Diggin' On Windows Live

I just posted this on my Jobseeker's Revenge blog and thought that the info would be just as relevant here as well. Just substitute the jobs feeds cited on Pagebites with the resume feeds that are also offered on Pagebites. It works either way. Enjoy!

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We (Microsoft) recently launched a new (awesome) product called “Windows Live” and if you didn’t know, now you know. Windows Live is a big deal in consideration of all the things it will do, but let me help you grasp the possibilities by showing you one trick that you can immediately use. Presently, we do not have our jobs available in RSS (disappointed sigh…), but never fear… Thanks to Windows Live I have a hack that works great. Let’s go through it step-by-step.

Below is a screenshot of Windows Live in its simplistic splendor. You can make cosmetic changes like adding more columns and hiding categories and such, but I will let you discover that on your own as you play with it.

The first thing I want you to do is “Sign in” which means you have to create an account. No worries, its all free.

Once you are signed in, you can add the name of your favorite blog into the search box. In this example, I am using my other blog “Jobseeker’s Revenge.” Once I entered the title of the blog I hit the search button. (See arrow)

The search results returned are specific blog posts from the web. Nice to see, but not what we want. We want to click the Feeds button (see arrow).

Now the search results reveal blogs titled “Jobseekers Revenge” and blogs that mention Jobseeker’s Revenge. After reviewing the results, it’s the first link I have an interest in so I click “Subscribe.” (see arrow)

And like magic (abracadabra), it appears under “My Web.” Please, hold the applause.

Now the next time I come back to my “Windows Live” homepage, I can choose to read the “Jobseeker’s Revenge” blog from the menu. (See arrow)

This is how it looks once you do. You see the most recent post in all its glory. You also have the option to read only the headlines (by clicking collapse all) or reading all the post by making one long page of blog entries (expand all). You can do these things from the links just under the blog title. (see arrow)

Now this is where the hack comes in I was telling you about earlier. Leave Windows Live for a moment and visit Pagebites. Pagebites is a careersite that aggregates (among other things) jobs from multiple careersites (Careerbuilder, HotJobs, etc.) Click the Jobs link (so that the word Jobs turns black) and enter in criteria relevant to your background. In this example, I am adding “Microsoft, Sales” for the keywords and Redmond for the city I am interested in working in.

Pagebites brings back over lots of results for Microsoft jobs where the keyword Sales is mentioned. Groovy! Now notice the orange RSS button? (see arrow) Click on it!

What pops up is an XML file on the results you just found in Pagebites. No need to make sense of it, all you have to do is copy the web address of this information. Click on the address until it is highlighted, on your keyboard hit CONTROL (the CTRL button) and “C” (also on your keyboard) to copy it. Once done, head back to the Windows Live page.

Now that you are back on the homepage, click the Advanced Options. (see arrow)

The first slot under Advanced Options says “Subscribe to a specific feed by entering the URL below.” This is where you enter the address in you just copied over at Pagebites. (Simply click inside the slot and on your keyboard hit CONTROL (the CTRL button) and “V” (also on your keyboard) at the same time and that will paste the info in.)

And Abracadabra! There is a link to the Pagebites’ job search results page, just under the link to the news feed for Jobseeker’s Revenge. Let’s take a look at it.

I click the Pagebites link and (as before with my blog example) I see the first result in the news feed and headlines for all of the other results.

Now this is VERY groovy! Why? By using Windows Live in this way, you can keep a close eye on all Microsoft job opportunities as they are posted to the multiple careersites in REAL TIME! Imagine a job being posted at 9:15am, you see it on Windows Live at 9:16am and reply at 9:17am ahead of your jobseeking competition who rely on job alerts that go out at a certain time or check only one or two careersites infrequently. When job searching, every bit helps, right?

Good luck!

-Jim