Finding Job and Career Information Online

Maxwell’s Tech Program for Thursday, August 23, 2018

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

French proverb

Whatever the world is, today, good and bad together, that is what Gutenberg’s invention has made it: for from that source it has all come.

Mark Twain

When you see articles with titles like “What do people look for on the Internet?” one of the topics that’s sure to be on the list is information about job hunting and career planning. In this class we’ll look at some of the sites and search strategies that can help you efficiently find the job and career information you’re looking for.
Back in the day, before the Internet was available to all, the job-search experts advised job hunters that using the classified ads in the newspaper should only be one element of their search and that they should primarily rely on their networks — professional and personal — for leads, information, and access to the people who actually make hiring decisions.

The experts have now updated their advice to be that we should not rely on online job boards but, rather, on our networks. However, some of those networks are also online now. And the job boards, like the classified ads of yore, are not entirely useless.

Things stay the same.

At the same time, the Internet and computers in general make some things doable that once were effectively impossible. Just as with Gutenberg’s development of movable type.

Today’s workshop will look at some of the types of resources available on the Internet to help with the job hunt. We’ll talk about networking tools, but we’ll also talk about tools to help with researching companies and, yes, about job boards.