Text 2 The Internet Job Search

One reason why an Internet job search is effective is that most employers are seeking candidates who have computer acumen, regardless of their majors.

As a result of this need for computer-literate employees, many employers post their job opportunities on their organization’s web sites or with one of the job-search bulletin boards. This means the job hunter who can conduct an effective electronic job search demonstrates valuable computer skills to potential employers.

In addition, using the Internet to conduct your job search has three advantages:

1. Not everyone use it. Even though millions of people are online, fewer than half of today’s college students use it for job search purposes.

2. You increase your marketability to potential employers by demonstrating your ability to use a rapidly growing and extremely vital component of the computer industry – the Internet.

3. Networking, researching companies, and answering help-wanted ads (advertisements) can be completed in a fraction of the time that it used to take someone who relied on more traditional job-search methods.

In the future, the Internet will do more than just list jobs and market services.

Text 3 Dressing for Success

The world of work is filled with unwritten rules. Among those unwritten rules is how to dress for your organization.

Most employees of Wachovia Corp. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, arrive at their jobs each day clad in conservative suits and dresses. When job seekers arrive for interviews, the firm’s managers expect them to be dressed in a similar style.

“We are a bank,” says Bob Bruce, college relations program manager. “Image is a part of what people expect from us”. That dark-suited, neatly pressed corporate look remains the standard for many employers, and many job-seekers believe they should adopt it, even if the firm they’re visiting has a less formal dress code.

“You can’t get in trouble looking good,” says Ann Marie Sabath, founder of At Ease Inc., a business protocol and etiquette consulting firm. “You want to dress as though you already have the job and are on the corporate climb”.

But what if the hiring manager is wearing khakis and a polo shirt? Or even jeans and a T-shirt? How can job seekers know what to expect in a time when many firms have adopted casual dress codes or abandoned a code altogether?

“I think a lot of it is simply being sensitive to the culture at the company,” says Jeff Johannigman, director of career management services for the University of Texas Ex-Students’ Association. “I spent many years working in the computer gaming industry. In that culture, suits are viewed with distrust.”

“Maybe so,” Sabath says, “but the old rules still apply at most organizations. Students and other job seekers should learn how employees dress at each company they plan to visit. They should dress up anyway, even if it’s likely the interviewer will be dressed casually.”

Sabath advises to pay attention to details, no matter what style of dress they choose.

For men, that means carefully shined shoes, neatly clipped fingernails, and freshly cut hair.

For women, it means shoes with a new shine and at least a small heel, manicured fingernails that aren’t too long, and neatly styled hair that doesn’t fall below the shoulders.

“Look at the high-level people,” she says, pointing out that they’re people who are both skilled in their field and cognizant of the other elements, like dress, that are necessary for corporate success. “They got there because they know how to play the game”.

Text 4

Sample Resume

ROBIN K. BANKS

89 Grant St.

New Hope. PA 19250

(215) 555-9876

Objective: A position in software development

Education: B.S. in Computer Science, May 2005

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Cumulative GPA 3.66 in software development.

Work EXPERINCE: Freelance Computer Consultant, June 2005 – present

Create World Wide Web home pages and customize

computer systems for clients in the Boulder, CO, area.

Intern, June – August 2004 Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA

Worked as software design engineer intern on SNA

Server 3.0 Implemented name-space providers for a vari-

ety of network protocols, including TCP/IP, Newtware

IPX, Lanman, Banyan VINES, and Apple Talk.

COMPUTER SKILLS: Languages and software C.C++, Java, LaTeX, HTML,

Word, Word Perfect. Operating Systems UNIX, Windows

2000, Macintosh.

HONORs: Dean’s Academic Achievement Award, 2004

Award for Excellence in Computer Science.

Hobbies: Baseball and drawing.

References: Submitted on request.