Perhaps no other way of job searching for both temporary and permanent professional technical jobs is growing as fast as the Internet. Many people are surfing the Net as a way to discover what is out there in terms of jobs and opportunities. Staffing services that place people in both permanent and temporary technical professional jobs have Web sites on the Internet. Many of the staffing services in the Appendix have Web sites, and those that do not may be in the process of developing sites.
The Internet is changing the way employers and prospective employees (in this case, professional technical temps) interact or communicate with each other. The Web sites of some staffing services will have a series of options that are user friendly to guide you to the location of the office nearest you. Other Web sites will give you an option of communicating directly with the service through e mail. You can even complete a resume that is keyword driven and send it to a staffing service through the Internet. The service can also correspond with you by e mail should you decide to give a staffing service your e mail address.
Using a Web site can save you, the professional technical temp, a lot of time. You do not have to stay on hold while a receptionist is trying to find someone to talk to you. You can narrow your search of staffing services by deciding which ones have the technical savvy to operate via the Internet. You can also make your job search as a prospective temporary or full time employee as narrow or as wide as you want to by listing preferences as to where you want to work. Many staffing services that list temporary part time and full time jobs on the Internet indicate where the jobs are. That way, the staffing service hopes to recruit temps who want to work in those areas. Why respond to a job in Alaska when you only want to work in Hawaii?
The Internet and Jobs
New graduates as well as employees seeking lateral employment moves have traditionally relied on networking, placement offices, headhunters, staffing services, and the employment classified newspaper advertisements in locating jobs. Now all these avenues are focused on the Internet. Certainly, the opportunities for networking are greatly enhanced by the chat rooms and talk groups as well as the information available on the Internet. Now many newspapers make their employment classified advertisements available on the Net, and many employers and recruiters advertise heavily on the Net.
Staffing services and the professional/technical employee benefit from the cost savings of the Internet. They avoid the postage costs of mailing resumes and applications. They defray the long distance telephone toll charges. And, they present themselves as up to date and modern by using the Internet.
Today, over 50% of companies surveyed by the American Management Association post job openings on the Internet and also use the Internet for recruiting and interviewing. The Internet ranked fourth in efficiency filling jobs behind newspaper advertising, trade publications, and personal referrals.
The growth of Web sites and online listings has made available a wide variety of resources at your fingertips if you have access to the Internet. Many public libraries offer access to the Internet if you do not have personal use of a computer at home. Staffing services, companies, professional societies, and government agencies maintain online resources or home pages, which are updated regularly with the latest information on their organization and its activities. Many of the Web sites for staffing services are listed in the Appendix.
Internet listings include such information as government documents, schedules of events, professional and technical job openings, classified employment ads, and even networking contacts. Listings for academic institutions provide links to career counseling and placement services through career resource centers, as well as information on financing your education. Colleges and universities also offer online guides to campus facilities for upgrades and refresher courses in your profession or area of expertise.
The various career information databases available through the Internet provide much of the same information available through libraries, career centers, and guidance offices. However, no single network or resource contains all desired information, so be prepared to search a number of different places for what you need. As in a library search, look through various lists by field or discipline, or by using particular keywords. It may even be helpful to consult a reference book such as The Internet Yellow Pages, which is available in most libraries.
