As you poke and search arond the web, make notes in your personal timeline (see yesterday's column). You'll be building a fuller credentials package while gaining familiarity with the basic tools.

Finding A Job#6:
Build A Personal Timeline

January 08, 1998 The best way to get comfortable with the web is by using it. So, the question becomes "How are you going to use it?" In the process of creating a solid resume, the best way to begin is by collecting lots of information about yourself and your experiences. Creating a personal timeline combines these two problems into a single exercise.

A personal timeline is a detailed history. It's a research project and you are the subject. When you are finished, you'll have a product that will be useful to you over the years.

In your Word Processor (we're big fans of Microsoft Word), create a table. It should have three columns and a row for each year of your age. Title the columns Year, Events and Notes. Fill in the year column with each of the years since you were born.

The next step involves brainstorming and remembering. It can be quite fun. Start entering the first thing that comes to your mind about each of the years. What grade were you in? Who was your teacher? Where did you live? What did you like doing? What did you want to be when you grew up? Who were your friends? What did you read? What music did you listen to? What was the most interesting thing that happened to you that year? Who was your boss? What company did you work for? What was your job like?

Take two or three hours to get a basic sketch of these memories. If you're having fun with the assignment, take more time.

Now for the web.

Underline three key things from each year. Go to HotBot (it's a search engine) and look all of them up. You do this by simply entering the words you've highlighted into the box on HotBot and hitting "Enter". The search engine will return all sorts of information on the subject, some of it useful, some of it not. For each search that you perform (remember, you have a list of three items per year), look at two or three of the URLs that Hot Bot returns as an answer (a URL is a web address).

The point of this exercise isn't to find specific information. Rather, in the process of learning to use the search engine, you'll get an additional flood of memories and connections about your personal history. Jot them down in the notes sections of the timeline.

If you complete this exercise, you'll have a solid familiarity with HotBot and a running start at the source data for your resume. Save your work. You'll discover, over time, that returning to your personal timeline helps to remind you of your history.

Finding A Job#5:
Write Five Objective Statements

January 07, 1998 Virtually all American resumes contain an objective statement. It usually appears immediately below the contact information. It is the first thing you read when looking at a resume. It generally contains words like growth, responsibility, authority, experience, industry and hard-working.

Frankly, most people who review resumes read right past standard objective statements. From the perspective of a resume reader, there is not much that hasn't been said in one of these short essays. When we discuss the value of having an objective on a resume, most Recruiters can find little positive to say.

So, why waste your time writing a paragraph that no one reads?

The answer is simple. You create objective statements for yourself. The process of writing them helps you get adjusted to the rigors of the job hunt. It helps you get used to the fact that you'll need (at some point) to create individual resumes for each of the jobs you really want. It helps you focus on your goals.

We recommend that you begin the creation of your resume by writing five separate objective statements.

To begin, take a look at other resumes. You can do this easily by using DejaNews (it's an archive of Usenet Newsgroups). Click on the search filter button and create a resume database by entering the term *resumes* (include the asterisks) in the box labeled Groups. Then, click the Create Filter button. You'll end up with a searchable database of resumes. Type in your specialty (marketing, sales, UNIX, engineering or whatever). You'll see a huge array of resumes from people like you. What do their objective statements say?

With this research under your belt, begin creating your Objective Statements. You'll want to create different statements for each of the following circumstances:

1. Working In A Department That Specializes in Your Expertise
2. Working In A Company That Specializes In Your Expertise
3. Working In A Setting Where You Are One Of A Few Experts
4. Working In An Entrepreneurial Setting That Requires Broad Responsibility
5. Working In A Setting In Which You Manage Others With Your Expertise

Finding A Job#4:
Set Up A Yahoo Page

January 06, 1998 Over the course of your job search, you are going to get very familiar with Yahoo!. Yahoo provides a solid range of services that you will need in your research. From free email to comprehensive views of the web to job listings, you may begin to think of Yahoo as your home on the web.

There is an important difference between search engines and directories. Search Engines (like AltaVista or HotBot) are generated by computers. Each night (so to speak) the search engines send agents out to index the web. The results are available to you through queries.

Directories (like Yahoo!) are made by people. It's a good news/bad news thing. Because people develop directories, they have quirks and faults missing from the search engines. But, if you master a directory, you'll have a solid foundation for your search. Think of The Search Engines as Indexes of the web. Directories are like the Table of Contents.

This means that remembering how the directory is organized is an important part of using it. Unfortunately, Yahoo!'s organization is quirky. They have, however, thoughtfully developed an answer.

A key starting point in your job search should be a personalized version of Yahoo!. Using this service, you can develop a job hunt based on your Zip Code featuring your saved searches and allowing you to use the web to its fullest.

Take a half-hour or so and build a personalized Yahoo!.

Finding A Job#3:
Get The Right Tools

January 05, 1998 The real advantage goes to the job hunter with the most current tools.

While it has little to do with actually finding a job, the Web is in constant flux. Many, if not most, of the current job listing services are in a constant battle for future market share. This forces them to continually develop features based on the latest versions of major tools.

There are several interesting implications for job hunters. If you are starting a search, your best bet is to immediately acquire the latest and best hardware. With market pressures the way that they are, this generally means an investment of about $1500 for a computer, monitor and modem. You'll also want to acquire email software, a browser (or two), fax software and an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An extra phone line, though somewhat optional, will be a good idea as well.

Don't wait for the equipment to get started with your job hunt. Just understand that over the course of a successful transition you will be upgrading your internet skills and tools. We generally think of this as an investment. A job hunt is just like starting a small business. Your success will depend on your investment.

Browsers

The browser is the software that you use to view the web. Although there are over 80 different browsers, you will want to have a copy of both Netscape's Communicator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Both companies make it very easy to download the latest versions of their tools. Be sure that you are using the latest version.

Email

The browser companies both include email software with their products. If you are going to conduct an extensive job hunt, however, you will want to purchase a more sophisticated email handler. The two best pieces of software are Eudora and Microsoft's Outlook. Eudora is easier to learn but Outlook is quite likely to be the tool of use in any company that you end up working for. Outlook is smoothly integrated with the overall Microsoft Office tool set.

You need a sophisticated piece of email software because you will be exchanging a lot of letters and notes. Once you reach full momentum in your job search, you will begin to really use the filtering tools in your emailer. This is where Eudora and Outlook shine.

Email Software is different from the email account you will use in the job hunt. You may want to consider getting a free email account from one of the many providers.

Fax Software

When purchasing your new computer, make sure that it comes with fax software. Although email is a handy tool, no contemporary job hunt is complete without an series of fax exchanges. We'll even suggest that you consider launching a small broadcast fax campaign. Our current favorite is WinFax because it integrates smoothly with Microsoft Outlook. This integration makes it possible for you to email and fax the same note. That ensures the success of your message.

Final Notes On Tools

It's very easy to get overwhelmed by the volume of new tools that you need. As we continually suggest, take it easy. You don't need to learn to use the tools before you need them. Rather, we suggest that you implement the available features as the need arises. That way, your learning is a part of the hunt.

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