Szentendre, Hungary
Internet Job Searching
by Mary A. Schumacher
There are several Internet job searching techniques worth knowing and applying.
Don't county on web searching to find you a job, but use it along with traditional job search techniques. Networking remains the number one way people find jobs - 65 percent of jobs are found through networking.
Nevertheless, use these sophisticated yet amazingly simple techniques to enhance your search and reach your desired career goal.
Flipping: In flipping, job searchers seek out web pages that are not easily accessible. Usually such pages are known to company employees but aren't readily linked for public consumption. If the pages are not behind a firewall, job searchers can find them.
Using a search engine like Alta Vistsa, type linkdomain:company.com, and insert the company or organization name you are researching instead of company, such as linkdomain:redcross.org. You'll get a list of websites relating to that organization. Note that this technique works best with smaller companies and organizations.
X-raying: A similar technique is x-raying. Job searchers reach pages of a corporate website that aren't easily accessible from links. Again using a search engine, type in host: or url: plus the company name and key words. For example, if job searchers were looking for technical workers in Microsoft, they would use a command like host:microsoft.com and "information technology", in the hopes of finding useful information or contacts.
Harvesting: Recruiters use search engines to hunt for key words, such as "office manager" or "e-commerce". If a resume posted on a website has these keywords and its web page is properly optimized (see below for details), it should show up in the search.
Lessons for International Job Searchers
- Create a personal web page that includes an electronic version of your resume. Pepper the resume with key words critical to your job search, such as "international."
- Your electronic resume should include links to companies that you have worked for, universities you have attended, and any other key organizations with which you have an affiliation.
- Make sure the key word "resume" is somewhere on your electronic resume, so that recruiters searching under this term can find you. Also, if possible, include the word "resume" in the URL of your web page.
- Optimize your web page for search engines. Make sure your web pages have all meta tags appropriately filled in. Title tags should include read something like, "Resume for (your name) - (job title you are looking for)". Meta tags should include similar key words.
- Submit your resume web page to different search engines, without spamming them.