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Job hunting takes a lot of time. You have to find prospects, network, fill job applications, and follow up. Even though the internet has made job hunting easier, it has also created a new problem – the enormous number of portals and job sites that you have to use.

Ideally, you would like to register for a single job site and apply to all your target positions. However, in reality, it doesn’t work that way. Most companies have their own portals. In a short amount of time, you can end up registering with hundreds of portals and you have to remember the passwords.

Most people take the lazy approach. They have a single username and password that they use for all the sites. But it’s dangerous. All your accounts can get hacked this way. So, when you are job hunting, the smart approach is to use a reliable and trust-worthy password manager and use individual passwords for the sites.

What is a Password Manager?

A password manager app stores your passwords in a single place and allows you to access all your accounts through a single portal. You don’t have to enter your password for each individual account. The password manager enters the passwords for you. You only have to remember the master password for the app itself.

When your PC, Mac or Google account is saving passwords, you are using a password manager. However, using a generic password manager is risky as it is attached to your email account. If your email gets hacked, cybercriminals will be able to access all of your accounts. It’s a good idea to use a premium password manager that can provide higher levels of security.

Premium password managers often provide additional security through two-factor authentication. In two-factor authentication, users have to go through an additional step to prevent account breach. Depending on what option you choose, you might get a special pin texted to your mobile device or email. You have to enter the pin to ensure you are the right person accessing the password manager. It means hackers need access to multiple entry-points to get into your password manager which makes breaching accounts harder.

Reasons Job Seekers Should Use Password Managers

Here are the reasons job seekers should use password managers:

  • Security: When you are applying for jobs, you want to use separate passwords for each site. It’ll ensure that even if a site gets hacked, it’ll not affect all your accounts. A password manager makes it easy to maintain individual passwords.
  • Ease of Use: Maintaining individual passwords can be difficult. With a password manager, you have to remember only one password, but you will get the benefit of using multiple passwords.
  • Time Savings: Most password managers have autofill features. So, you wouldn’t have to individually enter passwords, thus saving valuable time during your job search process.

Available Password Managers

Before choosing a password manager, you should always read the reviews to make sure it is reputable. You are going to trust the password manager with your most important online information. So, it makes sense to do due diligence.

Here are some password managers you can look into:

LastPass

LastPass is a great password manager that allows you to import passwords from Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and more. You can use the free version to save all of your passwords. There are premium tiers that back up your data and give you options for family plans.

1Password

1Password is a password manager that can be used on Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, and Chrome OS. It has a free 30-day trial. 1Password is designed with enterprise customers in mind. So, you can use the “team and business” tiers to cover your whole company.

Dashlane

Dashlane is a simple and intuitive password manager that lets you store 50 passwords for free. The premium plans let you store unlimited passwords and has the two-factor authentication option. The premium plans also have features like dark web monitoring, credit monitoring, and VPN.

Password Manager Transition Process

After choosing a password manager that meets your need, take the following steps:

  • Transfer: Export the current passwords from your browser or computer and import them to the new password manager. Most password managers have a mechanism to transfer passwords.
  • Verify: Make sure that you can access your accounts on various websites using the password manager.
  • Clean Old Stored Passwords: After verifying for a few days, remove passwords from your generic password manager.
  • Use the New Password Manager: Moving forward, store you new passwords only in the premium password manager.

Conclusion

Job hunting can be stressful. If you use a password manager, it will automate the task of accessing various sites without compromising your security. So, using a reliable password manager is a smart move.

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careerbyte Team

The team that curates career advice for the careerbyte community.

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