Changing careers is much more popular than ever before. Whether a individual choice or an economic necessity, individuals are waking up to the idea that they have to do something else. This thought is both liberating and terrifying at the same time, especially in today’s struggling economy. The good news is that there’s a lot more information and help available today then ever before - and most of it is online and free. In this post we’ll discuss some of these many cost free alternatives available specifically for the Twin Cities Metro Area (Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota).
Libraries are a excellent place to start researching career choices. In general, libraries are a vast often-untapped source of job search data. Being a large metro region, there’s a multitude of high quality libraries offered in the Twin Cities. Most counties and large academic institutions usually have well organized library systems, often with much of the information accessible online.
Hennepin County is the largest country in the Twin Cities Metro Area. As a result, it has an extensive library system which has an wonderful website titled \"Jobs and Careers\". This website has links to many Minnesota-focused job resources and online databases, including career research, salary surveys, community resources, and help/information for those out of work. The University of Minnesota is the largest educational institution in the the state of Minnesota (one of the largest in the nation). It has a large on-line library with a wide-variety of resources offered. other government websites, some patience is required to filter through all the detail available.
The State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development publishes a website titled Positively Minnesota. The website has areas distinctively focused upon at job-seekers, users exploring new careers, those with disabilities, as well as veterans looking for work. The website includes a multitude of data on state provided employment websites, publications, and other resources. Just about too much information in one spot, but it's well organized and frequently updated.
The State of Minnesota also has over 50 Workforce Centers (several in the Twin Cities but also state-wide) where you can go for help and assistance. Each center is staffed and provides many of it’s services without charge.
iSeek careers is a Minnesota-focused career site that was much harder to find than it should have been, because it's an awesome website. This website has a very nice free section on career study and a database of 500 careers to browse. They have a 'Find a Job' area that has regional-specific information including employers, job openings, salary information, and top careers. A lot of the same tools the bigger sites have, but with a Minnesota-angle.
Though not Minnesota-specific, the Occupational Outlook Handbook (put out by the Federal Government) is a very good place to research careers. Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Occupational Outlook Handbook is an priceless free source of investigating potential jobs and careers. For each career, the handbook lists the education and training requirements, earnings, expected job prospect, and the working conditions. The handbook is kept up-to-date and published every 2 years.
There are just a few high quality, free resources available to the Twin Cities Career-Changer. Take a look!
If you'd like to learn more about Minnesota Job Bank Jobss or MN Job Banks, be sure to look into the Minnesota Job Bank HQ.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Key Resources in Your Online Job Search
The modern day job search has changed dramatically from just a few years back. With the explosion of the internet most job searches typically now start online. Because of that, there are large number of information available on the web for your prospective job seeker. So much so, it can easily be hard to navigate and utilize in an effective manner. Let's go though the big areas that should be used and explored within a quality search.
1. Search Engines Mention the words 'internet job search' and 9 out of 10 of us will most likely think of online job search engines. These sites are almost always free (though most encourage users to register) and also have a searchable jobs database to find jobs by location, keywords, salary etc.
As a result of the popularity, these sites are frequently kept current and are easy to use and navigate. Additionally, they'll often have a handful of other free resources like salary surveys, resume posting, and company research. For a lot of people, they're truly transforming into a one-stop shop for their job search.
There are several different types of online job search sites. The most well-liked and well-known are the big national websites (these are the Monsters and Careerbuilders). With all their resources they typically present a user-friendly website that also draws in the most job postings.
There are also the national niche' sites. These sites are focused on an exact industry (i.e. technical or sales jobs), or a particular group or job type. While these sites certainly may have fewer available jobs, for the particular job-seeker they cater to they are usually an excellent resource and help to find potential jobs quickly.
Regional websites are important because they offer the "next level" of job postings (like searching for Twin Cities Jobs). Typically, it's more cost effective for an employer to post jobs on these sites (occasionally it's free) so they can post a wider variety of openings. The sites also have the advantage of being Area-focused and may offer regional specific services and content.
2. Employer Websites The most complete job information for an employer is available on their own website. Virtually all large to mid-sized employers (and several small employers as well) use a Careers section on their internet site.
Typically, these sites have the most current and accurate job information as they are maintained directly by the employer. Since there is negligible cost to feature jobs to their own website (in place of placing adds on job search engines) all the available jobs are usually posted instead of only the high-profile position. Employers want you to find their job postings on their website instead of some search engine since it doesn't cost them anything. As a result, it's often the best place to find all the jobs for a particular employer.
3. Newspapers Newspapers are the traditional source for job postings. Prior to the internet, job hunters frequently scanned the want ads in the classified sections of their newspapers. For many of the largest regional or national newspapers the want ad scanning has evolved into online posting of jobs that are searchable by the website user. These postings may also be the same that appear in the print version of the paper.
Many local or smaller newspapers many not have the resources to produce and maintain a searchable website. Often, local newspapers are operated by just one company and have pooled their job search resources into a single site for all their newspapers.
While small newspaper websites may not have all the jobs on some of the larger more popular sites, they are a first-rate resource for strictly local or part time work that wouldn't warrant the employer placing (and buying) an ad in a regional paper or search engine. If you want to find part-time work in Savage Minnesota, for example, the local Savage newspaper is a very good resource.
