Career Planning and Job Searching in the Information Age

Elizabeth A. Lorenzen

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000156638
• Subtopic: Careers
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Career Planning and Job Searching in the Information Age answers key questions for today?s providers of career-planning and job-searching information. Librarians and career development professionals'concerns--such as cost-effective use of the Internet, the reliability and integrity of electronic resources, and successful search strategies--are addressed in this comprehensive collection. In this follow-up to Library Services for Career Planning, Job Searching and Employment Opportunities (1992), real-life methods used by information providers to reduce costs and improve quality of service through a better understanding of today?s technology and audience needs and expectations are shown. Readers learn about:

• issues and ethics in the electronic environment
• job searches conducted on the World Wide Web
• a university placement office?s gopher site for 24-hour access to job information
• a university library and career service department?s collaboration on job search seminars
• how a public library fit electronic job searching into its mission
• an alumnae network?s evolution into a national career development organizationCareer Planning and Job Searching in the Information Age presents a broad base of knowledge from which readers are launched into tightly focused case studies offering details on how to deal with the issues of technology and service. This book makes it clear that in the ever-changing world of information technology, there is little room for the status quo. Professionals who don't learn about electronic resources risk missing out on a wealth of up-to-the-minute information that is infinitely useful to patrons planning a career or searching for a job. Library professionals just beginning to address these issues, professionals already possessing a general knowledge of these issues, and students of library science and career development will all benefit from this collection.

II. THE RESOURCES

A Basic Guide to Job Search Resources
on the Internet

Vivian Catherine Jones

SUMMARY. Job searching is often a frustrating experience, due in part to the lack of an organized and convenient method to gather information on careers, career development and job leads. The Internet is quickly becoming an efficient means for gaining access to all of these resources. This paper lists and describes several relatively stable Internet sites containing information and job postings. In addition, monitoring Usenet newsgroups and listservs to look for position announcements is also discussed. Finally, several comprehensive guides to job searching on the Internet are cited and discussed. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: [email protected]]

INTRODUCTION

Job searching, often a frustrating and demoralizing experience, is a process that the average American will go through eight times in his or her lifetime. Richard Nelson Bolles attributes much of the difficulty to what he calls the “outdated, outmoded and Neanderthal job-hunting apparatus”¹ one must use to find a job in this country. One major problem has been with gaining information on career development ideas, job searching techniques and job leads in an organized and orderly manner. That situation is on its way to being rectified due to a rapidly expanding number of Internet sites offering anything from practical information on interviewing techniques to a forecast of what occupations and the workplace will look like in the year 2005. Government agencies and corporations are increasingly providing job leads on the Internet and, while doing so, are providing links to valuable sources of career development information–rapidly making the Internet a very effective electronic library for the job-hunter.

This paper “visits” several gopher, telnet and World Wide Web sites² on the Internet that provide career development information, resume database services and electronic job postings. Finally, Internet guides dealing with electronic resources for job-hunting will be cited. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL, or “Internet address”) for each site is cited in the appendix at the end of this volume, and this article will give descriptions of the information available within these resources. The URLs for the Internet sites were current at the date of this writing, but may be subject to change.

CHARTING THE COURSE: CAREER DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

Before beginning the job hunt, it is helpful to take stock of one’s abilities and career goals, to look at employment trends in the field one is considering, and even to consider going into business for oneself. One career development reference tool is the Department of Labor’s annual publication, the Occupational Outlook Handbook. The University of Missouri-St. Louis has made this invaluable resource available on its gopher site. This reference work contains information on 250 occupations in detail and information on 77 other jobs. Ninety-four percent of all occupations in the United States are explained in a structured and organized format. The type and nature of work, advancement possibilities, earnings and future job outlook are discussed for each profession or trade. In addition, sources of information about career preparation such as resume writing and interviewing are given. Career opportunities and occupations of the future are also discussed, outlining trends in U.S. industry and employment through the year 2005.³

The International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce also publishes an annual document, the Industrial Outlook Handbook also available in full text at the same gopher site. This reference work forecasts increases and declines in 200 manufacturing and service industries in the United States. Forecasts in the 1994 edition are based largely on economic and trade data in the third quarter of 1993 and concurrent economic projections. The recent history and trends in each of the industries is also discussed.⁴

The 1993 State Industry Profiles, issued by the Small Business Administration provide a wealth of small business information in each of the fifty states. This information is extremely useful for the budding entrepreneur as he or she begins to think of business locations, possible competition, and setting up a business plan.⁵ The same agency also provides the 1993 U.S. Industry Profiles which documents current practices, employment trends, problems and successes in United States industry and makes educated assumptions regarding the future of each industry mentioned.⁶

Career development resources have also been made available at a number of commercial and “private” Internet sites. The Online Career Center, for example, gives bibliographic and price information on several publications regarding the electronic job hunt. Information on recruiters and employment agencies is also available, as is a source regarding current U.S. immigration law.

A Compendium of Women’s Resources, developed by Jessie Stickgold-Sarah, provides useful links to information on women in computer science, medicine and health care, academia and other occupations. Especially helpful are links to a “Directory of Women’s Professional Organizations” and to a bibliography on women in science, health and technology.

These are a few major resources on career development and entrepreneurship available on the Internet. For more information on these sites, refer to the three Internet guides on the topic mentioned at the end of this paper.

