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Can You Find a Real Job on the Internet?

by Thomas More

The answer is yes, you can, but the question poses another that I hear frequently. Is the business world really planning to do its business, including such everyday activities as hiring employees, on the Internet? Or is it just a marketing tool—mostly imagination and pretty pictures? In just the past couple of years, government agencies, universities and large corporations have pondered that question. Most of them have established a presence on the World Wide Web, displaying their logos plus some public relations or marketing-type information. Many had no idea how they would eventually use the Internet as a functional part of their businesses, although some developed interactive functions; for example, visitors could download data, enter information, be counted, or even purchase a product online. Until very recently, however, most government and corporate Web sites were merely window dressing. Like mannequins, they looked nice but didn’t do much.

However, the interactive function that has developed faster than any of the marketing activities on corporate Web sites is called Human Resources (HR). I like that title: "Human Resources." The image I get is "Just stack ‘em over there by the office supplies. Did you bring the two extra file clerks I ordered?" If you look at the bottom of most corporate or government Web pages, you’ll find an email address where you are invited to submit your résumé. Almost overnight it seems that the preferred way to submit a résumé has changed from surface (a.k.a. "snail") mail to fax to email, as more and more organizations move to online communications. And a résumé is required, if you’re seeking any kind of skilled position. You won’t get an interview unless you first submit a résumé of your experience—unless the director of HR is your uncle, of course!

So the most direct way to find a job on the Web is this: if you know the names of companies in your area which employ people with your skills, you can look up their Web sites and submit your résumé online, directly to a potential employer. On the other hand, if you don’t know any companies in your area , or you have very specialized skills, how do you search the Web for specific jobs? And how do you narrow the search to the area in which you live, or the distance that you are willing to commute?

If you just enter "jobs" in the Infoseek search engine, you will get over one million Web sites or other sources of information about jobs. However, in addition to the regular Web search, Infoseek offers a special predefined search called Find a Job .

If you’re confused by the sheer volume of information that searching the Web can produce, Infoseek has several Help screens available to assist you in making an intelligent search. The following Help topics are listed at the Infoseek Find a Job site referenced above:

• Getting Started
• How to Search
• How to Browse
• Quick Reference
• Search Examples
• Advanced Searching

Yahoo!, one of the pioneer search engines, has an Employment category. Here you’ll find not only a list of job banks, but some interesting services, including a job-search chat room where you can commune with fellow job seekers, and share information and advice. Networking on the Net!

From Yahoo!’s Employment screen you can link to the following:

Beatrice’s Web Guide: Careers & Networking
Yahoo! Chat: Career Advice Chat Room
Yahoo! Employment Classifieds: Find a Job or Post an Opening.

You will also find additional services at this site, as follows:

• Career Planning
• Careers
• Companies
• Employment Law
• Jobs
• Mailing Lists
• Organizations
• Regional
• Résumés
• Salary Information
• Telecommuting

To view or print the list of job banks, you can click on Jobs at the site referenced above. This site lists well over 100 links to employment databases, from America’s Job Bank to world.hire.

Other Web site search engines such as Excite, LookSmart, Lycos and Search.com have similar services. Look in the list of predefined searches for "Employment," "Careers," or "Jobs."

Searching for a job online will soon become the primary method of job-seeking, and eventually classified employment advertising in newspapers will become the second place most people go to look for a job. Already the State Employment services use computerized job listings, and with the current increase in the number of U.S. homes connected to the Internet (now between 15 and 16 percent), it’s just a matter of time. Universities already promote JobTrak, and graduates who use this service will continue to do so after they enter the job market.

It is not surprising that the largest category of jobs listed on the Web are for computer- or Web-related work itself. Some of the most in-demand professionals are technology workers such as software designers and programmers, and if a company is trying to reach them, where better than the Web itself? Most of us aren’t programmers or system administrators, but it’s fun to read these job descriptions, and descriptions of the working conditions (and other perqs), for these are literally dream jobs.

To narrow your job search to the area in which you live, try the Web sites of large employers in your area and the Web sites of job recruiting services in your area, or call a local college placement office for tips. The Web sites of the larger job services will often ask you to enter a geographic area (e.g., state or city) in addition to the kind of job you’re looking for, and other criteria. Some will ask you if you’re willing to relocate.

You’ll need a news reader to look for job listings on UseNet. The newest versions of the popular Web browsers include a news reader, and you must also have entered the specification of your provider’s news server in your browser’s preferences. This was probably done automatically when you first set up your Internet service. UseNet’s regional groups (alt.la.jobs, alt.sd.jobs, alt.ca.jobs, alt.usa.jobs, etc.) used to be good places to look for job listings, but recently the professional recruiters ("headhunter" agencies) have clogged them up with their job postings. Recently Online Career Center and DICE have added their job posts there. Aggressive recruiters also go into technical users groups (like "Oracle Users" if they are looking for a programmer for that particular computer program), and also into CompuServe, but their notices of job offerings are considered spam there, so they’re walking a fine line.

In the near future, job-seeking on the Web will see more push technology, so that once you submit your résumé to a particular job bank, you will receive email with (1) specific, related job offers, or (2) general newsletters to maintain your association with that particular job service. As the rate of unemployment continues to fall, and the growing economy provides more jobs, they will be more and more likely to be posted first on the Web. Smart employers know they’ll find computer-savvy people with higher than average intelligence there.

Reference: For those interested in more information on Web job banks, see the Los Angeles Times, Sunday, January 12, 1997, page D5 (Business section), entitled "Job Banks Expanding on the Web as More Seekers, Providers Meet" by (freelance writer) Denise Hamilton.

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