Working World

Are you the type of person who likes to delegate to make your life easier? Some call it lazy, but I call it efficient. In the spirit of making your job search easier, I’ve searched the Internet for well-written, highly informative, useful articles that can help you hone your skills. Consider this column your personal assistant to help you get the job of job hunting done. Voila!

The web is fast becoming the most important tool for job searchers. Check out The Riley Guide’s “How To Use The Internet in Your Job Search” at www.rileyguide.com/jobsrch.html for an in-depth, step-by-step outline on how to proceed down the job seeker path. This is the first place you should look to prepare your job search game plan. It will help you get organized and focused on how to begin.

We found lots of excellent jump-to's at college and university websites. The beauty of the Internet is that you don’t have to be alumni of these schools to access their career search information. San Diego City College’s Career Exploration webpage is worth checking out, for example: www.sdcity.edu/transfer/careerinfo/choosecareer/explore_careers.asp. In addition, the University of Montana/Missoula has a comprehensive listing of job-related links: www.umt.edu/career/jobsearch/categ.htm. Carnegie Mellon’s website offers some thoughtful cautionary advice about using the web for career searches: Beware of sites that ask you to pay. There are many free job search resources out there for you. Their site also provides some useful search links to know about: www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/CareerBriefs/internet.html.

You’ll want to be prepared for any offers that come your way. Take this tutorial on how to negotiate your salary and benefits before you go on that interview: www.quintcareers.com/salary_negotiation_tutorial.html.

The U.S. Department of Labor offers its free Occupational Outlook Handbook 2008–2009, which is updated every two years. The guide discusses hundreds of occupations and what those jobs entail, expected earnings, training needed, job prospects, working conditions, etc. Discover more at: www.bls.gov/oco/.

What’s that? You want your personal assistant to get you a cappuccino and pick up your dry cleaning? Get your own! It’s not in my job description.

Katy Allgeyer is an artist and freelance writer. She writes the Feng Shui column for Working World and the Tell Us About It column for Working Nurse.