Lebanon, NH (May 9, 2012) – StartWire™, a game-changing Internet job search organizer, today launched a first-of-its-kind application for unemployed job seekers – the StartWire Unemployment Work Search Organizer. With all 50 states requiring unemployed benefit claimants to track their work search on a weekly basis, the StartWire Unemployment Work Search Organizer automates the often-manual task of job tracking to receive benefits.

“For nearly all unemployed job seekers, the task of finding a job is stressful enough and then you layer on the unpleasant chore of job tracking for state unemployment benefits,” says Chris Forman, CEO of StartWire. “With this new application, StartWire continues to be a resource for job seekers throughout their job search lifecycle by making finding a job easier and more expedient.”

Via a one-click process within the StartWire site, job seekers can customize their job search records based on a date-range selection option and download the form as an excel spreadsheet to submit to the appropriate state’s unemployment agency. The report fields include status of application, potential employer information such as organization name and contact details as well as job type. The fields were compiled based on StartWire research of required unemployment benefit filings for all 50 states.

A recent StartWire survey of 25,000 unemployed benefit recipients indicated that one out of four job seekers surveyed had their work search records audited by state unemployment agencies. And of those that failed to provide records or showed incomplete records, nearly 75 percent had to re-pay benefits or were denied benefits for a period of time. Also, job seekers reported difficulties in keeping track of all the job search sites they had visited, and remembering application dates once they were audited – often long after applying. For further detail on the survey, see The Challenges & Benefits of Work Search Reporting Infographic.

“The failure of filing or incomplete record keeping can have devastating repercussions,” said Hari Ranganathan, StartWire Product Manager. “This new tool is a no-brainer and lets job seekers focus on the task at hand – finding a job.”

Seeking to radically improve the job search process, StartWire closes the “résumé black hole” by providing job seekers with automatic application status updates from thousands of employers. With a network of 6,000+ employers and growing, StartWire improves application visibility and hiring knowledge for job seekers.

About StartWire™

StartWire™, a game-changing Internet job search organizer that launched in early 2011. StartWire closes the “résumé black hole” by providing job seekers with automatic application status updates from thousands of employers. Over the past 12 months, StartWire has received rave reviews and write-ups in US News & World Report, About.com, AOL Jobs, CNN, ERE, and HR Executive Magazine.

If you have never received unemployment benefits, you may not be aware that all 50 states require most claimants to maintain a weekly record of their work search to remain eligible for unemployment benefits. The specifics vary slightly by state, but you generally need to record where and when you have applied and the results of your application. This can be a great way to stay organized and remain motivated in your work search, but it can also present significant challenges.

We talk to job seekers all the time, and one of the biggest complaints during the job search from StartWire users who are unemployed is a concern about completing the work search records required by state unemployment offices.

Everyone wants to find work, but even after applying to numerous positions it can still be difficult to adequately complete a work search record. On the surface, work search reporting might seem like a simple requirement and for many it is, but for some it can become a daunting challenge. Why? In order to verify the work search records, many states require contact information for employers that includes a phone number. In some states, such as Montana, the name and contact information of the hiring manager is required.

When looking at online job postings, this information can be hard to come by. Job seekers are often unsure who will be viewing their application, and don’t know what contact information to put down. Today, we’d like to provide you with a few of our favorite strategies for finding this information. We hope it will make your life easier, and allow you to spend more time finding a job and less time worrying about your work search record.

Where to find contact information for those listings (even if the name and phone number isn’t listed in the job description):

• Google. (We recommend searching company name, city, and “human resources” or HR – you should find a name in the search results)

• Superpages (www.superpages.com), this site is an online phone directory. Try searching the White Pages by company name. You will at least get the main phone line for the company.

• The company voice mail directory. (If you don’t want to talk, call at night and access the departmental directory – once you get transferred to a voicemail, you’ll also frequently get a name.)

• LinkedIn.com (Use the Company pages feature to see employees at a company. Connect your StartWire account to LinkedIn and any related connections to your account will be recommended to you automatically.)

Just a quick reminder – StartWire is not certified to provide legal counsel on these matters, and cannot guarantee that these strategies will provide you with adequate information for your work search record. If you have questions related to your unemployment benefit eligibility status, or creating a work search record that meets your state’s requirements, we urge you to contact your state unemployment office. These are simply suggestions based on our experience to aid you in finding information in your work search.

Use these resources and take heart – we’ve got another new tool coming your way very soon — it should help ease the pain of keeping and submitting these records!

At StartWire, we like to address the pesky problems in job search and unemployment that many sweep under the rug. Here are two of the big problems we’ve already tackled.

• What happened to my job application after I applied?

StartWire provides a way to get updated on the status of your job search at over 7,000 companies.

• Why am I seeing job listings that are six months old?

We’ve streamlined our job listings to only show you jobs that have been posted within the last two weeks.

For the next few weeks, we’re going to pull the rug up, and talk about areas of job search that are rarely discussed—the process of living and searching for work while on unemployment.  We’ll be talking about how to deal with unemployment and the unemployment benefits process, with the goal of addressing challenges and issues not often addressed.