Clean up that PC

There are few things that make me more agitated than having computer problems. If you’ve ever lost a file, a folder, or a hard drive, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And when you are in the employment market, having a viable, well-tuned computer is all the more critical. In this post I’m going to share some ideas about keeping your PC in tip-top shape while you are searching for that perfect job.

Back It Up

I’m sure you’ve heard it over and over again…back up your PC! I believe the people who have learned this lesson best are those of us who have learned it the hard way. I watched the sales at Best Buy and purchased two portable external hard drives from Seagate, one for my laptop and one for my desktop. I then scheduled an automated backup once a week for both devices. No muss, no fuss, and little expense for lots of security.

Clean It Up

There are several software applications that you can run that will help you to clean up your PC. Here are a few I use on my Windows computers:

• Disk Cleanup (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup) =  “The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files.” (Microsoft.com)
• Disk Defrag (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup) = “Disk Defragmenter is a tool that rearranges the data on your hard disk and reunites fragmented files so your computer can run more efficiently.” (Microsoft.com)

Empty the Trash

After you run the clean up tools, you’ll want to empty the trash. You can do this using a simple and free tool called CCleaner. However, I’m including this caution: make sure you know what you are doing before you press “OK” in this tool! This is a “wiper” program, which means it is meant to wipe selected things off of your computer. Anytime you are running something that wipes information from your PC, use a lot of caution. You don’t want to lose something that you cannot get back.

Online Resources for More Information

Here are some additional resources related to this topic:

• CNET, Spring Cleaning Tips to Revive Your Windows PC
• About.com, Five Ways to Keep Your Windows XP Computer Humming
• About.com, What You Can Do With the System and Maintenance Area in the Control Panel
• Microsoft, Speed Up Your PC

Job search engines

Today I discovered a placement firm that specializes in the restaurant and hospitality industries. The company is Gecko Hospitality and their website is http://www.geckohospitality.com/. One of the nice things about this site is that salary ranges are included.

For a relatively complete list of job search engines, see the Job Search Engine page .

Where to find online business news and why you should be looking

Where can you go to get the latest business news and why should be looking for local news? Let’s start with why you should take the time to read the local news. (Since our group is in Broomfield, CO, you can assume that when I say “local” that I am talking about the Denver Metro area.)

If you are looking for work, it is critical that you understand the local business climate, be attuned to the industries that are hiring, and be aware of those that are not.

For example, if a potential employer has won a bid to make 100,000 widgets within the next few months, that employer will need to ramp up production quickly, which means they must hire additional employees immediately. To ramp up quickly, the employer may decide to go to multiple temporary firms, engaging those firms to do most of the they will not be looking to hire employees right now.

How would a job seeker know about these events? By reading the local business news!

The first place I go for local business news is the Denver Business Journal. Some of their articles are free and some are available by subscription only. Actually, their one-year subscription rate is quite reasonable, and if I were currently looking for work I’d pay for the one-year subscription.

Next, go to your local newspaper’s and new agencies’ Websites and search for business news. Following is a list of the sites that I know of for the northern Denver Metro area:

• 9News = This is Denver’s NBC affiliate. Although there are other broadcast news outlets in Denver metro, the 9News website if my favorite and has the best mobile application, in my opinion. Look at the headlines and the local business news sections.
• Boulder Daily Camera = Gives you news about Boulder county.
• Broomfield Enterprise = Is specific to Broomfield, CO.
• Denver Post = Covers all of Colorado and the Western U.S. Look at the “Business” and the ”Denver & the West” sections.

Third, use LinkedIn’s search for companies feature to locate local employers and easily link to company news. Go to LinkedIn.com, log in (as a job seeker, I’m assuming that you already have a profile), select Companies from the search drop-down criteria, type the company name in the search field, and click the search maginfying glass.

Fourth, if you find a local company that is a publically-held firm (they trade the company’s stock on the market), check out their rating and news from the stock exchanges to see how Wall Street thinks the firm is doing. The exchanges are NASDAQ and NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).

Reading business news online will arm you with valuable information about the business climate and will inform you about which companies are (and are not) hiring. If you know of other online resources, please post a comment to this blog. We’d all benefit from your input and experience.

Job searching using a social network

Personally, I count myself one of those folks who are still reluctant to use some (if not all) social media as part of a job search strategy. Well, to be totally truthful, I do use LinkedIn (especially “groups”) and am on our church’s social network, but that’s about as much of that kind of activity as my dance card can handle. However, for people like me, it would behoove us to reconsider embracing that technology. The latest reason to do so is that, as a recent Digital Trends article states, “64 percent of recently employed people were hired through contact on a social network.” Now, that’s a significant number.

This same article goes on to report that the US Department of Labor is partnering with Facebook in an effort to target “areas of high unemployment through geographic data and posting public service announcements.”

The lesson here is that if you do not currently have a social media strategy, you need to carefully reconsider that choice. Although LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter might not be for everyone, if you are looking for a job in today’s market, you should be including those media in your overall job search plan.

Jobs in Northern Colorado

If you are looking for work in Northern Colorado (which includes Boulder, Greeley, Fort Collins, Longmont, and Loveland), I’ve got three great resources for you.  

First, NoCoNet (Northern Colorado Networking Group) has been around since 2009. They have hosted presentations and provided job search networking opportunities for literally hundreds of people. The group hosts weekly meetings in Fort Collins. See details here.

Second, the NoCo Jobs List provides an active job board to which you can subscribe for free! When you visit the group’s website you can view open jobs or you can sign up to receive their weekly newsletter, which arrives in your inbox on Mondays.

Third, BoulderNet offers several nice resources on their website including links to resources such as job search sites, local news, and unemployment information.

Got a favorite resource that someone could use to look for jobs in northern Colorado but it wasn’t listed here? Great! Please post information about it in the comments.