Get A Job, Long Hair

Most job hunting is waiting for a posting to appear somewhere. A lot of good jobs never get posted. The salon down the road, the preschool, the clinic, the small studio that would take a chance on someone — they hire the person who wrote to them the week before they needed someone.

Writing to forty of them by hand is the part nobody does. This does that part. You tell it what kind of work you want and where, it goes and finds the places, and you decide who hears from you.

What it does

Finds employers on Google Maps by the kind of place and the town — or a whole region, or remote-friendly companies in cities you don't live in.
Finds who to write to — phone numbers, websites and contact emails, with the fake and bouncing addresses weeded out.
Knows what fits you. Pick what you do — nail tech, preschool teacher, EMT, software engineer, art school graduate, psychology student, and more — and it switches on the right kinds of places. Add your own.
Writes the emails from templates you control, one set per kind of business, with a live preview. No email goes out still saying YOUR NAME.
Sends slowly, from your own Gmail, then follows up once and sends one final note. Anyone who replies "stop" can be marked never-contact in a couple of clicks.
Shows you what it found on a map and in a spreadsheet you can download.

What it absolutely does not do

It is not a job board. It finds businesses, not postings. Some of them aren't hiring. That's the point — you get there first.
It does not blast. Hard limits you can't switch off: never more than 250 emails a day, a few seconds apart, with a break every ten. New Gmail accounts should start around twenty a day anyway.
It does not phone home. Your lists, results and emails stay on your computer. It talks to Google Maps, to the websites it checks, and to your Gmail when you press send. That's it.
It does not apply for you, interview for you or iron your shirt.

Who it's for

People whose work happens in a place — salons, clinics, schools, kitchens, studios, crews — where the owner reads their own email.
Students after part-time work or an internship who'd rather send twenty good emails than refresh a job site.
Anyone moving who wants a job lined up in the new city before the boxes are unpacked. Ten cities come with their towns already listed.
Remote workers — searches marked remote skip anything you'd have to show up to.

Installing it

This app isn't signed with an Apple or Microsoft developer certificate, so the first time you open it your computer will ask if you're sure. You only have to do this once.

Mac

Open the .dmg you downloaded.
Drag Get A Job, Long Hair into Applications.
Open Applications and double-click Get A Job, Long Hair.
If your Mac says it can't check the app: click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway, and confirm.

Windows

Open getajoblonghair-setup from your Downloads.
If a blue box says "Windows protected your PC": click More info, then Run anyway.
Click through the installer. Leave "Create a desktop icon" ticked.
Open Get A Job, Long Hair from the desktop or the Start menu.

You'll also need Google Chrome installed — the app uses it to look things up. On first open it asks your name, what work you want and where, then gets out of the way.

Common questions

Is it really free?

Yes. No account, no subscription, no ads. You'll need your own Gmail to send emails, which is also free.

Will Gmail think I'm spamming?

Not if you use it as intended. It sends from your own account, slowly, with limits built in that you can't raise, and every email is a real note to a real business with a way to opt out. Start with a new Gmail just for your job search — something like yourname.hr@gmail.com — and keep the first few days to twenty or so.

Why does it need Google Chrome?

It looks businesses up on Google Maps the same way you would, and it uses Chrome to do it. You don't have to have Chrome open or use it for anything else.

How does it connect to my Gmail?

Through Google's own sign-in, with permission to send email only — it can't read your inbox. Setup takes about ten minutes the first time and the app walks you through it. "Disconnect and erase" in Settings cancels access and deletes the keys from your computer.

Where does my stuff go?

Nowhere. Everything lives in a folder on your computer. Nothing is uploaded to us, because there's no "us" server for it to go to.

How do I get updates?

The app checks once a day and puts a note at the top when a new version is out, with a link back here. Download, install over the old one, and your searches and settings carry over.

Why is it called that?

It's what people have been shouting at long-haired kids since the sixties. Now there's an app that actually helps. Hair length is not a factor in the search results.