Have you ever been upset by the dearth of job opportunities offered in your local newspaper’s classified section? Your computer is the ticket to that next great job, with an astounding assortment of Internet resources just a few mouse clicks away.
Have you ever been upset by the dearth of job opportunities offered in your local newspaper’s classified section? Larger newspapers may provide more options, but you will still be limited by the number of jobs advertised at any given moment, as well as geographical restrictions. Even at its best, this strategy is no longer sufficient. Searching the classifieds may have been sufficient in the past, but it’s now about as advanced as typing a resume on a manual typewriter. Your computer is the ticket to that next great job, with an astounding assortment of Internet resources just a few mouse clicks away.
The use of the computer as a job search tool has become the norm in recent years, as any human resource officer can tell you. This includes making creative use of e-mail and the Internet, as well as utilizing any computer’s capabilities to create resumes, letters, and other job-related documents.
Career-Oriented Websites
A handful of extensive sites built particularly to help job searchers, companies, or both provide the finest in Web-based career information. Monster.com (www.monster.com), for example, connects users to hundreds of thousands of job opportunities. You can sign up for a free account and then use a variety of useful features. After you give information about your specific career interests, you will receive e-mail alerts about job vacancies that match your preferences. You can also utilize the internet to look for jobs that interest you and to develop resumes that you can use to apply for job vacancies online.
Aside from that, the site provides additional features such as the ability to study companies, network with others, and receive free assistance on writing resumes, preparing for interviews, negotiating salaries, and more. You can also join up for fee-based career development programs in these and other areas. The Wall Street Journal’s Career Journal, available at www.careerjournal.com, offers daily updates as well as thousands of historical pieces on career news, trends, and subjects.
It also has a searchable database of job openings from prominent firms in fields like sales, marketing, finance, and technology. Users can gain basic access for free, but they can also subscribe to WSJ.com, which provides extra resources such as an extensive range of “briefing books” that provide the entire thorough history of a company’s business and recent news.
A secret resume database is also available on the Career Journal website. You can make a quick profile here or follow the online instructions to create a full-fledged resume’ in a variety of formats.
Employers Online (www.employersonline.com) is a job board that connects employers, recruiters, and job seekers. Sales/marketing, computer/IT, medical/professional, engineering/technical, and management/executive professions are all covered. Job seekers can upload resumes, which are then stored into a database and made available to employers and recruiters all around the country. You can search the database for free and gain access to jobs featured on the site, as well as help with preparing resumes and answering interview questions. To upload a resume, you must first register, however, this is a free service.
HotJobs (www.yahoo.hotjobs.com), CareerBuilder.com (www.careerbuilder.com), America’s Job Bank (www.jobsearch.org), and Career.com are all important sites (www.career.com). Some websites, such as Quintessential Careers (www.quintcareers.com), act as gateways to others, providing links to “the top 10 job Websites for job-seekers.”
Another option is AllJobSearch(www.alljobsearch.com), a comprehensive and user-friendly job search engine. All you have to do is type in a term or phrase (such as an administrative assistant or sales manager) and choose whether you want to look for information on the Internet, in newspapers, or newsgroups. You next select your preferred location, employment type (full-time, contract, part-time, or internship), posting dates (varying from one to thirty days), and job category. The options here range from “all categories” to particular fields like accountancy, architecture, biotechnology, and real estate. When you press the search key, the engine displays a list of all job postings that fit that profile.
Job sites provide a diverse range of services. Some are completely free, while others charge a fee. The most basic services are usually free, but you will have the opportunity to pay for extra services like job counseling, resume writing, and career interest profiles.
Using services that send your resume to different sources is one option. You may send your resume to thousands of recruiters, headhunters, and employers instantaneously with www.blastmyresume.com. While the judgment is yet out on how effective this strategy will be, it does have the advantage of allowing you to put your resume in front of more people than you could with traditional mail. Although there is a price, it is significantly cheaper than the cost of mailing hard copies.
Job Creation in the Digital Age
The Internet has become the common denominator for many employers and job seekers. It effortlessly links people on both sides of the hiring equation. Employers can advertise job openings with the confidence that they will be seen by a large number of people. At the same time, job searchers can quickly search for opportunities given by businesses, government agencies, non-profits, and other organizations. They can also use the internet to send resumes and applications.
