We don’t recommend applying for jobs from your iPhone — elf-sized digital keyboards attract nothing but typos — but with the national unemployment rate still hovering around 10 percent and no end to the recession in immediate sight, job seekers can turn to iPhone career hunting apps for a helping hand.
There are a lot out there for locating employment opportunities; about as many as there are career sites on the Web. All require Internet connection and most are free, which is good news when you’re already dipping into a meager savings just to buy Ramen meals.
Job Search by Indeed.com is a good place to start. By far the easiest job hunting tool to use both on the Web and in iPhone format, the interface is simple and the results of this free global aggregator app are massive and handy if you’re looking for entry-level positions.
Jobs by CareerBuilder is another big one to consider. In fact, it’s the biggest, with 20.8 million visitors in one month alone, according to a Nielsen report from earlier this year. This means more postings, but it also means tougher competition. The job information provided can err on brevity, but sliding tabs that hide full descriptions and requirements until you need them will save you from getting overwhelmed.
This can’t be said for Monster Widgets. The app is as cumbersome as its name and sends you online to Monster.com to view every posting, making it a monstrous headache to bounce between entries. Beyond.com is another to avoid. It only lets you search one industry at a time and doesn’t vet the results as thoroughly as it should. You’ll feel like you’re drowning in a sea of jobs you don’t want, which is really saying something in this economy.
For out-of-work executive types, the $2.99 it costs to download High Paying Jobs is chump change if it does its job. The app’s best attribute is a tab for searching TheLadders.com, which features up to 20,000 executive positions with salaries above $100,000. It also uses Indeed.com to browse more than 2 million job listings from all the major career sites if your not setting your sights quite so high.
There’s also LinkUp’s Job Search Engine, a search engine that indexes jobs straight from more than 22,000 company websites so you can catch wind of an opportunity before giant career sites announce them to the world. And JobCompass not only lists available jobs in your area, but will map out their locations to help you find the best opportunities around.
Sifting through the, fake, fraudulent and often controversial classifieds of Craigslist can often be more trouble than its worth, but if you’re desperate enough you might as well for download CraigsHarvest to make it a little more tolerable. The app scans job classifieds and all other Craigslist features, searching multiple cities with one click. At 99 cents, this app is perfectly formatted to fit your iPhone, yet designed to feel like you’re on the real Web site. Scams and all.
