Feature Article: Web 2.0 Dominates Trends in Internet Job-Hunting: A Quintessential Careers Annual Report 2008
Special Feature: Internet Job-Search Mistakes
Bonus Feature: A Quintet of Quick Questions: QuintZine's Q&A with a Career Expert
Quintessential Reading: QuintZine's Review of Career Books
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Latest Additions: What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Since 2001, we've been bringing you Internet Job-Hunting "Annual" Reports, although our
last two have been more like "every 18 months" reports. Our Internet Job-Hunting Annual Reports 6.0
appears in this issue, supplemented by an article on Internet job-hunting mistakes, and a Q&A interview
and book report that also relate to Internet job-hunting.
Increasingly, the phrase "Internet job-hunting" is becoming redundant since fewer and fewer jobs
are advertised in venues other than the Internet. But remember that MOST jobs aren't advertised at
all and must be uncovered by networking. Face-to-face networking rules, but it's increasingly enhanced by online
networking, as we note in our Annual Report.
--Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master,
Certified Electronic Career Coach, and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Internet Job-Hunting Report
Web 2.0 Dominates Trends in Internet Job-Hunting:
A Quintessential Careers Annual Report 2008
by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
Have you noticed that the Help Wanted portion of your newspaper classified-ad section is getting thinner and thinner?
The Conference Board reported in fall 2007 that 73 percent of surveyed job-seekers were using the Internet to do so compared
to 66 percent in the same period in 2005. At the same time, use of newspaper classifieds dropped from 75 percent to 65 percent
between 2005 and 2007. Online advertised vacancies were competitive, the Conference Board reported, with 2.78 of them
for every 100 people in the labor force.
Job-seekers are continuing the steady migration to searching online that they began more than a decade ago. The Internet
has revolutionized recruiting, but the process remains flawed for job-seekers, who still feel treated inhospitably when they
apply for jobs online, as well as for employers, who lament that few applicants who offer themselves online are qualified.
While the process continues to iron itself out at an agonizingly sluggish pace, both employers and job-seekers are looking for
new ways to circumvent the normal channels. Many of these ways are part of Web 2.0 -- defined in simplest terms as
the-Web-as-participation. In our report we
offer four observations about current trends and one prognostication for the future.
QuintZine's Q&A with a Career Expert: Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers
"My advice is to look on [job] boards during the hours when you may not be able to meet with
people in person" said Barbara Safani in the Q&A interview we did with her. "Maybe for an hour in the
early morning or an hour in the evening. Reserve time during normal business hours to work your contacts,
make new connections, and arrange for business meetings and informational interviews."
Read more of Safani's advice, including her thoughts on the most cutting-edge social-networking tools, ways to
enhance job-hunting success with social networking, four ways to uncover job leads, and her reflections on
the biggest myth in job-hunting in our complete Q&A with her.
Ad: Job-Winning Resume Writing Service
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I've been a member of LinkedIn for several years, have built a very modest network of 48 contacts, and I can't say
I have gleaned any significant benefit from belonging to this popular business-networking site. However, I also can't say
I have put any significant effort into gaining more benefits from using LinkedIn. Jason Alba's I'm on LinkedIn: Now What???
is for people like me who would like to get more out of LinkedIn but aren't sure how to go about it.
Quintessential Careers Announces Plans for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 Tours.
The Quint Careers RV could be headed your way. We're ready to put on no-cost workshops
at your college, high school, or library!
The Fall 2008 (August-November) Mid-Atlantic Tour will take us through Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Specific Dates TBA. Learn more
and contact QuintCareers Founder Dr. Hansen if you're interested in having us make a stop.
The Spring 2009 (Dates TBD) West/Mid-West Tour will take us through Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky.
Get more details on this tour or
contact QuintCareers Founder Dr. Hansen.
Facebook is a social utility -- increasingly used by business people -- that connects people with friends and others who
work, study, and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos,
share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Anyone can join Facebook. All that's needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. Once you register, you can join a
regional network to connect with the people in your area.
Facebook is made up of many networks, each based around a company, region, or school. Join the networks that reflect
your real-life communities to learn more about the people who work, live, or study around you.
A unique aspect of Facebook compared to other social-networking sites is that the platform enables anyone, anywhere, to build complete
applications that you can choose to use. You can define your experience on Facebook by choosing applications that are useful and relevant to your world.
BrokerHunter.com
-- an employment Website for job-seekers within the securities industry segment of the financial services industry,
where securities, insurance, and banking professionals can browse or search job listings (by position, location, and firm),
as well as post your resume. No cost to job-seekers.
CampusExplorer --
an extremely cool tool for high school students planning to continue your education,
where you can search for schools by major, location, and degree (4-year colleges, 2-year
schools, and vocational programs) and find detailed information about the school,
students, costs, admissions, and academics. No cost.
hireCentral --
a healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech, and hospital jobs site, where
job-seekers can search job-listings (by keyword, level, location, and category),
post your resume, and find numerous other related career and educational
resources. No cost to job-seekers.
