Our 5 part series on “The 5 Habits of Effective Job Seekers” aims to shed light on 5 important habits that will help job seekers become more effective in their job search. Ultimately, StartWire is a tool you can use to adapt these habits.

So to conclude our 5 part series, we’re spending some time on the question: How does StartWire work?

For those who want a better understanding of what StartWire offers, we compiled a visually appealing and easy way to grasp StartWire’s cool functions!

ONE: Application

• Comb through job boards or StartWire’s databases for jobs.  Find positions that interest you and apply!

• When you receive that ‘thanks for applying’ email, forward that email to apps@startwire.com.

• Alternatively, you can add a job through the “Track a New Application” bar on our homepage.

TWO: Visual Organization

• Job Search is stressful enough, but disorganization, along with clutter makes it more stressful.  We’re here to organize for you.  Now you’ll have one place to view all the jobs you’ve applied to!

• Furthermore, it’s color coded to show you your chances of getting the job based on the amount of people who’ve applied to the same position.

•  Green indicates better chances, whereas red represents positions with a higher number of applicants.  This give you a basis to adjust your expectations on whether you have heavy or light competition.

THREE: Notification

• We’ll constantly be tracking these positions, so that you’ll receive automatic updates on the status of your jobs.  You can receive these updates through email, but even through a text if you prefer!

FOUR: Recommendations

• We know that combing through jobs after jobs to find good matches can be very time consuming.  So we make this process easier for you by providing actual recommendations! We base these recommendations from positions you’ve applied to and previous positions you’ve searched for.

FIVE: Networking help

• You can find who you know from the companies you’ve applied to.  You’ll have an insider in that company you can contact and ask for a referral.

SIX: Jobs

• Since the main focus is jobs, we feature many of them!

We’re here as a service to all of you job seekers.  Let us know your thoughts, opinions, and how we can help you anytime you want.  Feel free to have a dialogue or join us on Facebook or Twitter.  We love talking to you! (And figuring out how we can ease your job search process!) -The StartWire Team

And the fifth habit of highly effective job seekers is (drumroll please)… they use StartWire. Naturally, we say this tongue-in-cheek, as StartWire hosted this series – but we also mean it: We designed StartWire to help you streamline your job search and get found.
Habits by nature are tough to form without structure – research shows that – on average – it takes anywhere from 21 days to 66 days for a habit to become routine. And – as we all know, it’s harder to form a habit without also having the support to make it easy to put that habit into place.
StartWire was designed and built from the ground up – with the intention of providing job seekers with the support they need to form good habits. Here’s a quick overview of how you can use StartWire’s free tools to get support in each of these areas:

Habit #1: Don’t Post & Pray
Apply to jobs that you are qualified for – and seek out a way to get referred or recommended for every job that you apply to. (Don’t apply for lots of jobs and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring.)

The StartWire fix:

Share your information on what you want to do and where you want to work, and StartWire will send you job leads by e-mail through StartWire’s Job Search Planner. And check out our tips on the best way to make sure employers read your resume.

Habit #2: Apply Early
To get to the front of the interviewing line, apply early– or as soon as you see a job opening. (In our study of 6,600 hires –50% of successful applicants applied within one week of the time the job was posted.)

The StartWire fix:

Apply to jobs listed on StartWire. All of the jobs we post on our site have been advertised within the past two weeks.
Habit #3: Get Referred
Your chances of getting hired for a job go up exponentially if you can get a referral in for the job. To get recommended, seek out connections inside the company – and make sure you ask for help privately.

The StartWire fix:

Connect your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts to StartWire and you’ll see icons of friends and connections when you look at jobs. To request a referral from any of these connections, click on the “Get referral” tab inside StartWire. Then follow the links to send a confidential request for an introduction – we even pre-populate your request for assistance. Your invitation will be received – and you can all rest assured that no trace of your request will be posted on the “wall” of any social network. (Need to get a referral from a “friend you haven’t met yet?” Check out these tips.)

Habit #4: Get Found
You can get called to interview for a job even if you haven’t applied. Thousands of employers search for resumes with the right skills everyday.

The StartWire fix: Share your resume with StartWire and we will distribute it to employers on your behalf. To optimize your chance of success, follow these tips to help employers find you.

Habit #5: Let us know how we can help!

Do you have additional suggestions on tools you can use to organize your job search? Share your ideas today, we regularly upgrade StartWire to include user suggestions: startwire.uservoice.com

Put these 5 Habits to Work and let us know how they work for you! We look forward to celebrating your success…
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