Using Google Alerts to find a job or for your business

Google alerts is a free service that allows you to be notified the very moment anyone makes a post about any keyword or phrase you choose. The implications of this are tremendously useful regardless if you are a job seeker or an entrepreneur seeking new work for your business.

If you are a job seeker, try entering a keyword that represents your job title. (ie - "Steel detailer"). Noe everytime someone makes a blog post, an addition to their website, writes an article or anthing at all about "Steel Detailer", you are going to get notified. Immediately.

The alert might the first posting of a new job which allows you to get your resume in before anyone else. The alert might also be company news relating an expansion. That would give you an opportunity to get the name of the poster and contact them directly about the possibility of their needing extra help.

If you are an entrepreneur, the alerts are key you in to new developments in your industry as well as new projects. Upcoming projects are often discussed in local newspapers before the tendering process even starts. Getting an alert that keys you in to one of those stories gives you an opportunity to make first contact.

Setting up Google Alerts is dead simple, just type a keyword, select how often you want to be notified. I typically start with "as it happens". Then enter your email address. From that point on you will be the first to know of new jobs and developments in your industry.