Jobs Online

The Internet industry has done more than just boost the high-tech workforce using Jobs Online sites. It has, in fact, opened up an entire new online job emporium that is fast turning into a world of opportunity--albeit confusing--for many foreign workers. It is also quickly becoming a gray area where the INS is concerned.

With the proliferation of Jobs Online that people can do from home or on the road, such as Web design, online journalism, database maintenance, Internet research and so forth, many foreigners are coming to the US and bringing their jobs with them. Quite innocently, they believe that if they continue to get paid to a bank account in their home country, they will be doing nothing wrong.

Apart from various job consultancies, career bulletins, government employment offices, recently we have seen a great growth of Jobs Online. Most people check out the big Employment Super Sites or Jobs Online sites (like Monster, etc.). But, they are not the only, or even always the best, place to look. Smaller, more focused sites can often be much more useful to you.

Employer Jobs Online websites: If you have a list of specific employers that interest you (and, hopefully, you do!), go to their websites, if they have websites, and look for jobs posted there. The link to their jobs may be named "careers," "employment," "human resources," etc.

If you don't see anything obvious on the home page of Jobs Online, try clicking on "About Us" (or a similar link) or the "Site Map" which should take you to a page that lists all the pages on the Web site. You can always look for a contact in the Human Resources department by clicking on a link named "Contact Us" or something similar.

Even if you don't find jobs posted on the employer's Web site, use the opportunity to collect information about the organization. Remember you are reading the organization's "party line" on their Web site, so be somewhat skeptical of the claims made. But, the more you know about the organization, the more targeted you can make your resume and cover letter and the better an impression you will make in your interviews.

To find Employer Jobs Online websites, visit:

1. Academic360 (http://www.academic360.com/) - a directory of college and university Web site employment sections

2. HospitalWeb (http://adams.mgh.harvard.edu/hospitalwebusa.html)- a directory of hospitals by state in the U.S.A!

3. BankDirectory.net (http://www.bankdirectory.net/mainindex.htm ) - a directory of banks in the USA, organized by state

4. Business.com (http://www.business.com/ ) - a searchable directory of businesses in the USA, organized by type (e.g. accounting, etc.), to find accountants in your state:

·         Select the Accounting category

·         Type the target state or city in the search window at the top of the Accounting page

·         Select "Just this category"

·         Click on the "search" button, and review the results

5. USAjobs (http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ ) - the job site for Uncle Sam, if you want to work in the U.S. Federal Government.

6. The Pick Your Employers section at http://www.job-hunt.org/employers.shtml of Job-Hunt has these and additional resources for finding employers.

7. The Companies section (http://www.job-hunt.org/companies.shtml ) of Job-Hunt contains links to the Web sites of over 100 companies.

8. Web yellow pages sites like the SuperPages (http://www.superpages.com/) can provide a list of possible employers and, sometimes, links to the employers' Web sites (browse the companies listed in the categories that interest you or that hold the most potential for the kind of job you want)

9. Search engines like Google or directories of Web sites like Yahoo should help if you already know the name of your target employer or simply want to search any Jobs Online websites.

Jobs Online sites have services that can make your job search easier and more effective, and services that make it more difficult, completely compromising your identity and turning you into a "spammer." Learn what Jobs Online sites services are best for you. Also, check out the information in keeping Track of Your Job Search to manage your use of Jobs Online sites.