inclinations are, take one of these work personality tests. Additionally, do you ever wonder how you come across to others at work, what your approach is in getting work done, or what kind of co-worker you are to others? These are all things you can take this simple 18-question quiz to find out!

Knowing the answers will help you steer your job search in the right direction. You will also have more idea about how to answer the dreaded interview question “what are your strengths and weaknesses”.

5.     Jobscan’s Resume Keyword Scanner: Tailor Your CV/Resume For The Job

If you’ve ever felt like your resumes go into a black hole online, you’re not alone. At some point, you should check out whether it’s even passing the screening algorithms. Larger companies tend to use resume scanning bots as their first line of the filter. Your resume needs to have the right keywords!

It’s quite simple – Jobscan takes your resume, and your desired position’s online description, and compare them side-by-side to spits out a percentage of keyword overlap. It will even give you a list of keywords to use. Put the keywords to use and increase the likelihood of your resume showing up on the company’s radar!

6.     Career Blogs: Personalized, Tailored Advice

This is one of my favorite free job search tools online: career bloggers. One of the most common traits of bloggers is that they are passionate and empathetic. If they started a blog, chances are they have a lot of advice to offer and want to help. And if they write about career advice, you bet they’d help you out!

The two bloggers below have both helped me in my job search in the last 3 months, and I have enjoyed pretty much every single post they have written!

a.     Tori Dunlap // Digital Marketing Guru

• 5 (Fail-Proof) Ways to Negotiate a Raise
• 10 Tricks to Deal With Work Stress

b.     Emily Liou // Career Coach

• What’s Your Career Mind Map?
• 3 Crucial Steps to Killing an Interview

Which one of these free job search tools have you used, and what’s your experience like with them?

The post 6 Free Job Search Tools You Did Not Know About appeared first on Cubicle Chic.

As I look out the window and hear the morning rush hour, it struck me. That was my life for 6 years: waking up earlier than I want to, rushing to get out the door, and fighting traffic to get to work. I never thought I would say this, but I miss that life.

I’ve been job searching for the last month or so. While I’ve kept myself busy with working on Cubicle Chic, taking care of some important personal business (changing my last name has NOT been fun), reading profusely, and taking a lot of online courses, there are times when I catch myself feeling frustrated with how long it’s taken me to get back into Corporate America.

 This romper is $48 from ShopTheMint and I wear a size small!

I talk to friends and family about it, and they re-assure me that with my credential and experience, it’s only a matter of time and that I should be more patient.

But when it’s 10:30AM, and I’m staring at LinkedIn, Glassdoor.com, and even Craiglist and all the job applications I’ve sent out, it’s hard not to wonder “Now what? What else do I do?” Inevitably, frustration sets in because I feel like I have done everything I could, and I’m still not where I need to be.

To distract myself from this type of negative thinking and the world of despair it often downward spirals into, I started to engage myself in activities that take my mind off things but still feel productive.

1) Create a career mind map (Thank you Cultivitae)!

Are you on the right track with your career? A break from employment might just be the perfect time to figure out whether you are maximizing your potential, or if you have all the skills required to find your dream job. It’s an exercise that helps you look in the mirror at your professional self, find clarity, and identify areas for opportunities.

 This romper is $48 from ShopTheMint and I wear a size small!

2) Connect with more like-minded professionals/individuals.

• Hop on Career Contessa, where career advice, mentorship opportunities, and industry professionals that will help make you more hire-able in your job search.
• Find groups like Professional Networking & Career Advice Group
• If you’re a creative, check out events like Creative Mornings

3) READ.

Any reading, if it relaxes you and helps take your mind from the job search process, is highly encouraged. Plus, it gives you material to talk about when you go networking! For me, I like to read books where I find inspiration and learn things. Here are 3 books that I’ve read recently that helped keep my spirits up:

Rachel Cruze’s “Love Your Life, Not Theirs” [see a great review here]

This is a book about how to clean up your financial life. Rachel is personal finance Guru Dave Ramsey’s daughter. In this book, she teaches you 7 money habits to win with money.

When you are unemployed, the last thing you need to do is to be loose with money. I have been relatively comfortable in my situation because I am debt free, and my husband is happy to support me (for now at least, lol!).

This book also offers great advice on how to be content with what you have, and not be swayed by what we see in social media.

J. Kelly Hoey’s “Build Your Dream Network” [I’m going to try to review this book next week]

One of the best career-related books I’ve read recently. No humble bragging, and with Hoey’s credential and accomplishment, it’s amazing how modest of a voice she writes with. She transformed what I understand “networking” to be, to mean, and how to go about it. It’s a must-read for those of us who know we need to get better at networking but dread the idea of having to do it!

Marina Keegan’s “The Opposite of Loneliness” [see a great review here]

As a writer, I mean I cringe as I call myself a writer after reading this book, but I was deeply inspired by the 9 short stories and Marina’s personal story. Like a shooting star, this Yale graduate’s death was untimely and premature, but she behind her splendid work that the rest of us will admire for eternity.

It’s a must-read if you’re looking for short but brilliantly written essays about life, relationship, and everything in between.

4) Take an online course. For free!

Develop or hone in on skills that you always wanted to work on but never had the time to. Take an online class like what I’ve been doing: Udemy’s Writing with Impact: Writing that Persuades. I’m half way through this course now, I must say it’s transforming the way I write already.

A few other ones that I am intrigued to take: The Strategy of Content Marketing, U.S. History (I know, random, but I love learning things I think I know a lot about but most likely don’t!), Hamlet’s Ghost (offered by Harvard University) … to name a few!

 This romper is $48 from ShopTheMint and I wear a size small!

5) Locate your local library and sign up today!

Why? Because the library is any American citizen’s best treasure! If you’ve paid tax to the city you’ve lived in, you probably have contributed to the maintenance of a library. Take advantage of it! Not to mention that books, magazines, a lot of DVDs/movies, Wi-Fi, and AC are all FREE. I now routinely check out books I want to read from the library first, go through them, and if I love them as much as I thought I would, then and only then I buy them from Amazon.

Carve out 3-5 hours a day to go to the library, and submit all your job application when you are there! This is incredible for those of us during a job search. It helps us stay focused and creates a line between “work” and life.

 This romper is $48 from ShopTheMint and I wear a size small!

6) Go to networking events and make new connections.

For a person who draws energy from her groups and community, spending a lot of time alone never benefits me in the long run. It’s important to schedule time in your day to go out, meet new people who are perhaps also in their job search mode. I take conscious effort to find local events where I can meet with other creative and marketing professionals. The next event I’m trying to go to will be Creative Mornings in San Diego.

Do you know someone who’s currently searching for a new job? Share this post with them. I hope it will help them the same way it’s helped me!

All photography by Natalie Alvarado @ Stylenfuse

The post How To Stay Motivated During A Longer Than Expected Job Search appeared first on Cubicle Chic.