Searching For A Job On The Internet
Contributed by Jay Schroyer
The Internet has truly revolutionized the job search. What used to be a long, drawn-out process has become as easy as the push of a button. Job searching used to mean carpeting the living room with the Sunday classifieds and highlighting positions that sounded like a good thing. Then it was off to the word processor to type up a cover letter, resume, and list of references. After printing was completed, then came the addressing of the envelopes and finally the mailing with the hopes that your letter might arrive in two to three business days. Now, it’s as easy as logging on, conducting specific searches for jobs, attaching your resume (or cutting and pasting your resume into the body of an e-mail), and hitting send to instantaneously apply to a job position.
But as easy as it has become, many still hesitate or lose themselves in a sea of search terms and sites when job hunting on the Internet. With so much free Internet help to perform just about any task available, there’s no excuse for not learning how to use this invaluable resource for your next job hunt. When you have a resume finalized and saved in a digital format (Word or Text are most commonly accepted) and a reliable e-mail address that you can check often, you can try these avenues for your job hunt.
Online Newspaper
Everything old is new again. For some, the old ways of job searching can never be too far away. If you’ve always had good luck with the newspaper, but don’t want a subscription, log on to your local newspaper and view the classifieds. Everything that was printed in the paper is available here in digital form. Most have a search engine that will allow you to sort by date or relevance to a field or specific geographical area you are looking for. Some online newspapers even offer a feature that allows you to sign up and post your resume for employers to search. Sometimes there is a resume wizard available and most will let you post up to three different resumes. You can save your features and references for future use. If you do apply for a job online, always remember to include your attachment. It’s too easy to send an e-mail that promises an attachment, but doesn’t have one attached.
Job Posts
The job posts will have similar features to online newspaper classifieds with the exception that they generally house a lot more available job posts. Monster, one of the most widely known job posts, usually features 50,000+ open positions in a wide-ranging variety of fields. A fast search of employment online should yield hundreds of job posts sites. You can create an account with most free of charge and store your resumes, cover letters, and references online. When applying to a job posting, all you have to do is choose which resume you would like to use from your stored files. They also offer links to other employment resources that are always helpful to the job hunt: relocation info, salary estimators, placement services, tax information, and even resume writing services.
Company Web sites
If you have a specific company or industry in mind, then you might want to search for employment via this method. You can use a search engine to locate the Web addresses of specific companies then visit their sites to search for employment. There will generally be a “work with us” link or one that leads to the human resource department and a listing of current open job postings. Applying to a position may send you to an online application and a place to upload your resume or simply open an e-mail window with an addressee already in the “To” box. Some of the positions listed on the job posts may redirect you to the company’s site if that’s what the employer has requested. There, you will fill out an online application specifically for that company and submit from their home site instead of going through the job post. One strong advantage to this method is that you can fully research a company and decide if it really is a place you’d like to work.
Creating Your Own
If you have the skills or the want to learn, you can always try creating your own web site that helps advertise and sell your talents to employers. Just as employees search for jobs, employers search for employees. A web site that highlights and illustrates your skills may be an easy way to snatch up a new job. You could try a Web design tutorial if you have the time or resources and begin making your own personalized site. For jobs that call for this sort of creativity, this may be just the type of thing that catches an employer’s attention and puts you in the lead for consideration. Not only does your resume list your skills, but your own personalized web site provides an application of these skills into something tangible.
If you don’t feel comfortable using the Internet for this type of search, you should probably get comfortable with it. As more and more employers turn to the net because of speed and convenience, you will have to prepare yourself for handling a lot more employment related business over the Web. There are numerous free Internet tutorials for the uninitiated available online and help menus in Windows® can walk you through just about any operation you can imagine. There’s no excuse for not taking advantage of this wealth of job information available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
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About the Author:
Jay Schroyer has worked in the client and customer service end of business for over five years in retail, advertising, and printing. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in English writing and communication.
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