Dateline : Year 2000 workplace

As we move into the next millennium, one's approach to the job market is becoming exceedingly more sophisticated. Technologically, our options are ever-evolving at a rather fast clip. To find a job today, we work with the new world of career management websites, online communities, listservs, video conference interviews, virtual offices, data mining techniques, virtual reality job simulations, and newsgroups, just to name a few.

We are moving so fast, Merriam-Webster, et al cannot keep up with the spontaneous combustion of new words entering our daily lives. So with all of these new means of communication, how do we put our best virtual foot forward?

A candidate in today's marketplace cannot rely upon the traditional methods of a job search. Responding to classifieds, working with executive search firms and networking with industry associates are not the primary investigative channels that they once were.

According to Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehlin, authors of the well respected directory "CareerXRoads" (a guide to the 500 best job, resume and career management sites):

"…too many professionals look to find a 'yellow brick road' – a straight and narrow path" to the ideal job. When, in essence, it is a territory with "crossroads…where both employer and candidates can meet and make a choice or two."

However, even with greater communication, the job of getting a job is still an arduous task. It requires up-to-date knowledge of the new technological process of recruitment. "Recruiters and managers prefer to scan the most candidate data in the shortest period of time" states Gerry Crispin.

This is the quickest way that a firm can formulate a short list of applicants that meet their job criteria. So it behooves the job-seeker to become familiar with the 'key words' that are needed to make their resumes the most 'scan-specific'.

But even at this point, how do candidates differentiate themselves from the competition? In other words, once in the door, how do we move beyond just having face time with the job decision-makers?

Developing a resume web site is a means to that end. Here for the first time is an opportunity for candidates to make their professional background come to life and virtually (no pun intended)…jump off the page (or screen, as it were)!

If your written page of vital data got their interest – think about the icing on the cake –the advertising vehicle of a website that is able to stimulate the senses of sight and sound. A few examples follow:

• When you want to highlight a point, include a photograph or .jpg file as you'd see at Sandie Russo's resume website
• If you were ever filmed during an interview or a personal appearance, transfer that footage to an .avi file, as I did at my own website
• Use a camcorder to conduct your own interview and paste it to your homepage
• Film and interview one of your references
• Add sound (a .wav file) to accent a hyperlink, or include background music to set a tone
• Use clipart or graphics to reinforce a theme, an idea, an experience

The Field-of-Dreams model of "if you build it they will come" does not necessarily apply here. One has to be tenacious in the pursuit of making a resume site available to the most people. Similar to the concept of networking, the more people you meet, the greater the odds for selling the goods.

In promoting a resume website, you can expose your electronic advertisement in some of the following ways:

• Embed your URL site into e-mail, press releases, and newsgroup communications
• Conduct an e-mail campaign to all of your prospects
• Send a separate e-mail communication to your networking associates
• Connect to search engines with key words of "job", "career", "resume", "resume websites", "experience", "abilities", "skills", "job hunting", "interviewing", "job seeker", etc.
• See Irene Yeah's resume website articles entitled: "Writing electronic resumes"
• Link to the resume web sites of your associates and trade organizations in your field (see Shayne Adamski's home page , which links to Habitat for Humanity
• Advertise on career placement websites, such as British Columbia's Work Info Net
• List your site name on all of your correspondence, traditional resumes and FAX cover sheets
• Get your references to give you testimonials so they can mention your site during reference checks
• Present your website during the job interview

Virtual marketing vehicles are abundant on the Internet. You can stimulate traffic by listing for free with: Add Me Net site , where your URL will appear on 50+ search engines or you can pay for cyberlinks to marketing companies such as link-o-matic, traffic, cyberlinkexchange or bizweb.

Visit the Ultimate Promotion site for a complete listing of promotional sites.

The idea is to search out the links and sites that are compatible with your career goals.

Again the possibilities of promoting oneself are endless, but extremely important in making sure that your website receives as much attention as possible. As a reinforcement to one's printed resume and your face-to-face interview presentation, a resume website can only enhance your chances of getting that next important job.