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Career Magazine

July 31, 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.

Hidden Jobs

July 30, 1997

Mark S. Granovetter, a sociologist at Harvard University, investigated how people get jobs. His study included executive, professional, technical, and managerial workers who had recently found jobs. His data indicated that:

• only 10% of jobs were found through ads;
  
• 9% were found through agencies;
  
• and an astonishing 74% were found "informally".
  
  

"Informal" methods of job finding are those whereby the job seekers exercise their own initiative in building on personal contacts and making themselves known to potential employers. They are differentiated from "formal" methods, which rely on advertisements and/or employment agencies.

Granovetter's data also indicate that of the people who found jobs through personal contacts, 43.8% had new positions created for them.

Granovetter concludes: "Personal contacts are of paramount importance in connecting people with jobs. Better jobs are found through contacts, and the best jobs, the ones with the highest pay and prestige and affording the greatest satisfaction to those in them, are most apt to be filled in this way."

(Granovetter, Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers. Harvard University Press.)

These conclusions are broadly supported by a comprehensive study of 10.4 million people who had found jobs by the US Department of Labor (Bulletin # 1886).

We found these statistics at the Bernard Haldane & Associates site, which has some useful tips and advice despite being a blatant pitch for their services.

Typically, firms like Haldane and Princeton Masters International offer to "repackage" and "market" you within the "hidden job market".

Their services are little more than you can accomplish yourself - if you are able to retain some objectivity about yourself - at considerably less cost.

Casting the Net

July 29, 1997

Your search for a job will undoubtedly have the use of search engines as a means of locating openings.

Very often, however, a simple search will yield either an large, unwieldy number of references or a a disappointingly low number.

The trick is knowing how to use the advanced features of search engines to progressively refine your search until it yelds results that are meaningful for you.

Of course, the other side of the equation lies in posting your resume online. Recruiters, you can be assured, use search engines as a means of locating suitable candidates. So you need to ensure that your resume is within the top twenty or so in a search a recruiter is likely to make.

Both of these areas are covered exhaustively in an excellent article< /A> by Richard Seltzer at the Alta Vista site.

It's packed with useful, hands-on tips as to how to most effectively use Alta Vista to focus your job search as well as ensure that your details are at the forefront of a recruiter's search.

Definitely worth checking and clicking!

Temping

July 28, 1997

A few short years ago, taking a succession of temporary jobs through an agency ("temping") was looked down upon somewhat by those with "permanent" jobs.

The structural upheval the economy is currently undergoing has, alas, made virtually evey job "temporary" - from both sides of the equation.

There are a number of temporary agencies online - although not as many as we would have anticipated.

Catalina Resources specializes in permanent and temporary/contract employment in the areas of technical services, accounting, finance, healthcare and office support. They have offices in Atlanta and Tampa.

Contract Employment Weekly boasts that its database is updated every sixty minutes. You need to register for this agency which is broad based and has tips on resume writing.

"Temp" jobs differ from "contract" jobs, although there are superficial similarities. "Temps" are generally regarded as employees of the agency for which they work, while "contract" workers are usually regarded as freelancers, who are responsible fro their own tax and insurance.

Contract workers may find a useful resource at consultant Jeff Berner's site. Jeff writes extensively on working from home and his site is regularly updated with advice and resources.

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. -----------------