Finding A Job

By JG Cote

A great starting point for any new job searcher looking for employment:

Internet and online searches can be very tricky.  Online search engines often throw an immense amount of information at you, sometimes with little or no success of finding what you actually need.  If you do find a site that offers a job bank they may not have any of the job categories you are looking for (depending on what field of work you are in). The other problem is that they are often not region specific.  For example, you may find five jobs relating to agriculture in the entire database but they are all in different regions across the United States (or whatever country you are specific to).  You may get lucky and find a job specific to your area but you’ll likely have to be very persistent in your searches.   As well, there is no single website that all employers use, therefore you will likely have to use multiple sites with multiple databases.  Just a note, if you are able to post a resume on any of these databases, be careful that you choose a reputable source.  Identity theft is a serious problem, and you do not want to have someone steal yours.  Try not to post your personal information (name, phone number, address, etc.) just anywhere.  Make sure posting your information will actually be valuable to your job search efforts.

If you are going to use the internet as a source, here are a few links you can start with (cut and paste them into your browser to take a look):

usajobs.opm.gov – United States Government Jobs 

lgjobs.com – United Kingdom Government Jobs

jobsetc.ca – Government of Canada Jobs

(also links to some provincial and municipal jobs)

A neat idea that seems to be a recent trend is that people are setting up their own personal websites to promote themselves.  You can also set up a blog (an information page with a web address) in which you post information about yourself.  Blogs can be set up very easily (Google offers a free simple to use service at blogger.com) and can advertise your experience and qualifications to anyone who you send to your page.  I do not know how popular this is yet but it may be a great idea if you are planning on going to a lot of businesses or organizations in person trying to get a job.  You can very easily give them a card with your name and web address on it without bothering them with too many papers (such as a resume, cover letter, etc.).  They can then check out your information (including resume) if they like.  Depending on what type of industry or professional field you are trying to work in, this may be a great way of making a good first impression.  Some companies or organizations may find this very progressive and innovative, and will give you credit for taking the initiative to promote yourself.  

Courtesy of: JG Côté

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