iTunes Viewing Options for a Table or Spreadsheet?

October 1, 2012 9:38 AM

What Mac program should I use for a chart to keep track of my upcoming job applications? You know how in iTunes, you can see the same music library listed alphabetically by artist, or by album, or by genre, and so on? I'd like to be able to view the same bunch of jobs listed by deadline, or by ad number, or alphabetically by requirements.

The idea is that I'd like to just enter information under headings like "Ad #", "Job Name", "App Type", "Deadline", and then be able to click those headings to view them listed in a number of different orders. E.g.:

Viewed by Ad #:

Ad #34...Crappy University...Paper App...Oct. 31
Ad #40...Alright University...Online App...Nov. 15
Ad #56...Swanky University...Online App...Nov. 5

Viewed by Deadline:

Ad #34...Crappy University...Paper App...Oct. 31
Ad #56...Swanky University...Online App...Nov. 5
Ad #40...Alright University...Online App...Nov. 15

Viewed by Job Name:

Ad #40...Alright University...Online App...Nov. 15
Ad #34...Crappy University...Paper App...Oct. 31
Ad #56...Swanky University...Online App...Nov. 5

...and so on.

Free would be highly preferable. Other info:

- I don't have Numbers from iWork, although maybe that's what I need?

- I have a hard time with Excel, and the cells are generally too small or cut off info that I'd like to see.

- Is there an easy way to do this with Word 2008? (Probably not.)

Thanks!

posted by Beardman to computers & internet (9 answers total)

I'd do this with Excel. It's possible to format the cells so that they don't cut off the text. The Sort function is maybe a few more clicks than it seems like you'd like, but it's totally doable.

Bento would also be a good bet for this. It's been a while since I used it, but I think there's actually a Job Application or Networking template that you could probably adapt.
posted by gauche at 9:42 AM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Use a database. Excel is not a database, although a worksheet can be hacked together to look like one. FileMaker Pro or Bento are good options for the Mac, but are not free.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:45 AM on October 1, 2012

If you're open to free web apps, I've used HappyJobSearch and been happy with it.
posted by heliostatic at 9:52 AM on October 1, 2012

I did this with Google Docs, which obviously has some of the drawbacks of Excel, but has the added bonus of being available anywhere.

I had fields for job title, institution, application deadline, paper or web app, special requirements (like essays), and the date of application. It let me sort things really easily, and I moved jobs to a separate sheet when I got rejected or a certain amount of time had passed.
posted by itsamermaid at 10:15 AM on October 1, 2012

Ditto Google Docs.
posted by radioamy at 10:48 AM on October 1, 2012

evernote or google spreadsheets.
posted by empath at 1:40 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm doing this right now in Google Docs. My fields are:
Date / Employer's Name/ Address/ Phone/ website/ Method of Contact/ Name of Contact Person/ Position applied for/ Result of Contact

I color code them, green for when I'm getting some activity, red for when they've gone dead.

I'm also keeping a separate document with each of the advertised jobs that I've applied to, so that I can look up the exact job description if (when!) they contact me months later.
posted by Kriesa at 6:11 PM on October 1, 2012

The nice thing about Google Spreadsheets is that you can create a Google Form just for yourself to fill out as you enter applications. It's a bit more user-friendly than typing directly into the little cells, but the data will all be dumped nicely into a Google spreadsheet.

Maybe that's not useful for your purpose, but I have a friend who used that technique when making a list of grad school applications, and I thought it was ingenious.
posted by mekily at 10:42 PM on October 1, 2012

Thanks everyone! It seems like something Google is the way to go for my purposes.
posted by Beardman at 7:15 AM on October 2, 2012