RSS - What is it and how can I use it?

RSS allows you to receive information from sites such as News or Job Boards without having to visit those sites each time you want an update.

What does it look like?

RSS is really just a standardised form of data based on XML. The data itself is processed by an RSS reader/aggregator into a human readable format like:

The real power of RSS aggregation is you can have all the feeds you wish sent to one location. You can save a huge amount of time job hunting by sending all your favourite Job board feeds to one place.

What software do I need to use RSS?

You need an RSS Reader/Aggregator. There are plenty on the market, some free, some commercial. Here are several examples:

Web Based RSS (No software needed):
- Bloglines - http://www.bloglines.com

Software RSS
- Newzcrawler - http://www.newzcrawler.com/
- Feeddemon - http://www.feeddemon.com/feeddemon/index.asp

How do I add feeds?

Each product or service will have a similar way of adding feeds. It's pretty simple, you find a site that can provide an RSS feed, you copy their link which will normally be on an image which looks like this:. You paste the link into your RSS Reader/Aggregator. and that's it done. You can normally set how often your reader will check your feeds. It depends on the type of information but when it comes to job sites it makes sense to have it check as frequently as possible, that way you stand a better chance at applying for a job early.