College senior uses Highrise to manage his job hunt

Bill D'Alessandro wrote us an email titled "How I use Highrise":

Hey 37Signals,

I wanted to drop you a line to let you know how much Highrise has helped me out. I think it's a somewhat unique use.

I'm a senior in college, which means job hunting is priority number one. I've interviewed at countless companies, multiple rounds of interviews at each one. Through it all, I've amassed a huge stack of business cards. I was finding it impossible to remember who was who - and had no way to keep track of those little personal tidbits ("John is a huge Giants fan", etc).

Highrise has been the answer to my prayers. I took an hour or two and typed all those business cards into Highrise, and now everyone is searchable, and organized by company. I have all their contact information right there. In addition, the email dropbox feature lets me keep track of all my communications with them, so I can remember what I've said to whom. I also keep notes on people to help me remember them - "Steve looks like Ronald Regan", "Rich loves the Saints", etc.

Now that I've finally landed a job, I use Highrise to keep track of all my professional networking - who has connections at which company that might be able to help me land that next job down the road.

Thanks again for making my life easier,
- Bill

We followed up with him to see if he had any advice for other Highrise customers:

One of the other ways I use Highrise to manage my personal networking is with tags. I tag people based on industry, so I can quickly show everyone in "investment banking" for example.

I also extensively used Tasks during my job search to remind me of application deadlines, as well as when I needed to follow up with someone, send a resume, etc.

The most valuable use though is in helping me remember all the people I've met. When you interview with 5 people in suits back to back, their faces start to blur together. Highrise helps me remember who's who.

It's also really helpful to remember what I've said to whom. For example, I usually send emails after an interview with a thank you and a follow up question - Highrise email tracking helps me make sure I don't send someone the same email twice. I can also display everyone at the company I just interviewed at, and make sure I send them all an email.

Thanks for the info Bill. To learn more about Highrise, take a tour.

Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.