Article on business issues, protocol, and best practices for The Monitor

1. MONITOR ARTICLE
Websites That Work For You
By Chelse Benham
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. - Aristotle
There is an abundance of web sites at your fingertips that provide everything you
need to know about finding a career, sites that help you to discover what job is
best for you, what jobs are out there and what those jobs pay; sites that help you
write a better resume, cover letter and thank you letter. There are sites that tell
you what to wear, what to say and how to act on a job interview. In fact there is
so much information that it is more difficult choosing which web sites you want to
work with than trying to find them.
If you want to learn more about what jobs fit your interests and personality
through the use of tests, you can visit these sites. The Birkman Method, a free
choice test, is fast with only 24 questions to answer. It gives a general description
of your interests, skills and preferred work style, and also lists possible career
options that suit those results. It can be found at www.review.com. Another test
method is the John Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS). This test costs around
$9 and can be found online. This test gives a personalized report and it is found
at www.self-directed-search.com.
“We use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Holland’s SDS assessment
tests to determine careers for our students,” said Mirta Rodriguez, counselor
specialist III at The University of Texas-Pan American. “We also have the
Discover Program that uses three assessment tests to rate a student’s interests,
values and abilities. It’s an online program that requires students to first come to
our Counseling Advisement Center to get orientated and be given a password.
Then the student can logon to the program from any computer and take the tests.
Most colleges and universities have similar programs.”
If after taking these tests you have decided what career best suits you, you may
want to see what that profession pays. At www.jobstar.com you can learn “how
to” information for job seeking on such topics as resume writing, career
searching, salary information and understanding the hidden job market.
Consider this: before you narrow your career focus it’s possible that you may be
influenced by common misconceptions about careers. “The Truth About 15
Career Development Beliefs” can be found at www.jobweb.com - a career
development and job search web site to help college graduates. Here you will get
advice on everything from learning relationship skills for your first job to what to
do when you make a mistake on the job. But, hold on a minute. You can’t get a

2. job without an interview and for that you will most likely need a resume and cover
letter.
Remember this little ditty – “To get to the interview stage, you have to pass the
review phase.” The review phase means getting the potential employer’s
attention. The resume and cover letter is your “calling card” and let’s employers
know who you are and what you want.
“Typically when I’m reviewing a professional resume I look at the person’s
academic credentials and their career progression. Are they progressing in their
career and not going backward,” said James Langabeer, vice president for
Business Affairs at The University of Texas-Pan American. “I also look at salary
progression and how long they have been at their jobs. We don’t want a “job
jumper.” I want to know why they left their job. “
For tips on writing the best resume visit Work Source Washington at www.wa.gov
or www.alec.co.uk. At Quintessential Careers, www.quintcareers.com, a list of
questions can be found to help brainstorm those things that you did and forgot
about doing that would beef-up your resume. It suggests you use power words;
verbs that help you construct active descriptions of your duties and
accomplishments. It also advises to include words that are relevant to your
particular job and professional field known as keywords. Many of these words
can be found at www.workopolis.com. Susan Ireland, a resume professional, has
a website completely devoted to resume and cover letter writing at
www.susanireland.com. She provides actual examples, the do’s and don’ts and
some simple rules for their composition.
Once you have settled on your career choice, compiled your resume and
composed your cover letter it’s time to revisit www.wa.gov to learn a step-by-
step process to maximize your job hunting experience. This site gives a concrete
plan-of-action from A-to-Z that utilizes every angle for acquiring information about
job openings to making the best impression during a job interview to closing the
deal. If you don’t want to pound the pavement visit www.vault.com where you
can have job listings e-mailed to you from companies hiring right now. The Vault
also helps you research companies, search job listings and register your resume
online for potential employers. Because it is easily accessed from your computer,
www.vault.com dramatically broadens your career search to include the entire
country without ever leaving your room.
The dawn of the Internet has brought with it powerful information and limitless
possibility. Today, it’s about what you know and how fast you find what you are
seeking. Getting the career you want is just a click away and three w’s short of
dot com.