Internet Career and Job Research

PROJECT: Internet Career and Job Research

INTRODUCTION:

How do you get the facts about a career that interests you? Surfing the net is the ideal way to explore your career interests.  In this project, you identify tentative career choices and access information about that career on the Internet.  You find two real job listings in the career field and write short answers to specific questions about the career field based upon specific job openings that you have located on the Internet.

PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS:

Select a career, or career field, to explore. Use this opportunity to browse the Internet for career information and to familiarize yourself with these resources.  One place to start is the Career Resources section of your Career Center website which links to many sources of career information. You may use any resources you can find on the Internet, as long as you provide the reference URLs.  We recommend that you look at job boards such as www.JobCentral.com, www.international.monster.com, www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com and any other local or regional job or web site that is likely to have job listings for a professional career field in which you are interested.  Create an MS Word document with this title: "Internet Career Search".  You will use this document to post your career research into it and submit your project to your instructor.  The goal is to identify professional career options using the Internet.

Part I: Identify Professional Career Options Using the Internet.

Consider the career or career field that interests you and answer each question below. For each answer, begin with the location(s) on the Internet (URLs) where you found the answer.  Write your answers to each question and insert into your MS Word document titled: "Internet Research"

What career field have you chosen to explore and what are three to five entry-level job titles found in your career choice? (include sources in your MS Word document)

What level of education would be needed now to enter this career and in the future to advance within this career? (include sources in your MS Word document)

What are the technical, leadership qualities, personal interests, skills and other qualifications are necessary to do well in this career? (include sources in your MS Word document).  Check out your professional career profile In the Occupational Outlook Handbook that is located on this web site: www.careeronestop.org. Summarize and insert your research into your MS Word document.

What professional organization - for example, the American Management Association - could provide additional information about this career? To find out more about professional organizations, using Google enter the name of your profession and locate as many professional associations as possible and enter the most appropriate associations, with a brief statement of their purpose and membership, into your MS Word document.

What is the job outlook for this career choice?  Be specific about how this occupation is influenced by economic trends, population demographics, and political, broadly defined, influences (include sources) and insert your results into your MS Word document.

Using your research, discuss the potential compensation levels for people in this occupation? Is the monetary and time cost of your education going to be a wise investment (include sources).  Include your thoughts into your MS Word document.

Find at least two job listings in the selected career or career field that interests you. Copy and paste your complete job listings, including the title and the entire text of the listing, into your MS Word document.  You are welcome to use the Internet job board web sites listed above or identify web sites that you find as a result of your reviewing professional association web sites and local or regional job boards that are more consistent with your geographical constraints.  This does not have to be job listings in your regional area because you are looking at the job descriptions rather than applying for a specific job.  Include the URL and the name of the listing organizations in your MS Word document.

Part II: Conducting Your Internet Research Effort
In a paragraph, discuss your experience using the Internet as a source of career-related information. Include answers to all of these questions: how useful was it? What were the benefits and/or drawbacks? How hard was it to find the information you wanted?  Was the information up to date? To what extent will you use the Internet to get career information in the future?  Use the questions below is a guideline in preparing a unique job description of the type of professional career opportunity that you are seeking after you finish your education.  Please insert your answers into your MS Word document under each of the titles preceding each discussion question.
Identify Job Listing.  Considering the career our interest field that interests you, you will answer each question below.  For each answer, began with the Internet URL where you found the answer.  Any quoted material from your Internet resources should be noted with quotation marks.  Start with the identification of your career field and two job entry-level openings that you have identified.

What career field have you chosen to explore and what are to entry-level job titles that are typically used for entry-level jobs in your career choice?

Level of Education.  What level of education would be needed to enter this career field and to advance as you progress in your career?  Discuss the typical qualifications noted in the position description in the job listings that you found in your Internet job board research.  Always site your URL resources as you write your analysis.

Skills and Job Characteristics.  What are the qualifications in terms of technical competencies, interests, personal qualities, personality and management/leadership skills necessary to obtain a job in this career field?
Identify Professional Organizations.  What professional organizations did you locate with your Internet research that provided additional information about this career field?  Be specific.  Focus on both international as well as regional professional associations.  When would it be an appropriate time for you to join this professional association?
Outlook.  What is the long-term employment outlook for this career choice?  Try to locate some Outlook descriptions on the Internet that you can copy and paste as quotation marks into your MS Word document.
Earnings Potential.  What have you been able to locate, if anything, about the compensation for individuals in this occupation?  You might want to explore URLs such as www.salary.com, www.career onestop.org, professional associations salaries surveys, and others web sites that occasionally have compensation noted.  Of course, your job listing search may also provide compensation levels.  You can include job perquisites and nonmonetary compensation if appropriate.
Specific Job Listings.  Identify at least two job listings that you have discovered from your Internet research that might interest you if you are in the employment market today and qualified.  Copy and paste as much of these job listings as you can into your MS Word document.  Make sure you identify your source for these entry-level job descriptions in the name of the employing organization.
Part III: Analyzing the Use of Internet for Professional Career Information Research.

Analysis of Internet Research Process.  In about one type written page, discuss your experience in using the Internet as a source of career related information.  How difficult was it?  Did you find enough information?  Was it useful?  What were the benefits and drawbacks of using the Internet as relates to your future job search?  Was the information up-to-date?  Do you think that you will use the Internet get job information in the future as you get closer to graduation?  Insert your comments into your MS Word document.
Future Actions.  As you summarize your analysis, create a recommendation for yourself as to how you might approach your employment decisions in the future using the content that you discovered from your Internet research.  Is this a valid method for you to use in finding occupational information?  Do you think that it is possible for you to eventually find your desired entry-level job using an Internet job search engine?  Be sure to indicate your reasoning and rationale for making your decisions regarding future use of the Internet in your career job search.