ORGANIZED JOB SEARCH
As the Holiday Season winds down, you may be thinking that it’s time to really get that job search campaign back into action. But job searching can be stressful. In fact, being unemployed rates 4 or 5 on the “Top 10” list of stressful life events. There is a host of documentation to keep track of– resumes, applications, job descriptions, social media content, and names of contacts. And let’s not forget the “I’m not sure which job you’re calling me about?” syndrome that runs through your mind when you answer a telephone call from an employer who wants to screen you over the phone.
Sound familiar?
One New Year’s resolution you might consider adopting is electronically organizing your job search. Organizing your personal life is certainly a reflection of an “organized” professional life, and Windows Explorer is one tool that can help with that endeavor.
Windows Explorer is available on all personal computers (PC) using the Windows operating system. Not to be confused with “Internet” Explorer, which we use to browse the Internet, Windows Explorer is a file management system to help manage all files you save on your PC (“Finder Window” for Mac users). Imagine a file cabinet. Windows Explorer is an electronic file cabinet with each folder or sub-folder acting as a file cabinet drawer. Electronic files saved within each folder are the papers we file away in our electronic file cabinet.
Windows Explorer can be a handy tool in organizing your job search documents, such as copies of your resume, cover letters, and other documentation. Already set up with your PC are main folders called “My Documents”, “Photos”, “Music”, and “Videos”. The window itself has two sections, or panes to view. On the left side is what is known as a “tree” navigation where you click on a folder and view the content of that folder in the right side pane. The triangle to the left of each folder can be clicked on to expand or contract the “tree.” By the same token, double clicking on a folder in the right pane will automatically “open” that folder to show the items that are located within.
One nice feature about Windows Explorer is flexibility. Using the “My Documents” folder, you can create sub-folders for your resume or cover letters. Which ones you create is specifically up to you. Files and folders can be moved or copied to other folders. Simply right-click and drag a particular folder or file to another folder and let go. A dialog box will appear asking if you want to “move here”, “copy here”, or cancel.
Windows Explorer has viewing options that can help with organizing. By clicking on the downward pointing arrow on the upper right side of the window, you are presented with several viewing options. Furthermore, you have the option of viewing the document content without actually opening the document. In the upper right side of the window, just to the left of the question mark sign (the “help” section, by-the-way) is the “show/hide preview pane” icon, which acts as a toggle switch.
This is just the beginning of ways Windows Explorer can be an effective and inexpensive document management tool to organize your job search. If you want more information on Windows Explorer and what it can do for you, just click on the question mark in the upper right side of the window.
David Spears is a member of the Workforce Solutions Navigator team for the Texas Gulf Coast Region. Combining training and education to real world examples, David brings personal and professional experience with disabilities to the table in order to help job seekers with disabilities realize their potential. David has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration with over 20 years of experience in the business world.
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