Are you using Google alerts? Very helpful for your job search and also to monitor when you are mentioned online.
Here’s what to do
- To set up Google Alerts, go to google.com/alerts.
- Establish your search terms. Whatever topic you want to be alerted on! It could relate to your job, areas of interest, or organisations you want to work for. You will have to set up separate alerts for each one. Include any phrases or terms that you want to monitor. Make the search more accurate and reduce the number of “junk” alerts you receive by putting quotation marks around the search term.
- Enter your first search term in the Search query box on the left.
- Choose the type of Google alert you need. You can search for news, blogs, video, “real time,” and discussion mentions, I recommend choosing Everything so your alerts are comprehensive, you can narrow things down later.
- Specify how often you want to receive Google alerts. Select as-it-happens so the alert is as timely as possible or you could choose once a day.
- Under Volume, select either ‘Only the best results’ or ‘All results’. I recommend starting with ‘All results’.
- Once you’ve finished this, fill in your e-mail address, and click Create alert. You can also have it sent to your RSS feed, if you have one.
- You will get a confirmation e-mail that you must respond to in order to activate your alert. Once the alert is verified, you should see a Google Alert Verified screen.
- Once the term appears online, you’ll receive an e-mail message from Google alerts. Click on the title in the e-mail to see the complete reference online. You’ll get e-mails about this term until you cancel the alert. You can cancel an alert by clicking the link at the end of an alert e-mail message.
- To edit an alert when you don’t have a Google account, cancel it. Then create a new one.
- Managing Google alerts is much easier with a Google account. Setting up a Google account is quick and easy – all you need is an e-mail address and a password. Go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and follow the instructions. Once you have a Google account, you can edit your search terms, type, and frequency, or you can delete old alerts you’re no longer following. To manage alerts, go to http://www.google.com/alertsand log-in to your Google account. The web page will list all of your alerts. Click edit on the right next to the alert you need to change.
Need help with your job search or want to doscuss a career issue, get in otuch so we can see how best I can help.