The job resources in the larger newspapers often can rival and compete with the big national job search engines. They usually have advanced search capabilities, resume posting, and employer/company research. The smaller newspaper sites might be harder to navigate and use and will often be solely listings of job openings that may need to be scanned manually.
4. Social Networking One of the most effective technique of find jobs is by networking with family, friends, and former co-workers. In the past, this was accomplished by everyone maintaining their own manual network of people to communicate with.
This too has changed (dramatically!) with the advancement of web based social networking websites where people can collaborate and communicate with others anywhere in the world.Along with some of the more well known sites such as Facebook, you can also find sites that focus exclusively on business networking. On these sites, networking with individuals who work in the industry or even at the company you would like to work for may be a valuable edge over other applicants.
These sites can offer you experience and insights that would be difficult to gather on your own, particularly if you are preparing a career switch and have little or no experience in your new industry.As with other web sites, be aware about where you go and who to interact with. There are various news stories recently relating to the misuse and true dangers that can occur with social networking websites. Just because the other individual says who they are and where they work does not mean it's true. Really be cautious and protect your privacy!
There you have it - use all of these resources for an effective online job search.
If you want to learn more about searching for jobs online, and Minnesota Jobs in particular, be sure to check out the Minnesota Job Bank HQ.
1. Search Engines Mention the words 'internet job search' and 9 out of 10 of us will most likely think of online job search engines. These sites are almost always free (though most encourage users to register) and also have a searchable jobs database to find jobs by location, keywords, salary etc.
As a result of the popularity, these sites are frequently kept current and are easy to use and navigate. Additionally, they'll often have a handful of other free resources like salary surveys, resume posting, and company research. For a lot of people, they're truly transforming into a one-stop shop for their job search.
There are several different types of online job search sites. The most well-liked and well-known are the big national websites (these are the Monsters and Careerbuilders). With all their resources they typically present a user-friendly website that also draws in the most job postings.
There are also the national niche' sites. These sites are focused on an exact industry (i.e. technical or sales jobs), or a particular group or job type. While these sites certainly may have fewer available jobs, for the particular job-seeker they cater to they are usually an excellent resource and help to find potential jobs quickly.
Regional websites are important because they offer the "next level" of job postings (like searching for Twin Cities Jobs). Typically, it's more cost effective for an employer to post jobs on these sites (occasionally it's free) so they can post a wider variety of openings. The sites also have the advantage of being Area-focused and may offer regional specific services and content.
2. Employer Websites The most complete job information for an employer is available on their own website. Virtually all large to mid-sized employers (and several small employers as well) use a Careers section on their internet site.
Typically, these sites have the most current and accurate job information as they are maintained directly by the employer. Since there is negligible cost to feature jobs to their own website (in place of placing adds on job search engines) all the available jobs are usually posted instead of only the high-profile position. Employers want you to find their job postings on their website instead of some search engine since it doesn't cost them anything. As a result, it's often the best place to find all the jobs for a particular employer.
3. Newspapers Newspapers are the traditional source for job postings. Prior to the internet, job hunters frequently scanned the want ads in the classified sections of their newspapers. For many of the largest regional or national newspapers the want ad scanning has evolved into online posting of jobs that are searchable by the website user. These postings may also be the same that appear in the print version of the paper.
Many local or smaller newspapers many not have the resources to produce and maintain a searchable website. Often, local newspapers are operated by just one company and have pooled their job search resources into a single site for all their newspapers.
While small newspaper websites may not have all the jobs on some of the larger more popular sites, they are a first-rate resource for strictly local or part time work that wouldn't warrant the employer placing (and buying) an ad in a regional paper or search engine. If you want to find part-time work in Savage Minnesota, for example, the local Savage newspaper is a very good resource.
The job resources in the larger newspapers often can rival and compete with the big national job search engines. They usually have advanced search capabilities, resume posting, and employer/company research. The smaller newspaper sites might be harder to navigate and use and will often be solely listings of job openings that may need to be scanned manually.
4. Social Networking One of the most effective technique of find jobs is by networking with family, friends, and former co-workers. In the past, this was accomplished by everyone maintaining their own manual network of people to communicate with.
This too has changed (dramatically!) with the advancement of web based social networking websites where people can collaborate and communicate with others anywhere in the world.Along with some of the more well known sites such as Facebook, you can also find sites that focus exclusively on business networking. On these sites, networking with individuals who work in the industry or even at the company you would like to work for may be a valuable edge over other applicants.
These sites can offer you experience and insights that would be difficult to gather on your own, particularly if you are preparing a career switch and have little or no experience in your new industry.As with other web sites, be aware about where you go and who to interact with. There are various news stories recently relating to the misuse and true dangers that can occur with social networking websites. Just because the other individual says who they are and where they work does not mean it's true. Really be cautious and protect your privacy!
There you have it - use all of these resources for an effective online job search.
If you want to learn more about searching for jobs online, and Minnesota Jobs in particular, be sure to check out the Minnesota Job Bank HQ.
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