Technology Sunday: Which browser to use for your job search?

What browser do you use?

When QuickBooks wanted me to check an invoice and I followed their link to this notice:

QuickBooks Billing Solutions isn’t currently available through the web browser you’re using. In time, we hope to support all browsers to avoid this inconvenience.

For now, we hope you’ll take the time to download a browser that does allow you to use QuickBooks Billing Solutions. We think you’ll find that your time was well spent. You can download Microsoft Internet Explorer at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/.

I left Internet Explorer years ago.

Today, I mainly use Google Chrome. I get annoyed when I am forced back to IE but I know there are still many users that use IE.

How do I know? Google Analytics tells me. In the last month, out of 7407 visits to this blog, these were the results:

• Internet Explorer: 2634
• Chrome: 2374
• Firefox: 1284
• Safari: 743

After that it dwindled down to other options.

Technology changes rapidly, are you keeping up?

Of those 7407 visits:

• 7116 used a desktop
• 264 used a tablet
• 27 used mobile

Recently, I wrote that career management must focus on customer experience. It is critical for job seekers and employees to consider the customer in all areas of the work place. QuickBooks and other companies whose product only works with browser are not focused on my customer experience.

Note this phrase: “In time, we hope to support all browsers to avoid this inconvenience.” Let’s see, I bought multiple versions of QuickBooks starting in 1995, they do an update annually.

Obviously, enhancing my customer experience isn’t a priority to them but they are one of the few accounting packages that caters to the small business market.

Should the online application process work only for the employer?

As a resume writer and career marketing strategist, I read many online employment applications and walked through the process at times with clients.

There are some companies whose online application only works in Internet Explorer. You get locked scripts if you try to use Firefox and even Chrome. If online applications weren’t frustrating enough and more likely to rule you out than in, battling browser issues only adds to the annoyance.

What about you? Do you think you should have a choice of browsers? Or should you just be expected to adapt to whatever a company or website owner requires? Or does this only bother me?

Image courtesy of Basketman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net