Using Pinterest to Organize your Job Search

It's been 12 years or so since I last did a proper job search. Back in the day, I just scrolled through Craigslist sending my one resume with two years of experience across two different jobs. I didn't get much interest, but I did land my first recruiting gig!

In the intervening time, the world has changed dramatically. Linkedin is now a mass-adopted professional network. Craigslist is no longer a go-to for entry level talent. Monster and Career Builder are basically dead. Indeed...looks the exact same. Given all of this change, the job search experience, for me, hasn't been materially different.

Monster and Craigslist have been replaced by Linkedin and Glassdoor. Job search still mostly needs to happen on a laptop as mobile job applications are a total pain and organizing your job search generally needs to happen in a spreadsheet.

Well, my world doesn't exist on a laptop; it exists on my mobile device. If I'm on my laptop I'm working, and generally not job searching. When I have a moment on the train or legs-up on a couch that's when I look for my next opportunity.

To make this work, I had to hack Pinterest and I am pretty pleased with how its helped me remember which companies I've applied to and provide links to the actual job descriptions after I have an interview confirmed (you'd be surprised how often a company forgets to reference the specific job they are interviewing you for during the scheduling process).

Here is the step by step process:

1. Sign up for Pinterest.
2. Download the Mobile App (and desktop chrome extension if you plan on using both devices).
3. Setup your boards: One for each type of job you are applying for (to do this log in to Pinterest, click on your name in the upper right and then then + sign under the top search bar. Select "Create Board"). I created one for Recruiting Jobs, Product Jobs and Operations Jobs.
4. Next, go to the Linkedin app (avoid the Linkedin Jobs app - it doesn't work with Pinterest) on your mobile device (download and login if you don't already have it)
5. Go to the Briefcase (or Jobs) tab on the lower bar (far right). Use search to find a job you want to apply to.
6. Click the Apply button - this will take you to the company's career page.
7. Before you actually fill out an application, hit the three-dots in the upper right. Select Pinterest from the menu (if its not there and you have the Pinterest app installed, go to More in the Apps line where you see your Message and Reminders apps listed).
8. Pinterest will now ask you to select an image. 50% of the time it's a weird image. If available, I pick the logo. Hit Next.
9. Select the board you want to append the job to. Great! The job is on your Pinterest board.
10. Finally, apply for the job. Most of the time I apply right away in the mobile app but you could just browse and then do a mass-apply on your desktop from all of the Pins you saved.

Now you can visit your boards, see what jobs you applied for in each job category and click on the pins to take you to the job descriptions.

You can see my Pinterest Board here as an example. If anyone has a board they want to share, shoot me an email at me@trentkrupp.com and I'll link it here.