5 ways technology has changed the job search—and how to use that to your advantage 

Key takeaways

• Use social media and online job boards to help your job search. 
• Make it easy for recruiters to find you via job boards and social media platforms. 
• Connect with recruiters who will advocate for you. 

Technology has completely changed recruiting and hiring processes. Never has it been easier to find jobs, connect with employers, vet companies, or interview for specific roles. Yet the job search process still feels as cumbersome as ever. 

Even with technology, searching for a job can be hard, and most people aren’t searching for jobs that often. In fact, many of us hate job searching so much we would rather stay in a job we hate to avoid the process of finding another one. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Technology offers many tools that make job searching more bearable and efficient. Here are five ways technology has forever changed the job search process—and how you can use them to your advantage. 

Social media

Perhaps nothing has changed the job search process more than social media. The most efficient path to a new job is through your relationships, and with popular social media platforms, you have near instant access to your immediate network. Social media also gives you real-time access to a world of connections you may never have had before. 

By building and leveraging communities across different social media platforms, you can tap into a vault of knowledge on potential opportunities—posted or not—to speed up your next job search. 

How to use social media

How to use social media for your job search deserves an article all to itself, so let’s focus on a foundational concept that’s key to building your social media presence. 

To get the most from it, you really should build a community on social media before you need it. It seems obvious, but it’s not a good look to not engage with your community until you need something from them. You probably hate when that happens to you, so don’t do it to others. 

Applicant tracking systems

Applicant tracking systems have had a significant impact on the job search, and they make some of these strategies even more important. What these human resources (HR) technologies have done for employers and job postings can’t be understated. They allow internal recruiters and hiring managers to filter through fewer resumes, decreasing the time to hire and (in theory) helping them find the right fit faster. 

But that supposed efficiency doesn’t come without trade-offs. To refine the number of applicants, these systems often rely on some form of keyword identification. That means they won’t ever see the resumes of some truly qualified candidates—whether internal talent or other potential candidates—whose resumes weren’t keyword-dense enough to make the cut. 

How to use them

Applicant tracking systems are polarizing, but do have utility and likely do a better job of screening candidates than bad recruiters. But for job seekers, they tend to eliminate too many good candidates based on their ability to write a resume. The best resume writer is not necessarily the best candidate, and applicant tracking systems often skip over the right candidates due to less-than-perfect resumes. 

These tools are part of the job search though, so for job seekers, the key is to understand the job description in question—not necessarily the job. 

Applicant tracking systems take the job description (often written by HR professionals) and screens applicants based on the keywords associated with it. They don’t currently have the ability to understand transferable or similar skill sets. 

So when you submit your resume through these systems, use the description—and the keywords found in it—to tailor your resume as much as possible to that particular job. This could mean you have to submit a separate resume for each job, and it can be tedious, but if doing that gets you the job that you really want, it’ll be worth the effort. 

Job boards

Did you know that the Monster Job Board was initially introduced in 1994? This marked the beginning of the decline of job postings in local classified pages. 

Today, job boards are one of the most powerful tools at a job seekers’ disposal. Online job boards are a critical for anyone that might be looking for a gig—whether it’s finding open positions at companies across the globe, posting your resume to invite others to reach out to you directly about job openings, or vetting potential employers through online reviews of the employee experience.  

How to use them

With access to several job boards, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. It’s even easier to apply to every job opening with an already-uploaded resume and hope for the best. Don’t do this. 

To make the most effective use of job boards, create a plan. Think strategically about the type of positions that interest you, create alerts for those job openings, apply only to the jobs you actually want (or at least the ones you would take if offered), keep a record of where you apply, and follow up.  

It seems simple, but by creating organization around your search, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you’ll start to get calls and interview opportunities. 

Cell phones

You can find a job on your phone. 15 years ago, you could barely make a call on your cell (snake was awesome though). Now, you can access the whole world from your phone, 24/7. You can search for jobs, apply to job postings, research companies, check employee feedback to see employee satisfaction rates, take classes to improve your skills, text a friend for a reference, or even can call someone to talk about a job at a specific company. The truth is, you’re probably reading this on a cell phone right now.

How to use them

You’re probably already using your phone daily (especially for social media), so just change the way you spend that time. Instead of scrolling through videos, engage with the community in your industry or download any number of job seeker apps. Spend your time there, and you will make progress, probably even faster than you expect. 

Recruiters

You’re right. This has nothing to do with technology, but even our modern world requires some human interaction. Good recruiters are already effectively using HR technologies in their recruitment strategies for talent acquisition, and they can help you be more effective in your search. Use them. But first, find one or two that you trust who understand the value of human capital.  

How to use them

Recruiters have earned a bad reputation by spamming people for years, completely ghosting them, or having no idea what people actually do—or want to do—for a living. So go ahead, approach recruiters—with caution if you must—but definitely approach them. 

Take the time to meet with a couple of recruiters. It’s a time commitment, but finding a recruiter you trust will more than pay you back for that time throughout your career. They will be a trusted resource for you when you are searching, become a source of intel (salaries, trending skills, hiring trends, market trends, etc.) when you aren’t, and if they’re doing it right, could even become your friend before the process is over. 

FAQ: 5 ways technology has changed the job search—and how to use that to your advantage