Job Searches

Searching for jobs online offers a lot of advantages to the traditional methods in that you can use the internet to tap into huge databases of job information. Your own résumé, when sent out to a job prospect today, is probably scanned and added to a database (the company's) to search through using keywords. You can also publish your résumé online with online résumé banks, or submit it to a potential employer as an email attachment. In the end, you still have to start with a résumé, and the first thing you should do is make sure it is scannable.

Part One: Get your resume together
Part Two: Explore job search options online

PART ONE: Getting Your Resume Together

Scannable résumés

Some organization use scanners to evaluate résumés. They will open all the envelopes received in response to an employment ad, take out the résumés, and scan them into a database. The scanning process will analyze your résumés, counting up the number of times key words appear in your résumés. When the company is looking to fill a position, rather than page through hundreds of résumés, they go to the database and search for key words or job titles. 

Tips for creating a scannable résumé:

• Include a keyword summary at the top of the résumé – pull them from the job announcement. The summary should list job titles, degrees, job descriptions and other relevant nouns for which an employer might search. The words should correspond to your experience and appear within your résumé. If you're not sure what the keywords should be, look in the newspaper want ads for similar jobs, and make a list of all the keywords that appear frequently. Keyword summaries should include:
  • Specific skills you have such as: C++, NetBios, OS/2, CDMA, GSM etc. (nouns)
  • Potential job titles you could have such as: System Engineer, Network Analyst, UNIX Administrator, Sales Executive.
  • Companies within your industry.
  • Products and/or services within your industry.
• Make sure your name and address appear clearly at the top of the page, above all other information.
• Use simple, easy-to-read fonts and no graphics. This eliminates any technical problems in scanning your résumé. Suggested fonts include: Courier, Helvetica, Times, and Universe. Use a font size of 10-14; smaller fonts are hard to scan.
• Use capital letters for your section headings.
• Left justify the text in your résumé.
• Don't use bullets – they don't scan. Use asterisks (*) or plus signs (+).
• Don't format your résumé into columns.
• Use white paper.
• Use a good quality laser printer and send the original.
• Don't fold or staple the resume – mail it flat so it won't arrive with any creases.
• Avoid italics, underline, shadows, and reverse fonts, which don't scan well.
• Avoid horizontal and vertical lines, and boxes, which won't be understood by the scanning analysis either.

More information on scannable résumés:

• CareerMosaic: Electronic Resumes
• SEMO - Scannable Resume Tips

Email-able résumés

E-mail resumes should be in ASCII, or text, format, which can be easily converted.  They should be included in the body of the message, rather than sent as an attachment when possible. Some companies will not accept attached documents. For those who do accept them, Microsoft Word is often the software they have that can open your resume file. Always follow up by mailing a hard copy if you can obtain the contact information. You can also include an address  to the web version of your resume  if you have one. Do not call your attachment "resume.doc" — everybody does. Make your resume document identifiable as yours – jane_doe_resume.doc or something like that.

More information about email-able resumes: 

• ASCII Resume Tutorial
• Email Resumes
• Plain Text Resumes

Web page resumes

You can always make a web page detailing your resume's contents and displaying some examples of your work. (The downside to relying on this method of publicizing your employability is that you are limited to those employers who are able and willing to look at your web page online to evaluate it.) There are several free locations on the internet where you can publish your pages as well:

PC Magazine review of some of these sites here:
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/webcommunities/

Angelfire http://www.angelfire.com
GeoCities http://www.geocities.com
Homestead http://www.homestead.com
Hometown AOL http://hometown.aol.com
Tripod http://www.tripod.com
Xoom http://www.xoom.com

More information on web page resumes: 

• ProvenResumes.com: Electronic Resumes 
• EResumes and EResources 
• The FAQ's of Posting Resumes Online
• View Resumes Posted on the Web

PART Two: Explore Job Search Options Online

Internet resources for job searches

The internet's database-driven content and searchability are assets to you in your job search. Online, you have access to thousands of newspapers' classified ads, many crosslinked directories of jobs in specific fields, and even Usenet postings, where many thousands of new postings appear every day.

When you start a job search, first try the web sites of the companies you are targetting – they may publish their job opportunities online. You might want to try JobSafari http://www.jobsafari.com/ for links to companies who publish jobs and employment information on their web site.

Job search general information:

The Salary Calculator: http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cmr/salcalc.html
Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm
Online Job Search Tools: http://www.jobfactory.com/
Other career-related links: http://www.howardcc.edu/career/links.htm

Web sites that list available jobs:

America's Job Bank: a partnership by the U.S. Department of Labor and state-run employment services http://www.ajb.dni.us/

HotJobs.com: the experienced professional's job board http://www.hotjobs.com

The Most Popular Job Sites: http://www.100hot.com/directory/business/jobs.html

National Ad Search -  shows you display ads from help wanted sections of newspapers – generally more than one column wide and representing better-paying jobs. There is a cost to join, but you can use their one-week free subscription to try it out. http://www.nationaladsearch.com/

Career City - Good source for high tech jobs. http://www.careercity.com/

Headhunter Net - 230,000 resumes http://www.headhunter.net/

Ad One Classified Network - Look through classified ads from hundreds of newspapers across America, searchable by category and region of the country - http://www.search.com/search?channel=7&cat=59&tag=ex.se.fd.ql.7-59

USENET Resources

Don't forget to look through newsgroup listings – there are many, many discussion groups online about getting jobs, and job listings.  

Liszt's Usenet Newsgroups: http://www.liszt.com
CareerMosaic Usenet Search page: http://www.careermosaic.com/cm/cm36.html
Dejanews/Google 80,000 newsgroups: http://www.deja.com/categories/jobs.shtml

The Paper

For the paper for this class, email me and include this information:

1. attach your electronic resume
2. list sites you used to submit your resume online (list at least three different sources)
3. list sites you found that would accept a resume online for the site's company
4. your search criteria in the online want ads (be detailed and specific)
5. # of hits for your search criteria for online want ads (list at least three different sources)
6. if you applied to the subject of your in-depth company search, how did your research information benefit you?

Email your instructor
© Howard Community College 2002
Last updated: 16 Apr 2003