Surfing the World Wide Web (WWW) for Employment

Service members looking to cyberspace for an idea of what they might want to do next will find numerous routes to cruise. "There are virtual job fairs on-line, career counselors you can actually chat with — you name it," says Jeanette Calli, a career counselor for the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) at Fort Belvoir, Va. The program itself has a home page, its site on the World Wide Web is www.acap.army.mil.

The Internet is connecting job seekers with employers in a new way that is rapidly changing the nation's job market and how professional, managerial and technical people look for work. In less than two years, jobs posted on the Internet have mushroomed from a small number of positions for computer specialists to the most diverse listings of job openings in the world. From about 15,000 positions posted in 1994, the 15 leading online job banks now have close to 1,000,000 postings. Meanwhile, the number of resumes posted directly on the World Wide Web and in online resume databanks has skyrocketed into the millions.

Online services, such as America Online and CompuServe, have brought huge numbers of non-technical people online which has pushed the growth of non-technical, mainstream job hunting. It's predicted that in the next five years a majority of people in the labor force will use the Internet to hunt for jobs.

While there is no way to tell how many of the thousands of positions will be filled from the Internet or via conventional means, the Internet offers the advantage of speed to employers and applicants alike. In contrast to an up-to-two-week process to place a print "help wanted" ad, you can post an ad on the Internet and receive resumes that day. And, unlike a print advertisement, there is no word limit, so recruiters can be very clear in describing the position. Corporate recruiters say that the cost of searching for applicants is decreasing as a result of the use of online posting and the process of finding qualified applicants is falling from weeks or months to just days.

The trend is even helping employers who don't directly post jobs on the Internet, as many online databanks post job listings culled from print advertisements. Employers also seem to be happier with the new, computer-literate workforce.

Job postings to TAOnline, for instance, are just about doubling every month, with a diversified mix of positions being offered. This mirrors the general trend of internet offerings which have changed over the past couple of years from 60% to 90% technical positions - a trend that should continue.

Another trend is the specialization of employment services to assist employers and applicants in specific labor markets, which is exactly why TAO is proving so useful to employers and military servicemembers alike. Employers using TAO know the quality of the individuals in the TAO resume bank is high and that certain skill sets will be available.

Transitioning military personnel also know that their resumes will be seen by employers looking to hire separating servicemembers and that TAO will offer jobs that match their qualifications.

OTHER ONLINE SERVICES:

Besides Transition Assistance Online, be sure to check out other on-line sites for second career and transitioning information.

America's Job Bank, an internet service provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, is a nationwide resume database service. Illinois, Missouri, Connecticut, North Carolina and Florida are all developing on-line employment programs and installing Internet-connected computers in their employment offices statewide. State government employment agencies in 36 states now offer a vast range of job postings on-line, and within a year another 12 states will join them by connecting their job listing services to the Labor Department service.

The Labor Department is assisting by funding "Internet Access Zones" in community colleges, universities and 1,800 public employment-service offices nationwide where job-seekers can go on-line to search through job postings on the Job Resource Center for Veterans.