This column should interest just about everyone. It doesn't matter whether you
love your job or hate it - or don't have a job at all - everyone is attracted by new
opportunities.
Of all the popular uses of the Internet, finding a job certainly seems to be among
the Top 10, at least based on all the jobs posted on Web sites and newsgroups.
Of course, no one gets hired right off the Net. But increasingly, certain jobs -
especially technical and computer jobs - are advertised only on the Internet, and
companies want resumes and cover letters e-mailed. Working over the Net proves an
applicant's computer literacy.
For years, the Internet has been the place to find top technical jobs. But
recently, employment services and publications have moved to the Web to expand their
markets.
Job searching is now nationwide, even global. For example, The Monster Board (http://www.monster.com), an employment site,
listed more than 16,000 jobs across the country last week. You can search by
location, job title or both.
Getting started
A good place to start a job search on the Web is the Career Resource Center (http://www.careers.org), which contains 11,000
links to jobs, employers and career planning resources (such as employment agencies
and recruiters).
Unfortunately, searching the Internet for job leads requires time, patience and
knowledge. Jobs are advertised in many places: newsgroups, media Web sites, corporate
Web sites and in sites devoted to professional groups.
For example, someone looking for a job in Ohio should check Ohio State
University's Business Job Finder (http://www.cob.ohhio-state.edu/dept/fin/osujobs.htm),
the newsgroup OH.JOBS, the State of Ohio recruitment page (http://www.state.oh.us/hr/emprec.html),
the Web sites of the state's largest newspapers, including Akron (http://www.ohio.com), Columbus (http://www.cd.columbus.oh.us) and Cincinnati
(http://cincinnati.com), as well as the Web sites of
major Ohio companies.
Company Web sites are becoming a prime recruiting spot. Procter & Gamble, one
of Cincinnati's largest private employers, devotes a large section of its site (http://www.pg.com) to a Career Center, which discusses
career opportunities at P&G. Cincinnati Bell also lists job opportunities on its
home page (http://www.cinbelltel.com).
Employment agencies are also mining the Web for recruitment. SourceServices (http://www.experienceondemand.com)
posts a salary survey on its site to attract potential clients.
Newspaper leads
Tracking down jobs at all these different sites can be tedious; most job hunters
rely on the local newspaper for leads. CareerPath.com (http://www.careerpath.com) combines the
employment ads from 23 newspapers (including high-tech meccas such as Atlanta, San
Jose, Calif., New York, Boston and Los Angeles) into an even more monstrous site that
claims more than 130,000 ads.
Here in Cincinnati, jobs go begging because we're beyond full employment. Area
recruiters agree that the healthy economy has created too many jobs with not enough
applicants.
''(Cincinnati is) one of the healthiest employment markets in the country,'' said
Manny Erivas, classified advertising director for The Enquirer and Post. ''We have a
shortage of people.''
He should know, because employment ads in The Enquirer and Post have increased
more than 6 percent in the past year
Anyone linking to GoCincinnati's CareerFinder (http://careerfinder.cincinnati.com) can
quickly search ads a week's worth of ads - just in case you lost the Sunday
newspaper.
James Jackson, GoCincinnati's online director, said CareerFinder is ''easily the
most popular part of the classified site.''
Perhaps it can also bring some much-needed workers from other parts of the
country.
E-mail Charles Brewer with questions, comments and suggestions at cbrewer@enquirer.com.