Logo

New Metrics Aim to Empower Job Seekers

Published: May 20, 2009

As a job seeker, one of the most daunting obstacles to sustaining the search is the apparent black hole where most resumes seem to end up after being electronically sent to employers. I've reflected in this space on my own experience with this, so I can understand the frustration of finding a job you're really interested in - maybe even one that suits you to a tee - and having no idea if anyone has even opened your cover letter after you hit "send." You want to make sure that your information has found the appropriate person's eyes, thank them for their time, and further pitch yourself, but there's no way for you to do so. You hold onto blind optimism for a couple of days, maybe even weeks, before you finally succumb to the notion that nobody is ever going to see that resume you so painstakingly crafted, and grudgingly return to the same old "spray and pray" routine.

Fortunately, someone has finally decided to (hopefully) take a bit of the mystery out of the job search process by offering job seekers a form of metrics. ResumeBear is an online service that allows you to track your resume and see who opened it, when it was viewed and for how long, and which format is being opened most.

You create a resume on the site or upload your own, then activate the ResumeBear dashboard to track your resume in real time (you can also opt for SMS or email alerts). You'll even be able to see who printed or deleted your resume.

Personally, I always felt worse not knowing anything at all about the status of my resume than I did about bombing an interview or getting an email saying the position had been filled. A negative result is still a result, which to me was always better than being left completely in the darkness. As a job seeker, I'd definitely give ResumeBear a shot.

h/t to Cheezhead


--Posted by Steven Schiff, Asst. Producer Vault.com

***