Your ultimate guide to transforming your phone into a careers hub - Debut

Your ultimate guide to transforming your phone into a careers hub - Debut This post was written by an external contributor. Niamh McGovern tells us all about transforming your phone into a careers hub because who has time to sit down at a desktop nowadays? Disastrous scenario: you are on a weekend trip without a laptop and you’ve found a last-minute internship via email. It closes in three hours. Crap. Dont fret. You have a backup plan in your pocket. Our smart phones are powerful devices and we aren’t using them to their full potential when we look for job opportunities. No need to fear, we’ve written a guide to transforming your phone into a careers hub. Handy! Set up an efficient calendar Time to use your mobile calendar for more than birthday reminders. If you use an email app on your phone, go into the mail account settings and turn on calendar notifications. Any invitations you receive via email will automatically send alerts to your phone, so you never miss an all-important appointment. Your phone will colour code appointments as you add more email accounts. Now you can be the organised genius you need right now. Save an up-to-date CV on a cloud service This is paramount if you need to send a CV in a hurry. Most operating systems have their own online drive, Google Drive   Dropbox, and  OneDrive to name a few but there are many other options out there. On your laptop, or document editor app, save an up-to-date CV on the drive. When you need to send your resumé,  simply access the CV on your phone and attach it to the job application. In an ideal world youll be able to tailor the CV to the job application. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. Unless Set up a document editor on your phone Every CV you send is probably tailored to a particular employer and cover letters are practically a requirement today. Downloading Microsoft Word, Pages or any document editor allows you to send a cover letter in a jiffy, with professional tools that match any laptop’s ability. Setting up a template will save you time so you can make your deadline. Just save the finished document as a PDF and add it to the  cloud drive of your choice. Set up a professional email signature I find myself emailing more and more from my mobile phone, which requires a little set up in order to use professionally. In your mail settings, you will be able to customise your email signature.  Every on-the-go email will then be formatted perfectly, with contact details and information about you. If you have multiple email accounts, you will be able to customise each one in mail settings, so you can avoid the dreaded “Sent from iPhone” line. Set up professional platforms on your phone You probably already use the Facebook app. Maybe Twitter if you are savvy but you should be using applications that enhance your job searches too. Debut and LinkedIn are mobile optimized social platforms, allowing you to easily respond to professional messages and network while you take the nightly train home. It’s a great way to use your time effectively, since most of us forget to update out contacts on the latest projects and skills we have worked hard to gain. Download a video-chat app Most interviews require a quick face-to-face chat these days. However, technology can save the candidate time and travel expenses. Be smart and embrace this, offer an employer a video chat over Skype if he or she feels it is necessary. If you don’t have a laptop or desktop on-hand, download the Skype app which is available in IOS, Android and Google Play. Don’t be caught out! Remember to take time off! These tips make your life easier in a crisis. But using your phone  might cause you to  burn out easily. All those push notifications can get stressful! If you need a break, turn on the ‘do not disturb’ feature, which will only let the most important calls and emails disturb your down time. Most phones have a priority list you can add contacts to in case youre waiting on a specific application. Download the Debut app and get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter