Whether you're looking for a full-time entry-level position, summer internship, or a part-time job, you want to maximize your chances for finding your dream job, by doing what is called, an online job search. This does not mean that you shouldn't perform the more traditional activities of the job search, but there are a number of activities that you can do over the Internet that will increase your probability of successfully landing the job you want. The activities of your online job search will closely mirror those of your traditional job search with the distinction that you will be employing the Internet as an additional tool. 

Many of you are familiar with, and have already used the various components of the Internet in one way or another. The world wide web, newsgroups, and e-mail can and should be used for an online job search. For your purposes, probably the most useful of the three, the world wide web, can be used in just about every aspect of a job search. Whether you want to do employer research, or to get more information about the job search process, you can find it on the web. Many job sites have articles on everything from writing traditional and electronic resumes to evaluating and accepting a job offer. You can find questions and answers to the most often-asked interview questions, and a host of other articles sure to hone your job search skills. 

Getting online 

The first step is getting online. As a student, you can get access to the Internet in a number of ways. First, check on getting an account with your university's computing services center. These accounts usually give free Internet access as well as e-mail accounts. This should be the first place you check for Internet access because their access is free and convenient. 
 
Also, most libraries have access to the Internet, and whether it be a public library or your own university's library, you will probably find computers here dedicated solely to getting on the Internet. 

Next you may want to check with your university's Career Planning and Placement office. With so many resources on the web to help students get jobs, many of these offices are making sure that they can offer Internet access to their students. This will be your second home for the extent of your job search process, so make sure that you acquaint yourself with the staff and their services. 

There are also Internet Service Providers that provide access. Many of these providers offer unlimited Internet access to the general public for $19.95 per month. Many of the local telephone companies offer access, and companies such as America Online (AOL) and the Microsoft Network (MSN) provide access as well. 

What to do once you get online 

Once you get online, you should have a plan of attack. Doing a self assessment, exploring various careers, doing company research, and making contact with recruiters, are all parts of the traditional job search that can and should be done online. 

It is very important that you begin your job search with a self-assessment of your skills, values, interests and personality traits. However trivial it may seem, this project will prove to be invaluable in helping you find the right career fit. Many students figure, If I get a good paying job in my major I'll be satisfied. But why settle for satisfied, when you can do something that you are passionate about, and still get paid? At the very least, doing a self-assessment will help you learn more about yourself and in turn who you want to be. There are numerous web sites that can assist you in doing a complete self-assessment, which will start your job search off on the right foot. 

One popular strategy that you should consider is the resources on the web to get your foot in the door with those recruiters who will be interviewing at your campus.  This eliminates wasting time on the web prospecting and following up with recruiters who may be unwilling to come to your campus, or fly you to their office.  Check with your Career Planning and Placement Office for the schedule of recruiters visiting in the fall and spring, and then you can begin targeting these employers and recruiters with some online job search activities. 

With your list of companies coming to campus, you should use the web to do employer research, find out what jobs are available at the organization, and even prepare for interviews. You can do this by going directly to employer web sites if you have their web address, or by using one of the various search engines to get their URL. Search engines will help you navigate the web, and find sites that can help you during your job search. To find a specific web address, all you need is the name of the employer and a search engine. 

Searching on other keywords such as jobs, employment, or careers should also bring up numerous results and descriptions of sites pertinent to you. You can also drill down various category headings and sub-headings to find the topic of your interest. Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), Lycos (http://www.lycos.com) and Excite (http://www.excite.com) are some of the major search engines you may want to begin with. 

Another way to begin your research is to use the many sites on the Internet dedicated to serving the needs of people of color. These sites are designed and developed with you in mind, and oftentimes provide you with job, career, and empowerment information. Take advantage of the African-American sites dedicated to people of color that promote jobs, because the companies that usually advertise on these sites are very committed to diversity.  These are the employers that are proactively seeking people of color to join their workforce. Think about it, which environment/corporate culture would you rather be a part of, one where the company is proactive about diversity or one where diversity is deemed a low priority? Two excellent sites to take a look at are THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online http://www.black-collegian.com, and MINORITIES' JOB BANK http://www.minorities-jb.com. At each you will find a repository of information on the job search process, careers, and many open job positions with employers nationwide. THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online, like the magazine, is targeted to African-American students looking for employment, and planning their job search. MINORITIES' JOB BANK has a unique concept that targets professionals of various ethnic groups, who may be interested in making a career move. Each sites provides job seekers with a large pool of active job opportunities (listings) nationwide, and gives exposure for their resumes. 

As stated earlier, understanding the capabilities of the latest technology, is very important. Two technologies that you should make sure you utilize during your online job search are searchable job databases, and resume databases. 

The first technology, searchable job databases, allow you the job seeker to be proactive and look for the job you want. For example, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online has a job database that can be searched by using specific keywords (major, job title, or job industry), geographic location, or even employer name. If you are an accounting major, and want to find jobs in your field, all you would have to do is type in the keyword accounting and then click on the search button. After a second or two of searching the database for matches, all of the jobs in the database that are related to accounting will be shown for your review. 

Resume databases are another useful technology that gives job seekers additional exposure to recruiters. Many recruiters search resume databases in order to find candidates for their openings. Using keywords, just like job databases do, recruiters can search on job qualifications, special skills, G.P.A., or any other type of criteria and find candidates that match their needs. What you want to do is to maximize your exposure to recruiters. To make your resume fit numerous queries, you will need to supplement your resume with the keywords that a recruiter may search on. You can do this by looking through newspaper employment ads, for words used when advertising the position you are interested in, or by supplementing your resume with industry buzz terms that are in line with your experiences or qualifications. 

When posting your resume, be careful of formatting problems. If a database allows you to preview your resume before it is entered make sure you do so thoroughly. Since electronic resumes appear as ASCII text, if you copy and paste your resume, remove all formatting before you post it. Special fonts, tabs, and bold lettering oftentimes are not converted when resumes are copied and pasted, and can cause errors in your posted resume. 

To conclude, I suggest you develop a system to track all of the work you do on the Internet. You want to go about your online job search in an organized and efficient manner, and using a worksheet to keep track of what you've done is what I suggest.  Keep track of sites you've visited, dates you visited these sites, what features you utilized when you used the site, and if and when you plan to go back to the site for future activities. Remember, many sites are being updated daily with new jobs, so visit often, if you don't want to miss out. Good luck.