Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the November 28, 2001 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Find Your Job on the ‘Net
Yes, it’s true, most people find jobs through
networking.
The figure is something like 66 percent. For shy people, making the
contacts that lead to a job can be like “slaying a mastodon.”
So says Susan Guarneri, certified career counselor and owner
of Resume Magic, with offices on Route 206 in Lawrenceville.
Now there is an alternative for those who blush and stammer in groups
of new acquaintances. It is — no surprise — the Internet.
The medium is a fine place to find job postings, but, says Guarneri,
it is also a prime networking spot for job seekers, and is a help
in a host of other ways.
On Monday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m. Guarneri speaks on “Job
Hunting
on the Internet” at a free meeting of the Job Club at the
Unitarian
Church in Princeton. Call 609-771-1669.
Guarneri says there are three main ways the Internet benefits job
seekers. It’s a research tool, a place to post resumes, and an
E-networking
arena. In this job climate, which Guarneri characterizes mildly, as
“not as good as last year,” job seekers need all the tools
they can get. She sees some clients “rolling over and playing
dead,” so discouraged are they about job prospects. But, she says,
“there are still good jobs out there.” The Internet offers
a plethora of ways to unearth them. Guarneri explains how to do the
digging:
Meet job contacts online. “For some folks who havetrouble with networking, it’s hard to start conversations out of theblue,” she says. “With the Internet they can hide behind theanonymity of the computer screen.” Even the gregarious benefitfrom Internet networking. “You have a much wider audience,”says Guarneri. “Are you going to fly to San Diego? I don’t thinkso.” Yet on the Internet, job hunters can build relationshipswith people throughout the country, and all around the world.Where to find Internet friends. “Start withprofessionalassociations,” says Guarneri. Chances are there will be forums,job postings, and opportunities for cyber chat with other writers,nurses, or physicists. Alumni association websites are another goodplace to meet people with whom you have lots in common. A generalsite Guarneri likes a lot is Vault.com (www.vault.com),where a section called “water cooler” promotes chat amongpeople in similar industries.Joining E-groups is another good way to meet people who can help ina job search. Guarneri, who belongs to three E-groups for professionalresume writers, likes the lists of groups at Yahoo!’s special E-groupsection at groups.com. Job leads commonly circulate inthese groups, with list members passing along opportunities that arenot right for them. Friendships grow up too, and reciprocity isappreciated.Guarneri says a member of one of her resume list groups came acrossa problem she couldn’t solve late on a Sunday evening. “Withinfour hours, she had five answers,” she says. All of them helpful.”The groups are only as anonymous as you make them,” she says.It is fine to “lurk” — just read postings, butparticipatingwill pay greater dividends, making you a person others will thinkof when a good job comes up.Prepare Internet templates. Job hunters involved in anumber of online networking groups might want to write boilerplateinitial letters as they approach each type of networking group.Guarnerisuggests a first paragraph could be an introduction, and the secondcould be a statement of common interest — “I graduated fromPrinceton in 1976.” or “I’ve worked as a wildlife photographerfor six years, half of them in Kenya.” A third paragraph coulddescribe an objective, perhaps information on job leads or a chanceto meet people from a particular company or industry. This saves time,as the same information will be repeated over and over.Cast resumes over a broad area. It is a good idea to startposting a resume on the Internet by registering with the big jobsites.Monster, at www.monster.com, is the biggest. Other sites witha long reach are CareerBuilder (www.careerbuilder.com) andHeadhunter(www.headhunter.net), which is in the process of being acquiredby CareerBuilder.Use a rifle approach. Posting on these sites is a goodfirst step, but it is not enough. “Some people just post onMonster,and sit back to wait for the phone to ring,” says Guarneri. Shecalls posting on the big sites a “shot gun approach.” Itcertainlyis possible to hit the target, but a little more precision can yieldbetter results.There are sites for entry level employees, and for executives. Sitesfor Latinos, and for African American. And, says Guarneri, there arelots of sites for women. There are geographical sites, too, includingnjjobs.com for New Jersey and philly.preferredjobs.com for jobs inthe city of brotherly love. Of course, the government has job postingsites as well. A good portal to all of the above — and more —resides at www.myjobsearch.com. Find all niche sites into whichyou fit, and then post resumes on each.Sell yourself to the highest bidder. Going, going, gone!The graphic designer with five book jackets under his belt is soldfor $125 an hour. That is basically how auction sites work. Post yourqualifications, and employers bid for your services. An auction siteGuarneri especially likes is found at bid4geeks.comSell your friends. There are referral sites that willpay you for sending qualified workers their way. If your friends arehired, you are paid a fee. “It’s not as much as a recruiter wouldget,” says Guarneri, but she has a friend who makes a nice littleliving placing acquaintances through these referral sites, includingCareer Rewards at www.careerrewards.com.Bring employers to you. Posting a resume can bringresults,as can E-mailing it to prospective employers. Another way to gaina wide audience for your resume is to post it on your very ownwebsite,perhaps along with samples of your work and letter of commendationyou have received. Guarneri says this saves employers from havingto open an attachment, something many are loath to do. Having a resumeon a website also means it can be formatted and placed on subtlycolored”paper,” while resumes sent as attachments need to be sentas text files and stripped of all personality.Guarneri says web-savvy job hunters can build their own website, orpay to have someone else create and host one. As part of E-Biz Magic,a company she started when she realized she needed a website for herbusiness, Guarneri offers this service. She will put a resume on ajob hunter’s website for about $119 plus a $59 a year hosting fee.Samples of what these resumes look like are available atwww.resume-magic.comunder the heading “samples.”Add the Internet to your arsenal of job hunting tools, rightalong with a positive attitude. “Be persistent,” is Guarneri’sadvice. “Don’t give up. Remember, there have been recessionsbefore,and people did get jobs.”Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