RESUME DATABASE SERVICES

The Online Career Center, available to both World Wide Web and gopher users, is a non-profit cooperative of employers dedicated to developing and implementing an electronic employment, advertising and communications system for human resource management.⁷ Cost for system maintenance is borne by employers who contribute a one-time entrance fee to the cooperative and advertise positions in the employment listings at the site. Resumes in ASCII format can be posted by e-mail to [email protected]. The subject line of the e-mail message will become the resume title when it is posted, therefore it is best to use a “catchy” or informative self-description so that a prospective employer will notice it. The resume will stay on the system for 90 days and may be updated at any time by e-mailing a newer version (the original will disappear). Job seekers without Internet access may mail a typed copy of their resume (up to three pages of text, including cover letter) to Online Resume Service, 1713 Hemlock Lane, Plainfield, IN 46168 with a $10.00 service charge. The resume will be typed on the database and will stay in the system for six months.

Resumes posted on the Online Career Center are not confidential, meaning that anyone may browse the resumes posted on the database. This provides a valuable career development resource for those who are interested in gathering ideas for their own resumes and in finding out how their talents and experience compare with other job searchers in their field. However, the non-confidential status may present a problem for applicants who may not want to make it known that they are job-hunting or for other reasons wish to keep their resumes private.

The HEART System, or “On-line Interactive Recruitment Network”^R is also free to job seekers. It is possible to post a resume, respond to a particular position, communicate with a recruiter, and conduct an on-line interview in real time on the same network. At this time, resumes may only be posted by dialing in to the system and by uploading them in ASCII format using transfer protocols such Xmodem and Zmodem (an ftp site is available for posting resumes to specific employers). The dial-in number is [phone] (2400 baud); [phone] (9600/14400 baud). Communications software should be set to accommodate 8 data bits, No parity, 1 stop bit, ANSI/VT100 terminal emulation. It is also possible via telnet to fill out a detailed personal profile questionnaire that is used by the system to create a resume. Resumes stored on the system are completely confidential. The job seeker responds to a specific job posting on the system by posting his or her resume directly to the employer or recruiter.⁸

The Direct Marketing World Jobs Center is a new and more informal site on which job seekers may post resumes or brief personal profiles. Resumes must be in ASCII format to be mailed to the Center.

JOB LISTINGS ON THE INTERNET

Both HEART and the Online Career Center make an effort to have nationwide listings in a wide variety of fields. At the date of this writing, Online Career Center postings are heavily high-tech oriented and the HEART system has postings for only a limited number of jobs. However, there are many other databases operated by professional associations, academic institutions, and commercial organizations that offer a wide variety of job postings.

Many universities and professional organizations post electronic job listings. Many of these sites provide information on jobs available only within the specific association or academic community; however, some sites also provide gateways to related job information nationwide.

Two sites that post listings for college administrators, academics and other professionals with credentials and/or experience in higher education are Academe this Week and Academic Position Network Academe this Week, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s gopher site, provides a searchable version of all job postings included in the weekly publication. Searches can be made by area of the country, by Academe’s listing of job titles, or by entering a keyword of one’s own choosing. The Academic Position Network also posts position announcements for professionals in higher education as well as providing information on post-doctoral positions, graduate fellowships and assistantships. Postings are organized by country, state, and institution and searching with Boolean operators is allowed.

ARTJOB, a service of the Western States Arts Federation, posts current national and international job listings in all areas of the arts. Positions at non-profit arts agencies, presenting organizations, producing organizations and academic institutions are well represented, as are opportunities for artistic performance. Related information on grants, competitions, conferences and internships is also posted.

Job seekers in business-related professions can refer to Stanford University’s Yahoo List. The Yahoo List provides links to many of the Internet resources listed in this article, as well as to many other sites offering employment for those in business and management. Those interested in management or broadcasting careers in public radio and television can refer to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Jobline available through the Yahoo List. The Direct Marketing World Jobs Center, mentioned above (also in the Yahoo List), contains a good selection of both technical and non-technical (mostly sales) positions. Medsearch America lists administrative and health care positions posted by pharmaceutical companies, sports medicine clinics, cancer treatment centers, biotech firms, HMOs, etc. Those seeking entry-level, middle-level and senior positions in business and management have access to hundreds of current postings through the Yahoo List and other Internet sites.

Jobs for computer specialists and software engineers are abundantly represented in the Online Career Center’s job listings (mentioned above) as well as at CareerMosaic and The Monster Board. CareerMosaic is run by Bernard Hodes Advertising and charges the companies listing jobs for their participation. Information about the corporations is also posted–including company profiles and information about work sites and employee benefits. The Monster Board includes over 300 positions from more than fifty companies. Most of the jobs listed at these sites are in the field of computing but marketing, communications and other positions also appear in smaller numbers.⁹

Positions in the federal government are posted at several Internet locations. The most reliable, stable and searchable site is the Office of Personnel Management’s FJOB. Job files may be searched or browsed by series (select “help” for a complete listing of series titles and numbers) or job title or may be displayed by state. Fedworld, a U.S. government Internet server operated by the National Technological Information Service (NTIS), is another very reliable s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Editors
• Copyright Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• About the Editor
• I. INTRODUCTION/THE ISSUES
• II. THE RESOURCES
• III. SERVICES TO SPECIAL GROUPS
• IV. COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS
• V. ACCESS ISSUES
• APPENDICES
• Bibliography of Suggested Readings