Solving the Job Puzzle: A Workshop on Using the Web

to Find Career Resources

by Carol Doyle, Don Lubach, and Janet Martorana

Campus-wide access to the Internet at the University of California, Santa Barbara inspired the Library and Counseling 6 Career Services to collaborate on “Net-ing a Job,“ an Internet-based workshop for student job-seekers. When Web access became available in 1995, the workshop was redesigned to reflect a career advising process. This column describes the design and presentation of the workshop, showing how it reflects the resources and expertise of both campus departments.

U ndergraduates at the Univer- sity of California, Santa Bar-

bara KJCSB) gained access to the Internet in 1994, when “net- stations,” open access terminals connected to the campus network, were installed throughout the cam- pus. At that time, all students were given e-mail accounts and dial-in access to campus information serv- ices. The UCSB librarians played an active role in the introduction of Internet technology by incorporat- ing Internet instruction into their

information access classes. By the time the idea for “Net-ing a Job” emerged, the librarians had been teaching Internet access skills for more than a year in the library’s computer classroom.

Across campus at Counseling & Career Services, career counselors were discovering the growing num- ber of career and job-finding resources on the Internet. Particu- larly enlightening was Margaret F. Riley’s extensive listing of Career and Job Hunting Resources on the In-

Carol Doyle is Information Services Training Coordinator, Davidson Library, Don Lubach is Professional and Technical Development Coordinator, Counseling and Career Services, and Janet Martorana is User Instruction Program Coordinator, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. E-mail: doyle@Zibra y.ucsb.edu; dlubach@seaside.quad.ucsb.edu; and martoran@library.ucsb.edu

&net.* The advising staff was in a small panic trying to incorporate this new resource into the existing menu of r&sum& interview, and job- finding workshops. A phone call between the Library and Counsel- ing & Career Services led eventu- ally to collaboration on an Internet education workshop focused on career and job-hunting resources.

When we (the three authors) pre- sented our first workshop in the winter of 1995, the library did not yet have Web access. By necessity, we concentrated on the technical aspects of various Internet applica- tions to find job-related informa- tion, In a workshop format struc- tured around gopher, telnet, mailing lists, and newsgroups, we demonstrated selected career-re- lated sites and gave participants practice with each application. In addition, we developed a compre- hensive PowerPoint slide presenta- tion to help introduce and explain these Internet applications, and

BI Vignettes 1Ol

printed copies of these slides as guides.

Workshop Design and Setting Learning several Internet inter-

faces to access different career re- sources was overwhelming to Internet neophytes. When the li- brary added Web access via Netscape to its LAN in 1995, we redesigned the workshop, changing the focus from application-driven, technical expertise to a career advis- ing process. Netscape’s integrated and easy-to-use interface allowed us to situate Internet resources into the context of career planning, a process that includes self assessment, identifying careers, exploring spe- cific job notices, and self presenta- tion. We designed the library’s career webpage to reflect the orga- nization of the workshop, which in turn was modeled on this career development process (see Figure 1).

The collaboration in designing the workshop carries through to

Figure 1 Organization of Career Development Process, Workshop, and Webpage

Net-i fg a Job

V’--‘--‘--

Career development

Process

VWKSnCJy Self Assessment Identify Careers

Professional Presentation

102 ~SE~C~ST~TEGlES Spring1997

our roles during the two-hour pre- sentation, in which all of us speak, elaborate on one another’s points, provide individual assistance, and answer questions. We begin with an overview of the workshop while displaying its organization visually with a PowerPoint slide (see Figure 2). We access the Web via Netscape, where we briefly practice basic Netscape maneuvering. Next, we go to UCSB Library’s Career webpage and follow its structure to present the workshop. As we move through the workshop, fol- lowing the career development pro- cess, we integrate non-Internet resources, such as those of the Coun- seling & Career Services and the Library. We also offer a number of printed guides for various interest and skill levels?

The hardware required for the workshop includes a presenter’s

workstation, a projection unit, a la- ser pointer, and 24 student-access computers. The software includes PowerPoint, Netscape configured with usenet and telnet functions, and e-mail access. The course is offered three or four times each quarter.

Internet SkilIs Internet skills are the core of the

workshop. Our goal is for partici- pants to leave with an understand- ing of what’s available and how to get it. With the Web, we can focus on Internet resources and integrate instruction on a particular applica- tion at the point of accessing a spe- cific resource. The library’s career webpage provides a structure for the workshop and is recommended as a starting point for job hunters.

Average workshop attendance is 15-20. The students arrive with dif-

Figure 2 Workshop Organization

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ferent levels of knowledge, which we assess by a count of hands. We acknowledge these different levels and remind participants that pre- senters are available to aid indi- viduals throughout the workshop.

The Career Planning Process Self Assessment. The first step

in the process of career planning is self assessment. We stress the im- portance of introspection and self knowledge. Because the Internet, for all its glory, is not a tool for introspection, we implore partici- pants to “sign up for an hour with a career advisor . . . talk with your family, your friends, take a career inventory, go on a visionquest, [do] whatever it takes.. . .” We use some humor to convey the point, but try to make clear that the Internet job hunt is much easier when one takes time to identify one’s core values and interests. As we have an excel- lent career and counseling facility, we recommend it and their web- page4 to students embarking on the complex and important career plan- ning process.

Identify Careers. The next step in the process, as well as the work- shop, is to research and investigate various careers. The different as- pects include outlook, salary ranges, necessary skills, and job require- ments. We access the Occupational Outlook Handbook5 on the Web, and as participants find careers that in- terest them, we teach them about mailing and downloading informa- tion from the Web. We also provide instruction on library resources by linking to our own guide on career resources and then telnet-ing to UC’s MELVYL@ system.6 Once in MELVYL, we access the article da- tabases ABI/Inform” and MAGS” to show participants how to find articles about careers, and then how

to send search results and text, when available, to their campus e-mail address.

