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 |
