Job Searching Online for Dummies [Paperback]

Pam Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Series: For Dummies (Computers) | Publication Date: January 31, 2000

It sure is maddening to feel like you're wasting away in a frustrating or dead-end job. And even if you have a great job, sometimes it's just time to move on. But it's also scary to switch careers. And while getting a great job is always important, it's especially so when that job is the first job of your new career.

Whether you're a seasoned job-hunter or a fresh-faced graduate, you may be surprised to know that online job searching is so widespread now that between 40 and 80 percent of employers search for job candidates online. And while everybody has completely different job-search questions and needs, the second edition of Job Searching Online For Dummies is designed for every job seeker, including

• Passive job seekers; those just casually keeping an eye out for new job opportunities
• New college graduates
• Seasoned pros, who will want to take some time to find a job that fits their skills perfectly
• Web novices, who need to get up to speed on using the Internet and figure out what makes an online job search work
• Job seekers who need to find a job yesterday, who are ready to start browsing jobs immediately.

In this book, you'll discover everything you need to know to capture the best job possible by using the Web and other online tools, such as e-mail. And you'll uncover tips to

• Get organized and develop an online job-search strategy
• Put together an efficient, effective electronic resume or Web portfolio
• Understand the intricacies of e-mailing and online networking
• Navigate cyberspace and online job databases
• Improve your job-search odds

Getting a great job doesn't have to be a drudgery. As you plan your job-search strategy, write your resume, and begin to contact employers, know that Job Searching Online For Dummies is here to help you in your journey. It's chock-full of the latest online job searching advice.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If your last job search took place more than a year ago, you may be shocked at how widespread online job hunting is today. Pam Dixon reckons that between 40 and 80 percent of employers now search for job candidates online, with millions of jobs being posted via company Web pages and online employment databases. If you know how to use it, the Internet is a magnificent tool for learning what jobs are available, in your field or in fields you may wish to explore, in your neck of the woods or across the country in a region you may not mind relocating to--if only there were a job waiting for you.

Job Searching Online for Dummies is a priceless investment in the job hunt process. Dixon explains new job search trends (such as who is likeliest to succeed in an online job search) and which online job search strategies are most effective. She provides job search engines and professional indexes, discusses résumé privacy, and touches on the tricky issue of whether your current boss may see your résumé online. There are also chapters on formatting an electronic résumé, résumé send-out strategies, how to compose an appropriate electronic cover letter, and doing a bit of pre-interview Internet research, too. Dixon then delves into e-mail protocol, contacting the right people, and using online job databases to your best advantage. There's an Internet directory in back, with 63 pages of worthwhile Web sites, and there's a CD, too, compatible with PC and Mac systems, that contains a clickable list of all the URLs in the directory, an ASCII template for a basic electronic résumé, and BBEdit Lite, a freeware text editor (compatible with Mac OS only) for composing HTML.

Job hunting is still exhilarating, scary, and time-consuming, but if you take advantage of the job search techniques the Internet now offers, the process can be far more efficient and effective. You have nothing to lose, except perhaps the right job. --Stephanie Gold

Review

"I recommend the brand-new second edition of 'Job Searching Online For Dummies' for state-of-the-art updates." -- Joyce Lain Kennedy, syndicated career columnist, October 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2nd edition (January 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764506730
• ISBN-13: 978-0764506734
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,657,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pam Dixon (www.pamdixon.com) is an author, researcher, and the executive director and founder of the World Privacy Forum, an internationally recognized non-profit public interest research group focused on conducting research on societal and human rights topics, particularly those where privacy intersects with technology. Dixon has written seven books for major publishers and has published hundreds of articles, as well as influential privacy research and studies. Her work focuses on emerging issues, and often intersects with technology-related issues.

Dixon's work in privacy includes substantive longitudinal research studies which are much-cited and highly regarded, as well as journal articles and testimony before lawmakers and state and federal agencies, as well as work with the international community. Dixon speaks frequently as an expert lecturer in the US and abroad. She also works with other NGOs to create consensus on key issues in privacy. She is well-known as the originator of the Do Not Track idea created in a consensus meeting she held.

Dixon has also written extensively about technology as a book author and as a former New Media columnist for the San Diego Union Tribune. She wrote the first book to ever be published about the subject of online job searching, a book for Random House / Times Books which went on to be a finalist for the Computer Press Awards. Her book on distance education is a classic. Dixon is frequently quoted in the media regarding privacy and consumer rights issues. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, Fortune, U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, Business Week, The Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, The San Francisco Chronicle, Reader's Digest, USA Today, the Sunday Times (London), Wissen (Germany), and many others have featured and quoted Dixon. www.pamdixon.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Today's Job-hunters!, July 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Job Searching Online For Dummies (Paperback)

I spent 3 1/2 months job hunting with no success before I got an Internet connection. Now I have my connection and used this excellent book to get myself up to speed on online job searching. Little did I know how significantly the job search game has changed! This book got me up to speed in very short order. It tells you everything you need to know about "keyword" "Plain-text" and "scannable" resumes for use on the web. It also gives good advice on maintaining internet privacy, (how to avoid getting your identity stolen), which job databases to use and which to avoid, how to reformat your resume for resume databases...

I put my resume on one database, e-mailed a few text-only copies in response to online ads, and my telephone hasn't stopped ringing since! This method, fortunately or unfortunately, is the wave of the future.

There is a CD included in the book, but I found enough information within the book that I didn't need to use it.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want the Job of your dreams, BUY THIS BOOK!, June 11, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Pyongtaek, Korea) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Job Searching Online For Dummies (Paperback)

This book is so well written and helpful 1000 words would not suffice to tell all the good solid advice it includes. Im retiring from the Army, needless to say my job search strategies were 20 years out of date, UNTIL I read this book. Pam taught me how to write a solid resume for the internet, what sites to post it on, and how to respond to the inquiries I received as well as how to choose the best job from all the offers I would get. I followed the instructions and within 72 hours I was flooded with email on specific jobs in the field I was searching for. Hey, this book saved my life, I'm in Korea and having to conduct a job search from overseas is not something I was looking forward to. The book also contained stellar advice on how to prepare for job interviews, how to research a prospect employer, etc etc etc. AND came with a bonus CD. I checked this book out of the library after buying 2 books on the subject (which were nowhere near as good) but today I'm ordering "Job Searching Online for Dummies" to add to my private collection. Thanks Pam for writing such a helpful book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great basic info., January 14, 2002

By 

J. Turner (Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Job Searching Online for Dummies (Paperback)

When my father handed me this book, I rolled my eyes. As a "downsized" IT professional, I am intimately familiar with recruiters and online job systems, and fully expected this book to rehash what I already knew. It did.

However, it does contain information that is valuable for beginners. Most of the information is right on the money.

Compared to other online job searching books, this one has a lot of good information, so much so that it risks detracting you from your job search (ignore the information about taking the time to convert your resume into HTML and posting it on your own website).