Welcome on board! We imagine you’re reading this post as you’ve just taken your first step towards getting your brand new dream job – by joining Ally. Getting started on Ally is simple, but don’t just take our word for it. Read on for lots of helpful tips on how to complete and get the most out of your profile.
Step one: Once you’ve accepted your verification email and set a password, the first step is to click ’profile’ from the menu bar and check that your full name is entered correctly from the sign up process, followed by inputting your address, should you wish to include this.
Step two: On the right hand side of the profile page, you have the option to add in a profile photo (this step is optional) and upload a CV. For both of these, you can either drag and drop, or double click on the grey square to upload. Please note that CVs must be uploaded in PDF format.
Click ‘save’ to save any changes made in these top sections.
Step three: Further down the page, you have the option to upload a short profile video. Once again, this is completely optional, but we would encourage you to consider adding this as a surefire way to stand out from the competition! The video doesn’t need to be Oscar-worthy or feature slick editing skills, but should just be a short introduction of yourself, covering things such as your name, where you’re currently located, the industry or role you’re currently working in and the type of work or role that you’re looking for. You may also wish to include a short overview of your skills, and any little snippets that you think may be of interest to potential employers. Use this stage to really sell yourself and let employers get a great impression of you!
Step four: entering your search details. Begin by entering a short and snappy profile description, along the lines of what you might write under your summary section on a CV. Once again, you need to make sure you really sell yourself here, as this is what employers browsing profiles will be looking at. And this may be an obvious one, but make sure you re-read through what you’ve written to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
Next up is inputting your skills. The Ally system comes pre-populated with a few suggestions that you can see from the drop down list, but feel free to add in your own by clicking the small + button to the side. Add as many as you need, we typically suggest between five and 10 key skills.
After this, move on to the final stages of this section by adding in your current or most recent job title, current location and highest level of education.
Step five: Now onto the home run! Under your desired job matching, you’ll add in the details of the role that you’ve come to Ally to look for. Enter in the job title (or titles) that you require, use the sliding scales to select the salary range that you’re looking to achieve and finally input your desired location and how wide of a radius you’re willing to travel from this location. If you’re looking for a role that’s fully remote, you can leave this last part blank.
Remember to hit ‘save’ after you’ve finished!
And here’s how you’ll then appear to employers when searching the CV database:
Further actions to help your job hunt journey:
Your dashboard: When you first log in to Ally, you’ll reach your own personal dashboard.
On this page, you’ll see a welcome message and any tips that we’re suggesting in order to improve your profile. There’s also a run down of the number of job applications you’ve made, any messages you’ve received that need to be responded to, how many connections you have and how many employers have searched your profile.
On the right hand side, you can see the Ally plan that you’re currently signed up to. Also listed is the number of applications and connections that you have available to you at that point, depending on your personal plan. While Ally offers a free plan for all job seekers, we do recommend that you consider one of our paid for options, in order to stand out to employers, boost your profile and receive matched job alerts.
The job board: Found on the main menu bar, from here you can search for currently available jobs and view your applications and shortlisted roles.
Under search, you can either search for roles with specific titles, salaries or locations, or leave these blank to view all currently available jobs across all sectors. From those jobs that appear, you can then either click ‘view’ to see a job description, or ‘apply’ to directly apply for that role. You can also ‘ignore’ jobs if you no longer wish for that role to appear in any results, or ‘shortlist’ if you wish to select several roles to come back to later.
When you apply to any job, your profile details and the CV that you have uploaded will automatically be sent to that employer. At this stage, you also have the option to add a covering letter to the employer if you’d like to add any more information that you feel would be relevant, or show why you’d be great for that particular role, and you can also answer any qualifying questions that the employer has entered in order to screen candidates. Following this, click ‘send job application’.
Any roles that you’ve applied for can be found under ‘Job board > Job applications’. Here, you will see the details of submitted applications, that role’s current status and whether your application has been accepted or declined. Likewise, any jobs that you have chosen to shortlist can be found under ‘Job board > Your shortlist’.
Employer database: Found on the main menu bar, this encompasses a directory of employers that are currently signed up to Ally.
Under search, you can refine the view by entering in a business sector, location and toggling between employers who are actively recruiting and those who aren’t, or alternatively leave these fields blank in order to view everyone.
If you’re signed up to a paid for plan that includes adding connections, from this page you’ll have the option to directly connect with employers – think of this as like sending a friend request and it’s a great way to expand your professional network ahead of any job openings. Once you click ‘connect’ next to the employer’s profile, you’ll be asked to enter in a short message as to why you’d like to connect. Be concise here – something along the lines of ‘Hi X, I’m looking for an Account Manager role and have seen you’ve got a current opening. I’ll be sending my full application overly shortly but in the meantime it would be great to connect. Best wishes, John’.
Once an employer has accepted your connection request, you’ll see a small ‘+1’ next to the friends icon at the top right of your screen, and you can view all of your connections by clicking this icon and selecting ‘current connections’. From here, you also have the option to directly message and start a conversation with an employer.
So, there you have it, our rundown of how to get started with your profile on Ally as a job seeker! We wish you the very best of luck with your job hunt and if you have any questions that haven’t been answered here, you can contact us via our webform or chatbot.
You can also watch our short video on getting started on Ally here.