Over the last decade, how people discover new job opportunities has evolved dramatically. When was the last time that you looked at a newspaper to find your next job?

These days, the majority of job searches are conducted online, spawning a whole new industry around job boards, recruitment websites and job posting platforms. However, with all of these advancements, the modern job search can still seem a bit complicated and time consuming. Here are a number of tools that can help simplify and organise your job search process:

Email Alerts:
Email Alerts are a useful way of keeping up-to-date with the latest vacancies available direct from any job board or corporate careers site. By signing up to the alerts, you’ll get notified every time there’s a job that matches your search requirements and save you from having to check multiple websites every day. Indeed aggregates vacancies from several job boards and careers site which guarantees you get the most comprehensive run down of jobs available. Alternatively, you can use Google Alerts to monitor job vacancies from the companies you are targeting as well as any press releases or company updates which could prove useful for your search.

iGoogle Homepage:The iGoogle Homepage service will be deprecated by November 2013 but until then, you can still use it to set up your ‘Job search dashboard’. Using iGoogle widgets, you can subscribe to RSS feeds from different job sites  and have  up to 9 of the latest jobs from each site displayed side by side. The widgets update frequently and are clickable links to the live job advertisements. This affords you an ‘at-a-glance’ view of all the open jobs available without accessing each site separately. You can also add other useful widgets such as Gmail, Calendar, Google directions and even a currency converter if you’re looking at international jobs.

If you don’t want to use iGoogle, there are free alternatives such as uStart.orgwhich work in a similar way.

LinkedIn:
LinkedIn the much touted professional networking site offers numerous opportunities for job seekers to connect with recruiters, potential employers and industry peers. It can be a valuable source of information and leads. Most employers and recruitment agencies will have a presence on the network and are open to connecting with job seekers either on LinkedIn groups or on a one-to-one basis. You can also use LinkedIn to research everything you can about a potential hiring manager and his team.     

PocketResume:If you’ve been inactive on the job search front for a while, your CV is probably outdated. If you don’t have the luxury of time or the patience to sit in front of a computer and put together a new CV on a bulky piece of word processing software, there is PocketResume. It is an easy to use app for smartphones and tablets which allows you to create professional looking CVs with the minimum of fuss. Your CV will then be converted into a PDF, ready to be sent to the next hiring manager.

However, do bear in mind that using a service like this will have limitations on customisation and that you may still need to create a version of your CV in a Word document format.

Google Drive + Dropbox:
Most recruitment websites and job boards see the highest traffic during the week with peak times at working hours.  While you may be able to conduct your job search at work, you might not always have a copy of your CV on your work computer. Using Google Drive or Dropbox to store your CV ensures that you have access to your files from any device and apply for jobs whenever you need to.

Which tools do you use? Let us know in the comments below!

Online scammers will email care providers saying that they are writing from overseas and need a babysitter for an upcoming trip to the United States. Once the babysitting schedule and price has been secured, the person tells you that they will send a check for a pay deposit (your pay for babysitting). The check, however, has extra money attached to it because the person would like you to buy the children some toys at a specific store before the family arrives.  The person asks you to deposit your half of the payment in your checking account at an ATM and take out the remaining money to bring to the designated store.   It has already been arranged that the manager (an accomplice to the crime) will send the children the toys after receiving the payment from you.

As innocent as this email seems, this scam is detrimental to you.  In reality, you have inadvertently cashed a stolen or bogus check into your bank account and you will be responsible for fees associated with this type of fraud.  You could be guilty of money laundering, passing a counterfeit check, or worse. 

How do you avoid this type of scam? Here are some good clues that a scammer, and not someone looking for a babysitter, is on the other side of the computer:

• Not A+ Language:  Although most of us don't consider ourselves to be experts at the English language, it's a good idea to see if the scammer is.  Do they place a question mark at the end of a sentence that should have a period? See if any of the sentences make sense. If the sentences are confusing, don't reply back.
• They complicate things: In this type of scam, we would think to ourselves-"Well, why didn't they just write two checks?  That would have been easier!" LISTEN TO YOUR INSTINCT. If they easily sent a check to your home, they can just as easily send another check to the store.
• Check the names:  A good scammer will use the same names for their children, but if they are scamming many people, they may get confused and be a victim in their own web of lies.  If they tell you they have two boys, James and John, one day and the names are Peter and Paul the next day, there's a very good chance it is a scam.
• Ask questions: Many of us don't want to be rude and bother people with useless questions, but always ask them.  If you have a solution (they could write two checks or send one to the store themselves), politely email that advice.  If they are contacting you every day with updates, it is ok to contact them as well with questions.
• Avoid Sympathy: Most of us want to help people and we offer to help in any way we can. Don't let the "sob story" affect your judgment.  If something seems off, it usually is.
• Listen to the Words:  Many scammers use the same email format (there is a chain of emails for each reply and they stick to that chain-none of the emails are personalized) so try to throw them off by having "something suddenly come up."  If they completely ignore your reply in the next email and re-send the instructions again, you know you are dealing with a scammer.
• Watch the tone: Scammers become more and more impatient and just need a confirmation that everything has been done.  They just want to scam you and move on-to the next person.  If they become increasingly impatient, it is okay to back out of the babysitting job.
• Check the check:  It sounds silly, but before you cash anything that is sent to you, have the bank or police make sure the check is good.  See if the name matches, the account number is legitimate, and that the account has sufficient funds.   If anything is wrong, do not cash the check.  Head straight to the police station and explain the situation to the authorities.
• Get opinions: We ask for advice in almost every aspect of our lives.  Get the opinion of friends and family and see what they think.  Don't be embarrassed about the situation youare in-your friends and family want to help you avoid the scam too!

