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S P O N S O R S

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Career Magazine

July 18, 1997

Career Magazine is a comprehensive resource to help you in the "hunt"

The front page features abstracts of job-related articles. "Inside" you will find sections on Job Fairs, Relocation, a Career Forum and more.

You can submit your resume to a number of specified companies, and even get tickets to Comdex.

Amongst the featured articles is one which discusses the "future of work" - and questions whether there will be "jobs" as we know them in the future. And a new section - "Entrepreneurs' Corner" - looks at franchises and other careers in self-employment.

This is a clean and easily-navigable site with plenty to explore.

Working Abroad

July 17, 1997

In an increasingly global economy, one may have thought that working in a country other than one's own would have become much easier than in days of yore.

Whilst this may be so for a cadre of highly-specialized individuals who work for supra-national companies, the truth for many students and young people, is sadly, quite the opposite.

Many countries have unemployment problems, so governments discourage the hiring of foreigners to do work which can be done by its nationals. Often there is a hierarchy of hiring.

First preference is given to citizens of countries with whom there are formal economic (e.g. the European Union) or historic ties (e.g. the British Commonwealth).

Nonetheless, many of the benefits of working abroad spring from the appreciation of another culture, far removed from the "tourist experience", and a different perspective on one's own country.

The ISTC at the University of Minnesota has some commonsense articles and resources available on working overseas. They cover:

• Reality Check
• Work Abroad Web Site Search
• Typical Types of Short-term Jobs
• Work Permits
• Volunteer Programs
• Teaching English as a Foreign Language
• Approaches to Obtaining a Job Abroad

Icentric Internet

July 15, 1997

Icentric Internet looks pretty interesting.

They "provide an "almost" free account for a resume generation tool integrated with email services accessible anywhere in the world along with popular search engines and web site monitoring tools."

We were intrigued by the "almost free" bit and dug into the site a little further.

Hitting the free account button generates a registration form and a PIN. It also generates a request for a " ONE TIME administration fee of $25(US) or $30(CAN) to ensure that your account will remain available for a year. "

Hmmm! Yes.

For your $25, you get:

• an eMAil account accessible through your browser;
• access to a Job Search engine which searches the Newsgroups for you (We tried this one and it appeared to work well.);
  
• The RESUME UTILITY allows users to store their resumes, update work histories, compose and track cover letters to companies. Your resume is automatically integrated with the EMAIL UTILITY.
  
• DIRECTORY UTILITY is dedicated to the compiling of META-INDEXES. A meta-index is a collection of web sites with the same topic. Topics currently covered include Career Search.
  

There are also a couple of other "utilities", such as a reminder service.

We checked the "announcements" section, which is where people post their availability for jobs, and to be honest, it was a bit thin.

Still, all in all, it seemed like an honest attempt at providing a value-for-money service.

But someone else can go first...

Networking

July 16, 1997

According to many job-hunting experts, networking is the most important job-seeking tool. In fact, more than 30% of jobs are found through networking.

Attending seminars and presentations and other career-related events presents an ideal opportunity to network successfully.

Susan RoAne, a San Francisco-based keynote speaker and author of How to Work a Room and The Secrets of Savvy Networking, offers some tips for would-be networkers:

• Take heart. Eighty-eight percent of people say they are shy in some situations. You are not alone or different.

• Prepare for the event. Look at the schedule, note who is speaking and exhibiting, and call colleagues and plan to attend together.

• Stay up-to-date on the field by reading relevant publications. Read the newspaper too; it is a good source of small talk.

• Prepare a simple seven- to nine- second introduction like "I'm Jane Doe, and I'm the (---) at (---) in Altadena." Introduce yourself with energy, a smile, and eye contact.

• To enter a group of people already talking, stand on the periphery of the group, listen to the conversation, and nod appropriately in agreement when you can. Typically, someone will welcome you and introduce himself or herself. Once in a group, be sure to welcome others as they approach.

• Be interested in others; this will make you more memorable than will anything else.

• Moving out of conversations is part of circulating. Limit your time in any one group or conversation to eight to 10 minutes. To move on, just say, "Excuse me. It's been lovely talking to you." Move to another part of the room to show you really did have someone to see or something to do.

Healthcare

July 14, 1997

One of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors of the job market is healthcare, particularly nursing.

The Nurseweek/Healthweek site has copious resources for those interested in this area.

The Job Information section has listings for jobs in Texas and California, and links to a whole Career Guide section.

This last section is well worth a look, as it contains some very worthwhile general careers advice. For example, there are articles on

• Craft a career, get a job
• Smooth sailing: navigating successful transitions
• Get ahead with learning or innovation
• Savvy nurses develop business sense

which, while using the language of nursing are applicable across the board.

There's also an interesting interview with William Bridges, author of JobShift: How to Prosper in a Workplace Without Jobs (1995; Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.; $22), about the changing nature of work.

This is a welcome perspective from an expert in the field.

More Resources

• Companies with Job Ads (Nearly 1500 Links to Companies and their Job Postings)
• Tools (Everything You need for a Job Hunt)
• The daily newsletters are archived in weekly volumes in the Archives. Past issues include:

Many of the items are also included in the Tools Area. The Web's largest collection of Employment related resources is also included in the Tools Area. -----------------