Why Everyone Should be Using Google Alerts
April 23, 2010 | VReitano
Do you wish you could stay on top of the news, but simply don’t have time to do it in between classes, papers and other College responsbilities? Google, the creator of all things that seem to make one’s life easier, has a great system–Alerts. Google Alerts can be set up and scheduled to be sent to your email daily, as-it-happens or weekly. These are a great resource as they are sent directly to your email, and can be viewed as HTML emails or text-only emails. Do you think you will use them?
Google Alerts allow you to schedule a specific topic (it can be anything from college to “Dancing With the Stars” to a job search) and have a Google bot search the entire Web in order to return relevant results directly to your inbox, for your viewing pleasure.You can schedule a variety of alerts and keep some active and others inactive, activating them whenever you feel the need to follow another trend.
I found out about this system last year when I began preparing for my job search–a professor recommended that I set up a Google Alert with my name so that I can see what comes up daily in a personal Google search. This is an important way to keep your online image clean. This is particularly important for the students applying to jobs online as employers will automatically have access to Google (after opening their emails) and I am sure many automatically Google a prospective employee before even opening your resume attachment.
They help journalism students stay on top of the news, and they can be useful for other majors as well. I think any student could use them to ensure that they are on top of the news and any topics that might be of interest to their professors– drop a few daily tips and I’m sure you’ll have an A in no time!
You can search blogs, videos, comprehensive, groups or do just a general Web search. The emails will be comprised of either 20 or 50 results, depending on your preference.
Will you try out these Alerts? Do you think they will help you stay on top of a job or internship search? Let us know below!
