Career Services
USING THE INTERNET IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
126 Slep Student Center
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (M - F)
814-949-5058
www.altoona.psu.edu/career
USING THE INTERNET IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
The Internet can provide you with a great deal of information, including job listings, salary statistics, employer information, and more.
To best utilize the Internet, you will want to:
• p r e p a r e a v e r s i o n o f y o u r r e s u m e f o r e - m a i l ,
• p o s t y o u r r e s u m e f o r e m p l o y e r s t o l o o k a t ,
• r e s e a r c h a n d t a r g e t e m p l o y e r s ,
• a c c e s s j o b a n n o u n c e m e n t s ,
• n e t w o r k t h r o u g h b l o g s , s o c i a l n e t w o r k i n g s i t e s , a n d m o r e .
JOB LISTINGS FOR PENN STATERS
Nittany Lion Career Network - https://shibboleth.symplicity.com/sso
This has many opportunities for internships, entry-level, and experienced positions. Request an account today and take
advantage of the job search agent feature (that will send you an e-mail when a job is posted that meets your specified skills and
requirements).
RESOURCES TO RESEARCH COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
Through the Internet, you can search and research employers by field, type, size, or other characteristics. You can either search the
Internet for a specific employer by typing the name in a search engine or you can go to some commercial sites to learn more about
employers. There are sites with whom Penn State has relationships which eliminate the fees often associated with these sites. To access
them, use the following Web addresses:
WetFeet Career Resource Library - www.wetfeet.com/?key=pennstate
CareerTV - http://careertv.com
Hoovers - http://hoovers.com
Vault - www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/home.html
Click on database
Careers-Internet.org - www.careers-internet.org
Find information on hundreds of careers from Accounting to Zoology. For access, use username 1484w, password future.
1 • Using the Internet in Your Job Search
RESOURCES TO LOCATE JOB OPPORTUNITIES
While opportunities for Penn Staters are listed on Nittany Lion Career Network, you can also link to hundreds more commercial job listing
databases on the Internet.
Quintessential Careers - www.quintcareers.com
The goal of this site is to provide job seekers with the tools, resources, and methods to help them achieve their vision. This is a
great jumping-off point for finding job search resources.
Some of their online job search resources:
General job sites - www.quintcareers.com/general_resources.html
Industry-specific job sites - www.quintcareers.com/indres.html
Jobseeker-specific career and job sites - www.quintcareers.com/ jobseeker_job_sites.html
The Riley Guide - www.rileyguide.com
This site offers links to field specific online resources as well as resources for international job opportunities and specific
resources for jobs in each state of the United States.
OTHER LARGE JOB BOARDS
After College - www.aftercollege.com
Career Builder - www.careerbuilder.com
College Grad - www.collegegrad.com
College Recruiter - www.collegerecruiter.com
Going Global – http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/career/cic/#online
The premiere Web site for the international job or internship search
Indeed.com - www.indeed.com
Job.com - www.job.com
JobCentral.com - www.jobcentral.com
Monster.com - www.monster.com (or their college site - www.monstertrak.com)
Simply Hired - www.simplyhired.com
2 • Using the Internet in Your Job Search
INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC JOB POSTING SITES
Although many large job boards have the option of searching jobs by industry, many industries have their own sites featuring jobs related
to their field. Often industry-specific professional associations will have career information or job search features on their Web sites.
Here are some examples of a few industry-specific sites:
Engineering - www.graduatingengineer.com
Entertainment - www.entertainmentcareers.net
Environmental jobs - http://ecojobs.com
Idealist for non-profit careers - www.idealist.org
Health careers - www.healthecareers.com
Human Resources - www.shrm.org/jobs
IT/technology - www.dice.com
Higher education - www.higheredjobs.com
Legal professions - http://lawjobs.com
Publishing - http://bookjobs.com
SOME LOCATION-SPECIFIC JOBS
Pennsylvania CareerLink - www.cwds.state.pa.us
Pennsylvania jobs - www.pennsylvaniajobs.com
Creative Jobs Central - http://creativejobscentral.com
NewYorkJob.com - www.newyorkjob.com
GOVERNMENT JOBS
Federal jobs - www.usajobs.gov or www.studentjobs.gov
PA State Civil Service Commission - www.scsc.state.pa.us
USA.gov - www.usa.gov
3 • Using the Internet in Your Job Search
RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
DisabilityInfo.gov - www.disabilityinfo.gov
Career opportunities for students with disabilities - www.cosdonline.org
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
Just as job seekers use Google to identify and research companies, many recruiters have routinely used search engines to identify
candidates. Some also have set up blogs to talk about their opportunities and invite potential candidates to learn more about their
organization.
According to a recent New York Times article, increasingly companies are looking up job seekers on social networking sites and
conducting background checks on applicants looking for jobs. They want to uncover questionable judgment, illegal activity, or other
things that they consider to be red flags.
So we advise caution - investigate the privacy settings on the social networking site that you use prior to setting up your site and use
good judgment in what you post as it may be very difficult to remove at a later date, after thousands of people have accessed your site.
A FEW DO’S AND DON’TS FOR USING THE INTERNET IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
• D o u t i l i z e t h e w i d e v a r i e t y o f j o b - h u n t i n g t o o l s a n d s i t e s .
• D o m a k e s u r e y o u a r e f o l l o w i n g t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r s u b m i t t i n g y o u r r e s u m e a n d c o v e r l e t t e r ( i f r e q u e s t e d ) i n r e s p o n s e t o a j o b
posting. Be prepared to e-mail, e-mail as an attachment, or fax your resume, or fill out their online application.
• D o n ’ t r e l y s o l e l y o n j o b - p o s t i n g s i t e s — a s f e w a s f i v e p e r c e n t o f j o b s e e k e r s f i n d j o b s t h r o u g h t h e s e s i t e s a l o n e .
• D o n ’ t b e p a s s i v e i n y o u r j o b s e a r c h . Y o u w a n t t o p o s t y o u r r e s u m e a n d a p p l y f o r j o b s , b u t d o n ’ t j u s t s i t t h e r e a n d w a i t . F o l l o w
up with each employer, especially those in whom you are most interested.
• D o n ’ t s p e n d a l l y o u r j o b s e a r c h i n g t i m e i n c y b e r s p a c e . T h e I n t e r n e t j o b s e a r c h s h o u l d b e o n l y o n e p a r t o f a f u l l - s c a l e j o b s e a r c h ,
that includes networking (in person), career fairs, on-campus interviewing, and more.
This publication is available in alternative media on request.
Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. AAO 12-78 srg21
4 • Using the Internet in Your Job Search