Claudia Lambrichs recommends seven apps that no professional should be without
Finding a job is often tiresome. Tweaking your CV, preparing for those daunting interviews, and once we have the job, who’s to say we’ll even enjoy it? And how do we keep those meetings, lunches and deadlines in check? Here is a list of seven essential apps to boost every aspect of your professional life so that you stay well-informed, organised and on top of your game.
Improve your productivity
Timeful is an innovative app dedicated to improving the way we spend our time, combining an intelligent calendar with a to-do list. The app’s algorithm learns how we get stuff done and smartly suggests ways to build new habits and manage tasks, all on our own terms. The app attracted $6.8 million in US funding from firms such as Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and has just been acquired by Google. It was founded in March 2014 by serial entrepreneur Yoav Shoham, behavioural economist Dan Ariely and data scientist Jacob Bank.
Better your job search
Glassdoor boosts your future employer savviness by providing company insights from current and former employees. The app enables jobseekers to peruse company profiles, read up on what it’s really like to work there – the good and the bad – and help them make a better-informed decision. It was voted the ‘Best Employment Site 2012’ by the Webby Awards, and is hyped as “a free inside look at jobs and companies.” Employees can leave anonymous salary information, reviews, interview questions and photographs from current and past employees. Think TripAdvisor for jobs – if you are considering a job offer from a particular company you probably want to check out what others think of it.
Boost your creativity
Developed by best-selling author and innovation coach, Gabriella Goddard, Brainsparker is one of the top creativity apps and uses packs of prompt cards to help spark the imagination, unblock the mind, and trigger new ideas. It is free and comes with a Starter Pack of 200 random words, questions and actions. “Brainsparker is ideal for people who feel stuck and need a boost of creative inspiration,” says Goddard. It is available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Additional packs for writers, innovators, bloggers and managers can be purchased in-App on iPhone and iPad versions.
Up your networking skills
Meetup is an online social networking portal started in 2002 in New York and is a great way of making friends and widens your professional circle. It now has more than 21 million members across 180 countries. There are more than 15,000 professional networking groups with over four million members, including the Entrepreneurs in London, Singapore Online Business Meetup, and Vancouver Professional Women’s Networking Group.
Hone your organisational skills
Wunderlist has garnered huge popularity due to its elegant style and robust features that are easy to learn. With its paid option you can get several bonus features such unlimited tasks delegation and file uploads. But even if you want to remain a free user, it is still a wonderful app to have. You can add tasks via email and can star your important task as well as customise the look of the app. It has a broad platform that enables you to get access to your tasks from anywhere. Wunderlist is a great app if you want to start using a comprehensive virtual tool to assemble your tasks.
Boost your interview skills
Interview Prep Questions is a no-frills app that helps prepare you for those probing interview questions, such as “what makes an ideal boss?” and “explain how your knowledge has grown in the last 12 months.” Just click the question to flip the app’s “flash card” over to reveal suggested answers, as well as what kind of details you should provide for an intelligent response. Save harder questions you want to work on to a “favourite deck,” and discard the “cards” you’ve mastered into the ignore list. With flash cards this useful, you’ll wish they had ones suggesting possible interview outfits.
Bring your CV to life
Vizualize.me is a brilliant app that turns your LinkedIn profile information into a beautiful, web-based infographic. Having logged in via LinkedIn, you can edit your profile summary, work experience, education, links, skills, interests, languages, stats, recommendations and awards. And voila! A stunning infographic is created. The company’s vision is to “be the future of resumes.” Lofty goal, but completely viable, given that its iteration of the resume is much more compelling than the simple, black-and-white paper version that currently rules the world. You can choose from several themes, colour schemes and create your own categories of stats to showcase your specific talents.
