1st Steps In The Hunt: Daily News For Job Hunters and Recruiters

interbiznet.com

S P O N S O R S

RECRUITERS

EXECUTIVE
SEARCH FIRMS

Through 05-25-96

May 25, 1996

Virtual Job Fair
Virtual Job Fair has an amazing collection of resources and tools for managing your career. Based in Silicon Valley, the company's focus is squarely on filling High-Tech Jobs. But, their career library offers the deepest single resource on the subject of career management and job hunting in general. The material comes from 15 years of publishing High Technology Careers Magazine and includes all sorts of tips for adapting and advancing in the workplace.

May 24, 1996

Jobs For Asian Speaking Professionals
Asia-Net is a comprehensive tool for finding work in the Asian speaking community. The site is a nice example of a comprehensive service for job hunters seeking work in a very precise niche. It includes mailing lists centered on opportunities in China, Japan and Korea. There is also a Japanese version of the site.

May 23, 1996

Caveat Emptor
The job hunt is unnerving and there are many ways to waste your money. There are any number of services that will host an HTML Resume for a fee and promise additional but unspecified benefits. With services like Tripod offering free webspace and construction help we wonder why anyone would use a "for fee" service. (If you want to develop a complex web presence, that's a different thing.)

If you're going to consider using such a service, at the very least, check out the potential for incoming traffic to the site. Here's how:

Go to AltaVista or the new HotBot and check the number of inbound links to the site you're considering. You do this by searching for the URL of the site. If you use AltaVista, search for link:http://xxx.xxx.xxx (so if you wanted to see the number of links to this page, you'd search for link://www.interbiznet.com/hunt). If you're using HotBot, enter the URL and in the search menu tell HotBot to look for "This URL".

We mention this after reviewing a service called Resumes On The Web which has about 20 inbound links and wants $27.50 to post your resume on its site and to USENET Newsgroups. With about 20 inbound links, the current likelihood that your resume will be seen here is somewhat low. When choosing this kind of service, you should expect to see at least 150 inbound links. After all, the point is to get your resume seen, not just to have it online.

One other feature to hold suspect: Under Construction signs. If they're not finished with their site, why in the world would you want to use it.

May 22, 1996

Find The "Hidden" Job
One of the standard tricks of people who give job advice is to talk about the "hidden job market". It makes sure that you feel like you're missing something and is, we think, a way for advisors to make you feel inferior. It's reasonably subtle, but the tactic is a way of making you value the 'wisdom' that you then must purchase in some way. We'd suggest that you beware of any service or book that proposes to help you find a "hidden job".

In plain english, not all jobs are advertised because:

the company is too busy to go through the hiring process
the company doesn't even know that they need thework done
advertising hasn't worked well in the past for the company
the company doesn't have much experience hiring new people
the company isn't quite ready to announce its intention to hire
the company wants to keep its hiring intentions private for competitive reasons

In only one of those cases is anyone "hiding" anything. The "real" problem is that it's only possible to know a few companies very well so the unannounced opportunities seem hidden.

This is one of the very best reasons to get to know a recruiter or two (We have a comprehensive list of recruiters in our "tools" area). Because of the nature of a recruiter's work, they see the insides of many companies and are familiar with burgeoning opportunities and future plans. It's their job.

In addition to getting to know a Recruiter or two, you'll want to target companies in the industry that you want to work in. Our best recent discovery to help you get started in this area is an online database of companies, searchable by industry and geography (we were amazed that this tool was free). Brought to you by America's Employers, the database is only limited by the fact that it indexes companies by headquarters addresses. So, when we searched for Aerospace Firms in Alabama, we only found one. (Most Alabama Aerospace Companies are headquartered elsewhere). But, lots of small to medium sized firms popped up in other categories and this is where the bulk of the jobs are these days. It's a great starting point.

America's Employers also offers tips and the rest of the stuff you'd expect at a solid Web Job Hunting site.

May 21, 1996

Personal Agents
Another "Employment Search Agent" has come online. Career Builder enters the ranks of firms offering a service that matches your credentials against a database and emails you the results. Career Builder currently focuses on the Washington, DC Metropolitan area with broad national ambitions. Though the service is somewhat limited, it will have some potential once they finish their website.

We suggest that you enter your credentials in these other matching services first:

May 20, 1996

Intelligent Assistance
It must be love. We were so impressed with JobSmart (reviewed last week) that we wanted to reemphasize the power of this new website. If you have the slightest bit of technophobia or are simply starting out in your job hunt, put JobSmart at the top of your bookmark list.

Why? The site is particularly well written, easy to understand and completely focused on making your job hunt successful. Though its emphasis is employment in Northern California, JobSmart offers tremendously clear information on:

Salary Information including an amazing list of compensation guides by profession and a clever Salary IQ Test
Resumes (we think that JobSmart has the best collection of resume advice on the web)
Career Guidance including a delicious section subtitled "Even Adults Need Career Information" and a comprehensive collection of career guides (by profession)

If you bookmark one Job Hunting site (after ours, of course) make it JobSmart.

May 19, 1996

Writing Tools

Finding a job will involve a fair bit of writing. From resumes and cover letters to (potentially) essays and papers, the job hunt may well exercise tour writing skills. The web is a goldmine of tools for writers including:

Web Resources For Writers

Writer's Block BBS Home Page (WB's bulletin board system -- a "virtual community" for writers)

Resources for Writers and Writing Instructors

The Write Place

Writer's Resources on the Web

Reader's and Writer's Resource Page

Pen and Sword Hypersite

Internet Screenwriter's Network References
- Grammar and Style Notes
- Reference (Dictionaries, etc.)
- Online Resource For Writers
- NBNSOFT- Net Encyclopedia
- William Strunk. The Elements of Style
- Writers' Workshop On-Line Handbook from The University of Illinois
"Niche Job Sites are more effective" - Forrester Research study
Why not look for jobs in your specific area?

Use these top Niche Job Sites and get results:
For Special Niche Site Promotions click here

Navigating interbiznet.com

LISTS:

RESOURCES:

The Bugler
- Industry News

Recruiter's Toolkit

Top 100 E-Recruiters
     - 1999 Top 100
     - 1997 Top 100
     - 1996 Top 25

E Recruiting News

1st Steps in the Hunt

Job Hunter's Archives

Archived Articles

- Dice.com
- Finding A Job
- Shortage Review
- Job Board Rankings
- Work/Life Balance
- Skill Report
- Project Employment

(Complete Archives)

Stocks We Watch:
Public Companies
in Electronic Recruiting

Search Millions of Jobs

Category

City

State

Job Title Keywords