Identify Job Listings. The main event of the workshop-the part that brings people in-is the identi- fication of specific job openings. By the time we reach this step, partici- pants are familiar with the library’s career home page. We remind them that this page is a good “home base” from which to explore job-finding sites. We discuss, demonstrate, and let the students explore various newsgroups, mailing lists, online classified ads, and other job lists via the Web.

As we explain different types of Internet resources, students are in- vited to follow along on their own workstations and are given time to test their new skills and hunt for jobs. Many begin to identify inter- esting jobs, taking notes with pen and paper. Because we have in- structed them on how to mail them- selves listings from the Web, we encourage them to try this instead.

Newsgroups. When we visit Yahoo’s job-related newsgroup metasite, students are excited to see an alphabetical list containing newsgroups from all over the world. Learning how to use any newsreader can be tricky, but the students catch on quickly and the incentive to find work improves their perseverance. As we scroll through the list, we ask participants to suggest a usenet group, which we access to teach the navigational nuances of the reader. We then al- low students to explore the groups on their own.

Mailing Lists. We reconvene the group to introduce mailing listsand their job-hunting utility. Although not as immediately gratifying as job listings, mailing lists are invalu-

able to the serious career seeker. Occasionally they lead subscribers directiy to a job, but, more impor- tant, they offer access to the culture of a group of

B rofessionals with a

common set o interests. Member- ship on a mailing list allows stu- dents to hear the conversation of potential employers and, after a recommended period of silent mem- bership (“lurking”), make them- selves known via thoughtful contributions.

Oniine C~~ss~~~~~ A& Big city newspapers are making their help- wanted ads available through the Internet, Interfaces vary but most are easy to use, and participants appreciate the wide variety of posi- tions listed, especially relative to the prevalence of technical jobs on the newsgroups.

Links fi? Ofher fob ~~~~~~&~~fS. Other categories of job listings on the webpage include summer jobs, WCSB jobs, academic listings, list- ings by company, government jobs, and overseas jobs. After covering these we mention other career webpages, listed on our webpage as “Mega Job Sites,” that lead the job seeker through countless job- related sites.

Professional Fresentafion. Stu- dents who have obtained job list- ingsare still a long way from having job offers. Career seekers must make telephone calls, send letters and r&urn&, and arrange and at- tend interviews. Both the workshop and the library career webpage ad- dress this vital portion of the ca- reer process.

We recommend that students use the best tools available-campus services, printed sources, and online sites-to assist them with their pro- fessional presentation. We explore sites on r&ume writing, interview

tips and “virtual interviews, car- porate i~orma~on, and business databases. For interview prepara- tion, we recommend rinted cor-

P porate histories. We a so promote campus services that help students write letters, practice interviewing skills, and even reduce stress.

Marketing Marketing is a vital component

of any workshop. Achieving suffi- cient enrollment is a special con- cern for a workshop that involves three professionals and a popular, hard-to-scheduleclassroom with six rows of computers. In our favor, we deliver popular content. The heavy hype about the Information Super- highway, combined with students’ raw fear about getting a job upon graduation, brings them to us.

The workshop is publicized through a variety of media: flyers are displayed in the library; a small advertisement is purchased in the campus newspaper; and the dates and times of the workshop are in- cluded in the workshop schedule available at Counseling & Career Services. On numerous occasions, faculty have scheduled customized presentations of the workshop for their classes.

Unexpected publicity came from an at title about the workshop in the business section of the local news- paper. Many members of the cam- pus ~ommuni~ iearned of our work through this coverage and referred their job-seeking students and col- leagues. News media attention of this sort has the additional benefit of presenting the university in a positive light.

Timing is important in our strat- egy to fill the room. We have found that the workshop gets higher atten- dance when scheduled in the late afternoon or early evening, and to- ward the end of the academic quarter,

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Evaluation “Net-ing a Job” has been concep-

tually more satisfying to us as pre- senters since we designed both the workshop and the library’s career webpage to reflect a career devel- opment process. The participants’ responses, on one-page evaluation forms, and their comments after workshops suggest that our collabo- ration has been highly successful. The combination of one-on-one help and the built-in time for explora- tion between workshop segments is a major factor in this success.

References The current version is: 2% R&y Guide: Employment Opportunities and Job Re- sources on the Internet. Margaret F. Riley, December 3, 19%. Available at: http:// www.jobtrak.com/jobguide. Last ac- cessed: S/21/97. *InfoSurf Career 6 Job Information. Carol Doyleand Janet Martorana, April l&1997.

Available at: http://www.library.ucsb. edu/subj/career.html. Last accessed: 5/21/97. Qur printed guides include: Accessing the Web (where on campus); Web BYOWS- ers (chart of Netscape and Lynx com- mands); Career and Intewships Library Reference Guide (to specific library re- sources); Counseling & Career Services schedule of career workshops; Znternet Glossary; and Internet Bibliography. 4University of California, Santa Barbara Counseling 6 Career Services. August 12, 19%. Available at: http:/ /career.ucsb.edu. Last accessed: S/21/97. 5Z996-97 Occupational Outlook Handbook. Howard N. Fullerton, Jr., Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 16, 1996. Available at: http://stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm. Last accessed: S/21/97. 6University of California’s MELVYL Li- brary System. Available at: telnet:// melvyl.ucop.edu. Article databases via the MELVYL system are accessible by password only, available to UC-affili- ated individuals.

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