MEPatWork.com --
an online job board and resume bank for professionals in the HVAC, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing industries,
where job-seekers can search job listings (by keywords, location, position), post your resume, create a job
alert, and find career and industry resources. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Quintessential Careers Press New Book!
Quintessential Careers Press Announces a New Book on Behavioral Interviewing.
The Quintessential Guide to Behavioral Interviewing, by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
(Quintessential Careers Press). A free book that's like attending boot camp for intensively
learning about and preparing for this popular form of job-interviewing. You'll learn the premise behind
behavioral interviewing -- why employers like to use them. You'll discover how to identify the skills and
behaviors that employers are targeting with with behavioral questions... along with a huge collection of
questions and sample responses. A must read for all job-seekers.
Q TIPS:
Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search and Work Life
Why tackle today what can be put off until Tuesday? In a new survey, 57 percent of executives said Tuesday
is the most productive day of the week for employees. Monday was the second most popular answer, although
it appears to be losing favor: Only 12 percent of respondents ranked Monday as most productive, compared to 26 percent
in a 2002 survey.
The national poll included responses from 150 senior executives -- including those from human resources, finance and marketing
departments -- with the nation's 1,000 largest companies. It was conducted by an independent research firm and
developed by Accountemps, a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals.
Executives were asked, "In your opinion, on which day of the week are employees generally most productive?" Their responses:
Monday: 12 percent
Tuesday: 57 percent
Wednesday: 11 percent
Thursday: 11 percent
Friday: 3 percent
Don't know: 6 percent
The results mirror previous surveys conducted in 2002, 1998 and 1987.
Accountemps offers the following advice for maintaining a high level of productivity throughout the entire week:
Make a plan. Spend 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning of each day mapping out your desired accomplishments.
Prioritize the tasks that are most important to the business.
Sharpen your focus. People are more productive when working for an extended period in the same mental mode,
as opposed to changing gears frequently. Try to cluster tasks that require similar effort or resources in the same time frame.
Limit distractions. It can be tempting to review e-mail each time a message arrives. However, unless your job requires an immediate
response, it's often best to check your inbox periodically throughout the day.
Don't delay. Even peak performers occasionally put off working on unpleasant or overwhelming assignments. One effective way
to overcome procrastination is to break a project into smaller, more manageable tasks.
Recharge. Taking short breaks throughout the day can help you replenish your energy and fight fatigue.
New Entry for Workplace Dictionary: Green-Collar Job. Touted by the
presidential candidates as an up-and-coming engine for job growth, these well-
paying occupations will flourish due to growing concern about the environment.
Companies in every industry are seeking ways to be more eco-friendly in their
operations as well as products and services. (Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas)
[Editor's Note: See the Green Collar entry in our
Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms
for a slightly different definition.]
Those considering a job change seek many sources of guidance, but the opinion they value most often comes from the person
closest to them. Nearly half (46 percent) of executives polled said they turn first to spouses or significant others for advice when evaluating
a potential job change, up from 42 percent in 2002. The survey also shows mentors carry greater clout than five years ago: 41 percent respondents
said they would consult their mentors first, compared to 28 percent in 2002.
The national poll included responses from 150 senior executives with the nation's 1,000 largest companies conducted by an
independent research firm and developed by Accountemps.
Besides spouses/significant others and mentors, advisers cited included coworkers, other family members, friends, and "someone else."
Along with seeking advice from family, friends and mentors, Accountemps advises professionals to
consider the following questions before making a career transition:
Is the grass really greener? If you once were satisfied in your present job, what changed? Will the new position be more fulfilling,
or would you be better off trying to enhance your current role so it includes more of the duties you enjoy?
Will you have room to grow? When considering a new position, ask about advancement potential. If a career dead-end is prompting
your desire to make a change, you want to be sure you don't end up in the same situation at a different company in a year or two.
Have you done your homework? Is the firm in good financial condition? Have you researched the industry, and the company's mission and
values? Try to determine if the new work environment will appeal to you.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
Need a career expert for a story or article you're working on? Searching for college,
career, and job news? Interested in learning more about Quintessential Careers?
Our Press Room
is your one-stop location for getting the information and resources you need.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Career Focus Quiz
* Credit Reports and Job-Search
* New Grads: Expectation/Entitlement vs. Reality
* College Grad Job-hunting Readiness Quiz
* Using Mind-mapping Techniques for Interview Prep
* Interview Post-Mortem
* Hiring Decision-makers' Top 30 Peeves about Executive Resumes
* 10 Critical Interviewing Tips
* Study Skills
* Academic Success
* Wheel of Wellness
* 3 Generations of Workers: Y, X, Boomers
* Employee Healthy Benefits
* College Financing
* Scholarship Do's and Don'ts
* The Academic Job Search
* Perks of Working in Higher Ed
* Signs Your Job is in Jeopardy
* Blogging Way to New Job or Holiday Job-Hunting
* Office Politics
* Maternity Leave
* Jobs on the Cutting Edge
* Job Search IQ Quiz
* Resume Bullet Points: Before and After
* GLBT Job-search Issues
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more...
by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
The Quint Careers RV could be headed your way. We're ready to put on no-cost workshops
at your college, high school, or library!
