Is there a good way to get notified when jobsites post new listings?
November 19, 2009 11:48 AM Subscribe
A wildland firefighter/fire ecologist, I have a rather unique skillset. I know most of the websites appropriate jobs are posted, but few of them have email alerts or rss feeds. Is there any way to stay abreast of new postings without going to each site every week?
I'm a wildland firefighter, just finishing a degree in fire ecology and environmental management, with international and policy experience. I have a bit of an unusual skillset, and the jobs I'm interested on are typically not posted on sites like Monster. The kind of jobs I'm looking for are mostly posted on pages like this, with no rss feed or subscriptions.
Right now I just have a list of website to check in with every week or two, but sometimes I forget and miss potential interesting opportunities. Is there any way to find out about new listings on websites like this? Thanks!
I'm a wildland firefighter, just finishing a degree in fire ecology and environmental management, with international and policy experience. I have a bit of an unusual skillset, and the jobs I'm interested on are typically not posted on sites like Monster. The kind of jobs I'm looking for are mostly posted on pages like this, with no rss feed or subscriptions.
Right now I just have a list of website to check in with every week or two, but sometimes I forget and miss potential interesting opportunities. Is there any way to find out about new listings on websites like this? Thanks!
what I did was to learn some PHP and scrape websites using this site as a guide
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 12:04 PM on November 19, 2009
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 12:04 PM on November 19, 2009
You could set up a Google Alert if the job title would be unique enough. Or pick a skill or requirement or not so popular software that can be found in the majority of the job postings you've seen.
For example, I have nice handwriting, and when I was looking for extra money, I set up an alert for the phrase "nice handwriting" on NYC craigslist, I get an email. I picked that phrase because that seemed to be the phrase people used when looking for someone to address envelopes or whatever. Every now and then I get a straggler that was for handwriting classes, but it's an easy fix - I just delete it.
I've also used an alert for FileMaker, because not every company uses FM, but if a company stresses FileMaker experience (at least enough to include it in a posting), then the alert gets sent to me. I mention that only because you may give yourself an advantage if you have a unique skill or quality that you want to use in the job, you can help your search using an alert.
So, if it were me, I would find some key phrases and narrow it down first to the specific websites I always check, and then to broader job boards on the off chance a job is posted there. If I could get a really, really specific phrase then I wouldn't narrow it down to any particular sites.
posted by alice ayres at 12:22 PM on November 19, 2009
For example, I have nice handwriting, and when I was looking for extra money, I set up an alert for the phrase "nice handwriting" on NYC craigslist, I get an email. I picked that phrase because that seemed to be the phrase people used when looking for someone to address envelopes or whatever. Every now and then I get a straggler that was for handwriting classes, but it's an easy fix - I just delete it.
I've also used an alert for FileMaker, because not every company uses FM, but if a company stresses FileMaker experience (at least enough to include it in a posting), then the alert gets sent to me. I mention that only because you may give yourself an advantage if you have a unique skill or quality that you want to use in the job, you can help your search using an alert.
So, if it were me, I would find some key phrases and narrow it down first to the specific websites I always check, and then to broader job boards on the off chance a job is posted there. If I could get a really, really specific phrase then I wouldn't narrow it down to any particular sites.
posted by alice ayres at 12:22 PM on November 19, 2009
There are websites that will track page changes for you and alert you via email:Watch That Page, Track Engine and a Firefox add-on that does something similar.
posted by tallus at 12:39 PM on November 19, 2009
posted by tallus at 12:39 PM on November 19, 2009
I can't help you with the details of scraping for job alerts, but that's what I would suggest. Good luck in your job search! On a tangential note, thanks so much for maintaining that website with examples of successful NSF grants - it helped me so, so much in drafting my own proposal.
posted by foodmapper at 2:16 PM on November 19, 2009
posted by foodmapper at 2:16 PM on November 19, 2009
indeed.com is a job posting aggregator that lets you create RSS feeds.
posted by jrishel at 6:04 AM on November 20, 2009
posted by jrishel at 6:04 AM on November 20, 2009
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posted by extrabox at 11:58 AM on November 19, 2009