We are very excited to welcome Faizan Patankar, creator of Jobbuddy – a recently launched job search management tool. This system allows job seekers to keep track of their applications from one easy to use location. I know this is exactly the kind of thing that would have come in handy when I was looking for work. It keeps all the details you need in one location, which can be accessed on the go. This makes it incredibly simple to stay organised while looking for work. Read on to find out more about Jobbuddy and how it can help you during your job search.
Q. Tell us a bit about yourself.
A. I graduated in 2011 with a B.Eng in Mechanical. I’ve had a keen interest in the careers industry and was founder and blogger of Career Geek. After running Career Geek for years, I made a successful exit from the project after another business bought it out.
I am a consultant during the day and it gives me the opportunity to be at the sharp end of technology. It is my analytical and observant nature that helped me become a good careers blogger and gave me an insight into the UK and US careers industry.
My aim is to bring technology and careers together in a way that helps job seekers and young people.
Q. You recently launched Jobbuddy – can you tell us more about it?
A. Jobbuddy keeps track of jobs you want and simplifies your job search management. It is a tool that is built with young people, students and graduates in mind. When you are in high volume job search, you meet a lot of people, you have more than one resume and tens of jobs with various deadlines. Jobbuddy allows you to keep this information well organized, in one place.
No more spreadsheets to track your jobs, documents or contacts. You can now take your job search anywhere without using a ton of other apps or sites.
Your whole job search organized in one website, that’s what Jobbuddy is.
Q. What inspired you to create Jobbuddy?
A. When I was in my job search in 2011, I was disorganised with my job search. Constantly moving between home, uni accommodation and library PC’s I would inadvertently keep the latest CV on one of the machines and forget it offline.
I would end up creating job search management spreadsheets and they were a pain to keep updated. Again, this was an offline tool. There wasn’t anything in the market then that I could use to organize my job search.
Over the past few years, I realized time and again graduates and young people in job search were still using spreadsheets to track the jobs they want to apply. I knew there was a need for a better way to organize job search.
Since my exit from Career Geek, I had more time on my hand and I set about trying to create my idea of Jobbuddy. I knew the problems it had to solve and I decided to solve them.
That’s really how Jobbuddy came along.
Q. What can we expect from Jobbuddy in the future as it continues to grow?
A. Currently I am taking Jobbuddy to as many people as possible in my careers network. I am looking for students and graduates to try Jobbuddy and provide as much feedback as possible. Jobbuddy really is a tool for them.
You can do quite a few things with Jobbuddy, like saving job details and deadline dates that you can view in a streamlined dashboard for quick summary.
Job seekers also have the ability to add documents, create resume and store contacts in Jobbuddy.
Over the next couple of months there will be new features in Jobbuddy like the ability to email you alerts when a deadline is approaching, a Q&A section where job seekers can save their most common questions and answers, emailing capabilities with high converting templates for follow-up, thank-you notes etc. In 2016 Jobbuddy aims to come out of BETA and help as many job seekers as possible.
Q. Jobbuddy allows you to upload and store documents, such as your CV and cover letter, so you can access these from anywhere. What is your top tip for writing a winning cover letter?
A. That’s right, Jobbuddy allows you to store documents like your resume and cover letter. It is really easy to register and upload your documents.
My top tip for writing a winning cover letter is to write with passion. Cover letters are meant to be your case for why you want that particular job. It isn’t beating around the bush or speaking in broad terms, be direct. Say why you like the job, if it’s what you’ve worked for all your university years, mention it. And ask for the job… don’t leave cover letters to say why you are a good fit, be bold and say that you are good at it (by listing your skills and experience) and ask for the job. Too many cover letters are too broad and generic, there’s a word for that sort of document, a resume.
Related: 4 Resume Tips To Get You Noticed
Q. Do you have any advice for jobseekers out there struggling to find work?
A. I would say get organized in your job search. It’s easy to apply to hundreds of job applications. Most of them will lead to rejections, but if you are not organized you will not learn anything. And if you don’t learn anything, you won’t be able to make the changes that improve your chances of getting a job.
Always review your job application process for each job. See what you can do better and improve upon it. And most importantly, during your job search talk to people. Sharing your failures won’t make you weaker, but by talking to people you never know what opportunity you hit upon or what advice you receive.
Q. How can people sign up to Jobbuddy?
A. To sign up to Jobbuddy, you can visit Jobbuddy.co and click on the New User? Link at the top right, or simply click here. It is FREE to do so and there is no cost to use the website.
If you have any questions, do comment below or you can tweet me @Jobbudy.
We love the idea behind Jobbuddy and believe that this will help many job seekers to simplify the process of looking for new work. We wish Faizan the best of luck with Jobbuddy and all the job seekers out there big success in their job search. Don’t forget to sign up now – it’s free!
Leave a Reply