A frequently asked question from newbies is how do I get started? What do I do first? Then what do I do?
This is kind of a hard question to answer because it kind of depends on how you work, what you are trying to accomplish, etc. But let me take the question 10,000 feet up and assume that I’m advising my mom (hi mom!) on how to get started using JibberJobber. Let’s say my mom just got laid off and is looking for a new job. What should she do first on JibberJobber?
There really isn’t a first thing to do… there are a few first things to do (yes, I numbered them all #1 on purpose):
1. DO NOT get overwhelmed. This is a mental thing… but the first thing I want you to think about is that you can do this. Look, the job search is a complex thing. You have to organize and manage A LOT of information and data. Who you meet, their contact info, what you talked about, when you need to follow-up. What your target companies are, who works there, what version of which resume did you share with who, and when you need to follow-up (and with who, and how). What jobs you are interested in, when you applied to what jobs, how did you apply, how do you follow-up, are you networking into that company, etc. I this was simply a linear, logical process, it could be easier to manage, BUT we’re dealing with human beings here. There is not right way to do anything (like interview) that works every single time, in every company, in every industry, for every job. You have to be totally on top of your game. Having said that, JibberJobber can help you with a lot of this complexity. Instead of feeling like you are drowning in information, and overwhelmed with complexity, use JibberJobber to help organize and manage. One of my earliest users and evangelists said “JibberJobber is my virtual assistant.” I love that he thought of it that way – let it help you not feel overwhelmed.
Further, there is a lot you can do in JibberJobber, but as you get started I want you to not worry about what you can do, but focus on what you should do. In general, your job search should be about networking and follow-up (and of course, a lot more, but that is a critical part of your job search strategy). Start there. You can ignore the other features until you are ready for them.
1. Think of JibberJobber as a long-term career management tool. You will collect a lot of information, or as I like to call it, “intelligence,” in your job search. Names, numbers, email addresses, who works where, who interviewed you, who you liked and who was a complete jerk, what you talked about, when you followed-up, etc. Can you imagine collecting all of this important information and then throwing it away? I have heard from too many job seekers who have found their dream job and within months, or usually a few years, found themselves in transition again. The new “career management” is to change jobs regularly… please, please, please don’t treat your time on JibberJobber, and the data you collect, as a temporary band-aid solution. What you do here, now, should help you for the duration of your career!
1. Sign up for the JibberJobber Orientation. We do these almost every Wednesday. Sign-up here. If you can’t attend a live one, schedule ten minutes a day and watch a recording in parts. Speaking of ten minutes, we do a “Focus Friday” each Friday where we (a) focus on one feature/topic for just ten minutes, and (b) stay on and answer your questions. You can sign up once and then just attend the Focus Friday webinars you can.
1. Import contacts from LinkedIn, Outlook, Gmail, etc. A lot of people like to come into JibberJobber and see contacts there. LinkedIn doesn’t make it super easy to export contacts (here’s how you do it), but you usually get contacts out of your other systems into a csv format. You can then import those into JibberJobber. You can also SYNC your contacts between JibberJobber and Gmail, which allows you to put your JibberJobber Contacts onto your phone in the phone’s native contacts app. I’m not going to say this is a critical “getting started” step, but a lot of people want to do it (which is fine).
1. Set up your Email2Log and use it right now. This is easily the coolest, most powerful feature in JibberJobber, and I use it multiple times every day. The concept is this: when you send an email, put a special and unique-to-you email2log email address in the BCC field. The email will go to JibberJobber where we will (a) create new contacts, if the other recipients are not already your contacts in JibberJobber, and (b) it will take your email and make it a Log Entry. This is SO VERY powerful and cool, and it easily saves me 30+ minutes a day from doing all this administrative stuff by hand.
1. Enter a new Contact, Company and Job. You can enter them in any order… it doesn’t matter which you enter first. Put in a recruiter with only the information that really matters (does a fax, or street address really matter? Probably not.). Put in a job the recruiter sent to you (or one you found on Indeed). Enter a contact, even if it is just you. This is easy stuff, but it’s the core of JibberJobber, and you’ll likely be doing this a fair amount over the next few weeks.
1. Create a Log Entry and Action Item. Once you have a Contact, Company or Job in JibberJobber, go to the Detail Page of that record and create a Log Entry. For example: “I had lunch with Jason today. We talked about xyz, I need to follow-up on abc.” Then, click the Action Item link and put a date to follow-up. This is another core feature in JibberJobber, and should help you keep things from slipping through the cracks. Your job search, and career management, is about “nurturing relationships” and “follow-up” and this is how you manage that.
There is more you can do. This is probably just 10% of the functionality… but this is the GETTING STARTED advice I would give my mom. Pretty simple, right?
Really, make sure you get on an orientation webinar, and please do not hesitate to ask us for help. When you ask us for help, you help us understand where people are getting stuck, which can help many other people!