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Career Web Sites

by Douglas E. Welch

April 28, 2000

© 2000, Douglas E. Welch


The world of high-tech careers, in fact, all careers, have changed dramatically over the past few years. The old standard of lifelong employment has given way to project-based work where you, the high-tech worker pick and chose among a variety of options. Luckily, this change in the job market occurred just as the Internet was rising as a tool for everyone, not just those in academia. Every week sees the launch of more and more web sites dedicated to helping the high-tech worker develop the career of their dreams. Here are a few of my favorites.

Job Search

There are many sites dedicated to helping you find a job in the traditional corporate or small business environment. These are often the best alternative to fighting your way through the infinitesimally small print of most want ads. These web sites allow you to search specific geographic areas for jobs in your area of expertise. This is especially useful if you are planning on re-locating to a different city.

CareerPath <www.careerpath.com> is a combined effort by more than 20 newspapers around the country to place their complete "jobs available" ads online. You can search in any combination of newspapers for any combination of jobs that might suit your needs. Since CareerPath is based on newspaper listings a new crop of job listings arrives each Sunday.

Monster.com <www.monster.com> expands beyond job listings to create an entire job search community. Message boards and chat rooms allow you to network with other members and discuss issues such as interviewing. Monster also has an interesting feature that allows you to set up a job search agent. Once you tell this agent what type of jobs you are looking for it will seek out any new opportunities and email you a summary each day. If you want to apply for one of the positions you can upload your resume and apply electronically.

Jobs.com <www.jobs.com> is a recent addition to the job search arena and encompasses many of the same features offered by Monster. One interesting feature is a Quick Search on the front page where you enter your zip code and Jobs.com searches the surrounding areas for open positions.

Finally, the Usenet newsgroups comp.jobs can be an excellent source of listings for high-tech jobs. One of the easiest ways to access job-related newsgroups is through DejaNews <www.deja.com>. This web-based newsgroup reader allows you to easily search for job listings in your area of expertise and helps get around the sometimes cumbersome Usenet news interface.

Due to the way in which jobs are listed on various services it would benefit you to access more than one of these sites regularly. There is always the possibility that one site has listed a job that the others have not.

On your own

More and more frequently today people are striking out on their own and working as contractors, consultants or free agents. When you work for yourself you are always looking for the next project and the next job. Several sites have recently been launched specifically to help this type of high-tech worker.

Guru.com <www.guru.com> is a community site that includes articles on developing your independent business and running a business in general as well as a gig-matching database that seeks to connect high-tech workers and employers who need their skills. There are also message boards and other community services.

FreeAgent.com <www.freeagent.com> is a direct competitor with Guru.com and provides many of the same services. You can set up your ePortfolio, which publicizes your skills and past work so that employers can find you more easily.

In your own backyard

Sometimes, local job information web sites can be the best place to start your job search. JobRight.com <www.jobright.com> is a San Diego-based, non-profit web site that contains job-listings, advice and columns, including this Career Opportunities column. A quick search using any search engine can usually turn up several sites for your city, wherever you might be.

The Internet has made it easier than ever before to find job listings and other information on developing your career. Whether you are looking for a job in corporate America, striking out on your own, or some combination you would be well advised to sit down at the closet computer and check out the sites above as well as the many others available on the Internet.


Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on Douglas' web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/

He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com

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