Hi,
A potential user of the Job Search Log asked a few questions before registering to use JobSearchLog.
K's question:
Before I start using a tool like this, I'd like to know more about how it is being supported financially. Can you tell me more about why it is free? Thank you.
My Response:
Your skepticism is not only warranted, but one I share myself when testing new software. To explain why it is free, I need to tell you a little about myself.
I worked for a software company that went out of business 1 week after 9/11 due to the company's owner losing big in the market immediately following 9/11.
To say I was lost when I was laid off would be an understatement. Luckily though I lived in New Hampshire I had worked in Boston so I received Massachusetts unemployment and my family was able to survive on the better payments I received while I looked. I spent several hours a day looking for jobs filling out the long registration forms, submitting my resume in the formats they would accept and writing custom cover letters to send to potential employers. Along the way due to the hundreds of jobs I applied for, I would forget who I applied to, what I applied for and said in that letter, and the specifics of the job. In many cases the original job ad was no longer on the web since they were in the interview process.
I looked on the web for a solution and found that though some job engines had a capacity to track the jobs found in their pages there was no way to track jobs found in other engines. Not even the unemployment department had something like that.
Since I was a database developer I wrote a small application that met my needs with a database so I could do mail merge letters and track the jobs I applied for. Luckily I got a job offer and didn't need my little program anymore. I would think about it every once in a while but I was so busy learning web database and page development that I never found the time to complete it.
Then my wife lost her job and since I was such a wonderful husband, I was patient for about a week. In my infinite wisdom I decided that her problem was a lack of organization. We agreed that she should be better organized. She tried the program I had written previously but found it very cumbersome to use for a non-techie. So I decided to write a web page in September '05 since I was taking the week off. Many months later, you have a web application created weeknights after 8 (when the kids go to bed) and through many winter weekends. I had several people look at what I've done and thought it was something that others could use.
Now, to finally address your concern about the financial viability of a project such as this. Two years ago, I bought a domain called Carbodehydrated.com and started paying a hosting provider a modest amount each month. I used those pages to test out new technology and improve my skills that weren't necessary to know while working in the Intranet environment and to blog about my low-carb diet. When I decided to start this project I had all the software I needed to do the work (99% of what I use is Open Source Software like the mySQL database). The only cost associated with this project so far is the very modest hosting fees, my time and my diet. Approximately 3 months ago I bought the domain jobsearchlog.com at a very cheap rate for 3 years. I have space on the page to have some advertising in the future, but right now I only have a link to Google which will pay me $1 per person each time they download FireFox and the Google Toolbar. I haven't made enough yet to pay a month of the hosting fees but I know that as more people start using the project that money will be recouped. Currently I have been using the jobsearchlog program to send emails and a flier about the application to the States and Canadian provinces, Job Networking groups in the United States and Canada, and eventually the Transition Assistance Program for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking links be placed on their pages.
I'd like to say thanks to all the new people who registered this week to use JobSearchLog. I hope that it is helping you meet your goals.
That's all for now. I like to hear from people who are using my labor of love. If you have any questions, complaints or suggestions, I welcome you to contact me at info@jobsearchlog.com.
Good Luck with your Job Search,
Michael
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