This method has the advantage of breaking down geographical barriers. Rather than being limited to job vacancies in your city or the region covered by local media, you can broaden your search to include any number of cities, states, or even the entire country. If you’re interested in pursuing a profession in another country, you can also do so.
Another benefit of internet communication is that it is less obtrusive than traditional ways. If you’re currently working, you can use your evenings and weekends to browse employer or job-search websites, upload resumes, and do other things without interfering with your existing position. If you don’t have a job, you can try to build an online presence that far outweighs the reach of traditional job-search methods.
Even if you’re dedicated to a specific location and just want to work in that area, there’s a wealth of knowledge available online. Many newspapers, as well as state and municipal employment bureaus, now have Web-based editions. For job-related information, you can also go to the websites of local employers. Regardless of where you are, one of the most straightforward techniques is to just browse the websites of potential companies for job ads and related information. When you visit a site like this, you’ll almost certainly find a heading that says “jobs” or “position vacancies.” To learn more, go here. You’ll find a list of current job positions, as well as the requirements required for each, the application deadline, and other pertinent information.
Take a look at State Farm Insurance’s home cage for an excellent example (www.statefarm.com). It has a headline that says “About State Farm.” When you click here, you’ll see options like “careers” and “careers home page.” This section contains a plethora of information about current employment openings, State Farm recruiting events across the US and Canada, benefits, and more.
You can go to a “opportunities” page that describes the various jobs for which applicants might be sought, including position descriptions and a geographical breakdown of jobs available across North America as well as those at the company’s headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois, in addition to searching current openings (which are listed at HotJobs.com). You can also learn how to create the perfect resume for scanning and uploading to the company’s database.
Although not all businesses have such well-developed websites, the majority of significant corporations do provide up-to-date information on job openings. The practice has gotten so widespread that many small businesses and non-profits now provide employment listings.
You can undertake Internet-based research about potential employers in addition to discovering material directly connected to careers. Obviously, the more information you have about a potential employer, the better, from assessing the types of job opportunities to learning about the company’s history so you can tailor cover letters or resumes.
The employer’s website is typically a good place to look for this kind of information. Links to news releases, annual reports, earnings reports, executive bios, and contact information for company personnel can be found on the front page of any but the tiniest corporation or non-profit organization.
Corporate profiles are also available via third-party business information providers such as Hoover’s (www.hoovers.com). Also, don’t neglect sites like next sources People Ticker (www.peopleticker.com), professional association websites, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at www.bls.gov for wage information.
The Solution For Resume Development
Of course, your computer is capable of much more than simply assisting you in your job search. It can also be used to create resumes, cover letters, portfolios, and other documents.
A CV, according to conventional opinion, will not get you a job; rather, it will provide you the opportunity to sell yourself during an interview. Fortunately, your computer’s resources can assist you here as well. You can make professional-looking resumes and cover letters with Microsoft Word or any other word processing program that once required the talents of a highly competent typist.
Once you’ve created a basic resume, you may modify it as needed, print as many copies as you like, or send it electronically to potential companies. You can also make customized versions to appeal to specific employers or to highlight different qualifications for different types of jobs you might be interested in.
Another option is to get software like WinWayResume Deluxe from WinWay Corporation (www.winway.com). A resume writing program, hundreds of sample resumes, keywords that may be added to resumes, a letter-writing program, and sample cover letters are all included in this bundle.
You can also use the resume-building services provided by general career sites or those that specialize in online resume production. TotalResume.com (www. totalresume.com) is an example of the latter, which is a fee-based service that allows you to generate a resume using online templates. In this step, you fill up forms with your own unique personal and professional information while taking advantage of helpful action words and phrases, spellchecking, resume reviews, and the opportunity to look at sample resumes.
You may save the resume as a Word document, email it to potential employers, and attach a cover letter once it’s finished. You can also keep it on-site and edit it as needed, then publish it as a Web page.
As you can see, your computer may be an extremely useful tool in your job hunt. If you use your computer effectively, your job search efforts will be repaid to your pleasure.