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Internet Resources for Career Planning and Job Seeking
Montgomery College Student Development

Student Development: Collegewide | Germantown | Rockville | Takoma Park/Silver Spring

Starting Out - Look Before You Leap

A few sites give excellent advice on overall career planning and using the Internet to find employment.  Study them before you start dashing off resumes into the many job banks out there. 

  • www.jobhuntersbible.com/ Richard Bolles maintains this guide as a supplement to his book 'What Color Is Your Parachute?'
  • The Riley Guide (www.rileyguide.com ) Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet, compiled by Margaret F. Dikel.  This is THE one site to thoroughly explore before you do anything else on the Web.  Dikel's "Q's & A's on Posting Resumes" is the definitive "how-to" for sending resumes out on the Internet.  Look into "What Am I Worth?  Salary Guide and Links" and peruse through the Directory for other great topics.
  • JobStar California - a free site maintained by the State of California.  Not a recommendation that you search for a job in California - just check out the great career information links like
    Guides for Specific Careers and The Hidden Job Market - Step-by-Step Plan for Using the Internet to Go "Beyond the Want Ads."
  • America's Career Infonet - www.acinet.org/acinet/.  Career Resource Library - This site links you to other resources you can use to find ideas and answers. Information is grouped into four main areas: Occupational Information, Job Search Aids, Job and Resume Banks, and Relocation Information.

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ON-LINE INTEREST INVENTORIES

Some quick (and superficial) on-line job interest inventories - take with a grain of salt. 

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START YOUR SEARCH ENGINES...

Throughout your career information exploration and job hunt you'll need to use a Search Engine.  A meta-search engine is one that searches other search engines - find a few that you like and start hunting.  Remember that you will find different results with different engines - check out more than one.  To find a comprehensive list of search engines: 
www.thrall.org/proteus.html#top .  
Three examples of meta-search engines are www.google.com/; http://www.dogpile.com/ (awful name, good search engine); and  www.mamma.com/psearch.html   (mamma.com's Power Search).

RESUME WRITING TIPS ON THE WEB

  • Montgomery College's own Resume Writing Page links you to resume writing tips, including how to write a resume, cover letters, interviewing advice and sample resumes.

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RESEARCHING SPECIFIC COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

To find information on a specific company or organization, use a meta-search engine and type in the company's name and state.   Most company/organization websites have a link to Employment Opportunities.  Remember that many companies may list their vacancies on their own page but not submit them to job banks.

  • hoovers.com/ Hoover's Business Directory allows you to research specific companies under their Career Development section.
  • www.elibrary.com/ Has the company you're looking at been in the news lately?  Use a search engine like Electric Library to find any recent newspaper and magazine articles - just search using the company's name.  You can also search specific newspapers like www.washingtonpost.com/ or www.gazette.net/ .

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CONDUCTING AN INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW

Many career advisors recommend conducting an information-gathering interview as part of the career decision-making process.  Talking to someone who is employed in a field that interests you can give you an insider's viewpoint before you make the leap. 

An Informational Interview can increase your knowledge about your field(s) of interest, help you clarify your career goals, allows potential employers to know you in a pleasant, low-stress atmosphere, and it establishes a network of contacts that could lead to future employment.

Use these "Informational Interview Steps" before you embark on your interview.

FIND GENERAL JOB SEARCH DATABASES - RESUME POSTING SITES

General job search databases are listings of job openings.   On these sites job seekers may post resumes and employers view the bank of submitted resumes.  Please be sure that you've read the Riley Guide on this topic before you post.

  • Maryland's CareerNet - www.careernet.state.md.us/ - lists job openings and career planning services from the Maryland Department of Labor.

  • Jobs Databases from About.Com - jobsearch.about.com/business/jobsearch/msubjobs.htm.  Links to over 30 different job-search sites.
  • www.4employment.com/  Links to employment listing sites, resume-writing, job interview questions, and job-seeking tips.
  • www.fedworld.gov/jobs/jobsearch.html  This database allows you to search abstracts of open U.S. Federal Government Jobs.  The ".gov" indicates that it is a government-based site rather than a commercial site (".com").

  • USAJobs - extensive information on how to get a job with the Federal Government.
    http://www.usajobs.opm.gov
  • www.careerbuilder.com/   Someone had to think this one up - a search engine that searchs other job data sites for job openings.  This is billed as a Mega Job Search site.  Also includes career planning links.
  • Use a meta-search engine to find more listings - try keywords like "computer jobs" or "jobs graphic arts" to start searching.

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FIND GENERAL INFORMATION ON CAREERS

To find general information on specific careers, use a meta-search engine and link together words like "psychology careers" - go to www.google.com or www.metafind.com/   and type in "  ....   careers" to see typical results with this kind of query.
  • Job Futures - an excellent alphabetical list of careers with detailed descriptions, similar to the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
  • Careers in Business - an entire site of information on Finance, Commercial Banking, Corporate Finance, Financial Planning, Insurance, Investment Banking, Money Management, Real Estate, Accounting, Public and Managerial Accounting, Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations, Market Research, Non-Profit, Product Management, Retailing.
  • Wetfeet.com   Information profiles on specific careers and researching corporations.   Good links to information on technology-related careers.  Spend some time at this site.

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CAREER RESOURCES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

  • Entry Point:  Internship Opportunities for Students with Disabilities in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science.  www.entrypoint.org/
  • WeMedia - media career resources for people with disabilities.

FIND TRAINING/EDUCATION FOR YOUR NEW CAREER

If you need additional college course work (beyond the offerings at Montgomery College), you can search for four-year bachelors degree programs by using a college search program below and specifying a major.

Try more than one of these free sites to develop a list of schools:

LOCAL RESOURCES

  • www.gazette.net/  Search the Gazette newspapers' classified sections for local job listings.

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MONTGOMERY COLLEGE SERVICES

  • Montgomery College offers DS 103, Career Development courses each semester.  This 8-week, one-credit class takes you through the steps of career planning.   Go to the current schedule for DS 103 classes.
    Course description:  DS 103 Career Development: Dynamics and Application:  Teaches how to plan, establish, or change a career. Includes process of establishing or implementing career goals; assessment of values, interests, and skills plus their relationship to occupations; analysis of labor market needs; identification of employers and sources of occupation information; and means of securing employment (proposals, resumes, applications, and job interviews). Two hours lecture/discussion each week for eight weeks. 1 semester hour 

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UPDATED 03/30/03
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