If you have already been in contact with the person and think that it may be a scam, you should cease all communications with the scammer as soon as possible.Don't reply to any emails and hang up your phone if they call you.Print any email exchanges and go down to your local police station.These emails are useful because they can show a pattern for the scam and can be re-printed to educate others to avoid this type of scam. Scams should always be reported because the police will be able to tell how widespread the problem is depending on where and when they are getting the complaints.  If the number of reports spikes, police will use the knowledge of all of the complaints to track the scammer.

Above all else, listen to your instincts.  If your instincts say no, don't go!

Would you know if you found your dream job or how to identify it?

The best way to know is ask yourself some simple questions -
Does this job come naturally to me?
Am I passionate about it?
Do I care strongly about it?
Am I inspired by it?
Do I yearn for it?
Am I paid well?
Does this mean a lot to me?
Do I love it? 
If you are evaluating job offers, this could come in handy to help you decide which offer would suit you the most.

One of the most frustrating things in life is putting time and effort into applying for a job, acing the interview and then never hearing back from the company.

Being rejected is one of the biggest annoyances experienced by job seekers. But it's not just being turned down that infuriates people. It's having an interview and then not being turned down, or so much as contacted by the company ever again.

We interviewed company leaders and hiring managers to find out why companies no longer send rejection letters – and why those who do, still do.

1. Sheer volume. It's a buyer's market out there in today's economy. Record numbers of applicants are applying for fewer jobs, with companies receiving on average 250 résumés for every job opening, according to a recent article by Dr. John Sullivan on the recruitment community website ERE.net.

"The reason we can't always respond to job seekers is simply a matter of volume," says Joel Gross, CEO and founder of Coalition Technologies. "Considering the sheer number of responses we get to a single job listing, it's impossible for us to even open all of the emails, let alone respond to each one personally."

2. Fear of being sued. The decrease in employer response to job applicants may be a natural consequence of the faceless online applicant tracking system, but also the result of a greater fear. "With today's recession bringing more employment lawsuits, your company's applicant rejection letters could be very costly if written in a way that could spark legal action," warns George Lenard, the originator of George's Employment Blawg.

3. They put office staff in the firing line. Sending a job rejection email with a name or number included may have unintended consequences. "Mounting layoffs are creating a glut of qualified job hunters who are desperate for work," says a source at theHRSpecialist.com. "As their frustration grows, more applicants are reading deeper into their rejection letters – sometimes spotting job promises you never intended."

The last thing your office staff wants is to spend time on the phone with rejected job-seekers who have called with the hopes of talking their way back into the job, or worse – questioning whether you made the right hiring decision.

4. They're keeping their options open. Companies may also linger to reject you in case another candidate falls through. Sometimes the No. 1 candidate doesn't work out, so the No. 2 candidate is then called and offered the position. "The company doesn't want to completely shut that door," says Katie Fuller, a recent graduate from UVa McIntire School of Commerce. "If they never come across a good candidate, they can't extend any sort of offer if they've rejected you."

Reasons to Send Rejection Emails

There are many good arguments for notifying candidates that their application has been unsuccessful. Sending job rejection letters can actually build brand goodwill by giving applicants closure. "When you apply for a job, it often feels like your résumé goes into the same black hole that sucks up your socks in the dryer," says Ellis Blevins, the director of Amadeus Talent, a technical recruiting division of Amadeus Consulting. "We find that a personal approach alleviates a lot of the stress and frustration that happens when applying for jobs."

"The hiring process is an important part of building a company," agrees Jessica Nobrega, director of talent at Grammarly. "Clear communication across all departments and channels is a key piece to ensuring that the company's culture is one of integrity and respect for others."

Whatever you do, avoid this move, posted by a frustrated reviewer with the user name "Pixilated" on the website About.com: "The most memorable [rejection letter] came via email, with the subject line: REJECTED. Wow."

What to Do If You Don't Hear Back

So what's a job seeker to do? The best way forward is to ask at the end of your interview about the next step in the hiring process. "Asking about the timelines gives you the opportunity to follow up," advises a hiring manager at the career coaching website Expectingchange.com. "If the employer says, 'We expect to let people know by the end of this week,' you can then say, 'If I haven't heard back from you by the beginning of next week, is it OK if I call?'"

Asking for the green light to check allows you to take positive action to follow up on your interview, rather than being left in the dark.

When Being Gracious Pays Off

It takes a rare person to respond to rejection with positivity, but writing a gracious thank-you note if you actually do receive a rejection letter will make you stand head and shoulders above other candidates. "If you can muster the professionalism and grace to thank the people who interviewed you, you could transform yourself from a reject into a pearl," says Julie Bauke, president of Congruity Career Consulting. Every time Bauke gets a thank-you letter in response to a rejection, she finds herself wondering: "Did I make the right decision?"