Tips for Conducting an Internet Job Search

Seminar Description: The Internet is becoming an important job-search tool. However, it is essential to understand the basics before applying for a job online. This workshop will cover the following topics: How the WWW can be a part of your job search strategy, types of resources available, security issues, how to maximize your time, utilizing employers' homepages and posting your resume online. Seminar includes one hour of lecture and 30 minutes of hands-on experience.

Before Going Online . . . ask yourself

What do I want to do?  Occupation Outlook Handbook

Who do I want to work for?  Hoover's Company & Industry Tools / Annual Reports.com

Where do I want to live?   CNN Money - Best Places to Live

Career Development Resource = The Riley Guide

Why Use the Internet . . . Variety at Your Fingertips

Job Listings

Find Local Newspaper Classifieds- News Voyager
Internet Classifieds - AdQuest3D or CraigsList or SonomaCountyHelpWanted
Educational Openings - Higher Ed Jobs
Specialized Job Boards- Physics Job Board
Super JobSites - Monster, America's Job Bank (AJB), Job Central

Lists, Newsgroups, Discussions

Email Lists - Employment 
Yahoo Groups - Employment & Work
Moderated Discussion Boards - CareerJournal Discussions

Find Employer Websites

Search Engines - Google, Yahoo and many more

Post a Resume

Formatting is important to consider.

Many formats to consider: Eform, Email Attachment, HTML, Plain-Text, Scan-able

• Overview of Different Formats - Riley Guide - Preparing Your Resume

Most Super JobSites Offer a Link- Career Builder

Credibility & Security Issues

On the Internet you must consider the reputation of the jobsite you plan to use.

How to Evaluate (Source/ Authority/ Currency/ Purpose/ Completeness/ Relevancy)
Costs - many jobsites have some free services & charge a fee for others
Is it Up-to-Date - how current are the listings?
Security & Privacy - Tips to Safeguard Your Privacy

Check it out - True Careers / CareerJournal

-Find the ABOUT page, have they won any awards?
-Do you know the company?
-How do they protect your privacy? Job Hunt gives some helpful tips. http://www.job-hunt.org

Newpaper and Magazine Articles - SRJC Database Articles (subscription)

-Find overall company information.
-Find additional career information.

Reading an Employer's Webpage

Maximize Your Time . . . Search Like a Librarian

The Advanced search is usually where you can find options to Refine your search.

Search Tools  Search Engines OR Subject Directories

Search Techniques

Limiting Features
Phrase Searching
Boolean Logic Operators

 A good first step is to look for a Help or About link to get tips and instructions for how to best use the features and capabilities of a particular tool.

If you have too many results:

• Add more specific words to narrow your results
• Date (pages updated in a specified time period)
• Domain (sites only from a specific domain such as .gov or .edu)
• Language (pages written in specific languages)
• Boolean Logic Operators (AND, NOT) to narrow results

If you have too few results:

• Drop off the least important words to broaden your results
• Use more general broader terms
• Boolean Logic Operator OR - Link synonym terms, singular/plural forms, or variant spellings.

Phrase Search
Enclose the words within quotations keeps multiple-terms together as one unit. For example, "Informational Interview".

Use Boolean (Logic) Operators
A form of logic applied to a multi-term search to allow you to quickly narrow or broaden a search. Primer on Boolean Searching.

	AND Narrows a search requires both words be in the results.
typing in job culinary gives results containing ALL THE WORDS

	NOT Narrows a search eliminates a specific word from the results Use caution it can eliminate potential relevant results
typing in chef NOT pastry gives results WITHOUT THE WORD pastry.

	OR Broadens a search one or the other or both of the words can be in results
typing in jobs OR employment gives results ANY OF THE WORDS OR both of them

Additional Resources

The Internet is not a replacement for a traditional job search. It should be just one of the resources you use. Check out the Career Center List of Links for more information:

http://www.santarosa.edu/for_students/student_resources/career-center/hotlinks.shtml

Miicca Gray or Phyllis Usina - Library and Information Resources Department.
Santa Rosa Junior College. Last updated: March 19, 2007