Maybe you're graduating. Maybe you've run out of money or your fellowship has expired. Maybe you've decided you need to get a life. Whatever your reason, you've decided you want a job. The next really big earth shattering question in your life is "How?". How do you get a job that is.
Well, there are several options available to you. I suggest that if you are really serious about finding a job that you exercise all your options. This includes using the University Placement Center, attending career fairs, and using the Internet. "What?", you say, "I thought the Internet was only for nerds or dweebs." Actually, the Internet is one of the best avenues for finding a job, especially for those interested in computer-related employment.
Since the Internet is quickly becoming a virtual world with electronic shopping, entertainment, and communication, it only makes sense that the Internet supports employment opportunities electronically. This is accomplished four ways on the Internet, using WWW, gopher, telnet, and NetNews. Mirroring the traffic content of the Internet today, the majority of action is occurring at Web sites.
There are basically two activities that relate to finding a job, actively searching for a job opening and making your resume available to those looking to fill a job opening. This article will give you some possible directions for using the Internet, primarily the Web, to find a job. The sites mentioned in this article are listed in my Employment Resources on the Internet home page: (http://members.iquest.net/~swlodin/jobs/).
If you are actively searching for a job, the original four are probably still the best starting points. These include CareerMosaic (http://www.careermosaic.com/cm/), The Monster Board (http://www.monster.com) and E-Span's Interactive Employment Network (http://www.espan.com). The Internet's original employment resource was the Online Career Center (http://www.occ.com/occ/) which started out as a gopher server and slowly created a Web presence.
At CareerMosaic, they have a specific section devoted to college students called CollegeConnection. This includes links to corporations and information about resume writing among other services. One other feature of CareerMosaic is the J.O.B.S. Database. They have a forms front end to search their database of posted employment opportunities. In addition, they have indexed all of the job-related newsgroups! If you've ever tried to scan the misc.jobs.offered newsgroup, you'll appreciate this service.
The Monster Board claims to offer over 55,000 jobs from 500 employers in their database from "progressive" companies. They have a couple of different career search options including a forms search using scrollbars, a keyword search, and a WAIS-indexed keyword search of all the jobs-related newsgroups.
At E-Span's Interactive Employment Network, you'll find a well-rounded approach to managing your career including resume writing and career fair information. Their jobs database claims to have more than 3,500 jobs from 1,700 firms. Their search engine uses forms with a pick list, but it isn't as user friendly as the others.
There are many, many other web sites that post job openings. Some are location specific (country, state, or city) and others are industry specific (WWW developers, Federal, or academic). Both E-Span and the Online Career Center are located in Indiana which may influence your selection. The more you explore, the more opportunities you will find.
If you have narrowed down your job search to a few target companies, another option is to research those companies directly. Most major corporations have a presence on the Web and include a section on opportunities within the company. Some examples include Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/Jobs/), Cisco Systems (http://cio.cisco.com/public/Employment.html), Intel (http://www.intel.com/intel/oppty/), and Hughes Network Systems (http://www.hns.com/Careers/home.html).
One avenue for finding companies is to try any of the popular web search engines. Another possibility is to try Open Market's Commercial Sites Index (http://www.directory.net). For those not listed, just try http://www.company.com where company is the name of the company. For example, http://www.ibm.com will take you to IBM's home page. Within a couple more clicks, you can see all the employment opportunities IBM has world-wide at http://www.empl.ibm.com. If a company has job opportunities available, it will usually be listed on the home page or just off the home page. The major career sites that post jobs also form relationships (E-Span calls them Spotlight Pages) with corporations so those are another place to check.
The other method for enhancing your employability is to make your resume available. In olden days, you would send your resume to a few companies. Today, you can post your resume in front of literally thousands of companies and the entire Internet.
One of the methods for making your resume available is to post it to resume databases. The Online Career Center, E-Span and The Monster Board listed above support this by allowing resumes to be submitted and made available to client companies. In addition, there are companies devoted specifically to developing your resume and making it available. IntelliMatch (http://www.intellimatch.com/intellimatch/) offers the WATSON Structured Resume service to develop resumes and make them available to 30 high-tech employers. AAA Resume (http://www.infi.net/~resume/) provides services such as resume writing, resume typesetting, resume analysis and cover letter generation. These transactions can be accomplished over the phone or via email. Another site for publishing your resume on the Internet is Shawn's Internet Resume Center (http://www.inpursuit.com/sirc/). This site only charges a one-time fee of $15. My recommendation is to work with one of the big career sites because the exposure to employers is greater.
One final alternative is to publish your resume on your own home page and give the URL to prospective employers. Some people make their resume available in HTML format. Presenting your resume in HTML format allows for linking to institutions, activities, classes, and instructors. One example is Mark Crosbie (http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/mcrosbie/personal/cv.html). Others make their resume or vita available in PostScript format. PostScript allows for a better formatted output. An example is Professor Spafford (http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/spaf/pers/vita.PS). Others choose to do both, like Bryn Dole (http://www.cs.purdue.edu/people/dole). Both have their strengths and weaknesses so doing both is probably a good idea.
Another option to finding employment is to use a professional recruiter or headhunter. One example is Pencom (http://www.pencom.com). If headhunters aren't appealing, another avenue is contract employment. Contract Employment Weekly (http://www.ceweekly.wa.com/) has contract job openings and a list of other contract firms. A different form of "online" resources is available in BBS's. Harold Lemon has put together a list of BBS sites which is available at http://rescomp.stanford.edu/jobs-bbs.html. Finally, many of the Internet directories will have a category for employment opportunities. Popular examples include Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) and Galaxy (http://galaxy.einet.net). Finally, check out what other guides have to say. One of the best is The Riley Guide.
With all the Internet resources I've given you, there is no excuse (except for your grades) why you can't find a job. Remember, the Internet is only as valuable as you make it. However, to make the most of your employment opportunities, consider the Internet as just one arrow in your quiver of employment resources. Best of luck!