Just the name, smart phone, should be clue as to why it’s time to move over to one of these devices. Maybe you are thinking: “I’m unemployed, I’m in debt, there is no way I am paying several hundred dollars and then a hundred dollars a month just to have some stupid phone I won’t even use.”
The point is you will likely use it all the time.
It’s even arguable in today’s job market a smart phone is essential for survival.
Here are FIVE reasons why 2012 is the year to go and get a smart phone.
1.The cell phone is the new watch.
People look at cell phones consciously and unconsciously all the time to determine everything from your age to your socioeconomic status. Having a smart phone is the unspoken way of letting a prospective employer know that you are tech savvy and up with the times. Older workers in particular need to pay attention to what phone they carry. Prospective employers may even prompt you to use your phone just to gain access to information about you that by law they cannot ask.
Moreover, prospective employers can gain valuable information about everything from your judgment skills to your office etiquette by simply ringing your cell phone or sending you a text during an interview and watching how you react. Always, always put your phone on silent before entering an interview situation or a serious meeting.
2. 2012 is likely to be the year of the smart phone wars.
This means lower costs and greater incentives for anyone purchasing a smart phone this year. In addition, unlimited phone and data plans are still available among some carriers and these will soon be a thing of the past. Data usage charges are already part of most plans and these charges are only going one-way, up.
3. A smart phone provides instant access to essential information.
As a job searcher, instant access can prove critical to doing well in an interview and landing a job. For example, while at an employment event you might meet someone who introduces you to a friend who is hiring. After being introduced he wants to “talk more” after he gives a speech in the next room. Provided you have a smart phone its possible to quickly research the prospective employer and his company and impress him with your general knowledge.
That same instant access can be the edge that is needed to be on the top of the pile for consultant work or an interview. When a prospective employer gets 3,000 applications via e-mail just how far do you think they get down the pile. Don’t you want a phone that will prompt you immediately when a job is posted?
Furthermore, there is always the ability to leverage Facebook or LinkedIn when you meet someone important. It’s so easy to say, “Can I friend you so we can keep in touch?” The luxury of having all of your platforms with you on your phone at all times is such a gift, especially when you are networking to find a job.
4. Get a smart phone and dump expensive landline services.
Almost everything you can get on cable TV you can get for free or almost free on your smart phone. Of course the screen size isn’t the same but then again you can take it with you almost anywhere. Standard cable TV, internet, landline phone and mobile cell phone bills almost always add up to more than one unlimited smart phone bill. In addition, a smart phone may make an Internet line at the house redundant. Several smart phones can also be used as wi-fi hot spots. For a monthly fee of about $20.00, the smart phone can be used as an Internet connection for a laptop or stationary computer. Family plans allow additional phones at lower rates essentially connecting the entire family anywhere for less than the cost of your previous “standard” services.
5. A smart phone may lift your spirits.
Looking for employment is living with a daily emptiness that was previously populated by work. A smart phone dramatically changes the dynamic of being stuck at home waiting to hear from prospective employers. Smart phone job seekers are mobile. Instead of being unemployed they are free. Free to go to the beach, to the gym, to the local café, free to be waiting for one interview while they are planning another one. Furthermore, smart phones can be programmed with funny reminder chimes to lift spirits throughout the day.
There is a lot of writing on the Internet about devices that we all just must have. However, a smart phone really is a device worth owning. Almost always there is a 30-day money back trial. Give one a whirl and don’t be surprised if it changes your life.
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Job searcher smart phone image from Shutterstock
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Susan, get a smartphone for < $100 with no contract on Virgin Mobile, metroPCS, Wal-Mart or Kroger's cell plans. The Samsung Intercept or LG Optimus are current Android smartphones that the above carriers use, most of them renting time on the Sprint network. You may pay $100 for the phone, but monthly service starts at $35 including data and you can skip a month or stop using it anytime. I switched my family to VM a year ago and have saved nearly $1000 even after purchasing the phones. See ClarkHoward.com for even cheaper ideas, like buying an iTouch or iPhone 3GS on ebay and using free VOIP calling. The rest of the iPhone apps still work, you don't have to have active cell service, just a wi-fi hotspot to make calls, use LinkedIn & the internet, have your contact list available, etc. Not quite as convenient, but no monthly fee. Also, keep an eye on republicwireless.com. They are running a beta $19/mo plan that uses the LG Optimus callin over wi-fi when available, Sprint when not near wi-fi.
Smart phones are great for networking events too. If you find yourself awkwardly standing alone, you can check your email and look like your busy doing something important.
Some of these reasons are just excuses. I am unemployed. I can’t afford a “smart” phone much less a cell phone. These are true statements for me. It’s not like the landline phone is ringing off the hook with offers of interviews or jobs so having a cell phone isn’t going to change that. A new watch! Good grief, the watches I buy now cost far less than a two year contract and monthly bills. Dump my landline services….I don’t think so. It’s great if one can afford to have a cell phone (I’m so tired of companies asking for cell phone numbers and the look of I don’t know what crosses their face when you say you don’t have one or the need for some companies to take ONLY your cell phone number thus wiping out a huge employee pool). But it is not the be all and end all of my life.
Times are moving faster than ever before and if you want to stay in touch with all the changes and all the possibilities, you have to keep up to date.
Just remember, we were talking about Facebook and Twitter as of something only schoolgirls do only a year or two ago, and look at it now.
Smartphones are essential and that’s the truth.
You need a landline so 911 knows your location when you call if you are unable to talk. (my b-i-l is a fire chief.) Also giving out credit card information over a land line is more secure than a cell phone.
I have a cell that use for phone calls, text and the occasional picture. That is all I need. I refuse to be handcuffed to a cell phone there are more important things in life.