Job seekers these days will try nearly anything to land a position with decent pay and benefits. Thanks to the poor economy, there are far more workers than jobs at the moment, and while new jobs are being created, there are still companies cutting back and laying people off, adding to the unemployment rate and putting qualified workers into the open market. This means that there is stiff competition for even the most menial, minimum-wage jobs. So you shouldn’t be surprised to find yourself competing with MBA grads for low-level temp positions. In short, it’s a tough time to be hunting for a job, and you’ll need any edge you can get when it comes to getting a foot in the door. Sometimes that means being the first in line to apply for a position. And with modern technology on your side you’ll have the best possible chance of beating the odds, getting an interview, and nabbing the job before most applicants even know it’s been posted.

In this regard the Pocket Resume application can help. Let’s just start with the fact that having an impressive resume is a must if you want to be considered for a job. You’re facing a lot of competition, especially when it comes to corporate employment, and you need your résumé to be professional and stand out. Pocket Resume can deliver on both points, and it provides you with a number of options that warrant the $2.99 you’ll pay to download the app. When it comes to ease of use, you might be drawn to apps that provide you with templates. But Pocket Resume offers even more by creating a professional layout for you so that all you have to do is input required information.

As long as you know the basics about your employment history and schooling you’re pretty much good to go (although users have noted that you should start by entering your oldest employment record first so that your current employment is listed at the top). Of course, if you are a professional seeking work you may already have a résumé, and you might not want to go through the process of creating another from scratch. Luckily, the app syncs up with LinkedIn, so you can use entries in your profile to make resume creation a snap.

But these handy features are not the true meat of the app. The main appeal comes from the options you have once your résumé is complete. You can easily export your résumé as a PDF file so that you can print it for interviews, you can email it directly to prospective employers, and you can even upload it to Dropbox for easy retrieval at a moment’s notice (if you happen to be shaking hands with an exec and he wants to see a quick breakdown of your skills and experience on the spot, for example). This app puts your résumé at your fingertips so that you can deliver it post-haste, no matter where you are. While you might still need a resume writing service to help you polish up the content, Pocket Resume will get your credentials into the right hands at the drop of a hat, potentially putting you first in line for hire.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this guest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

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