Job-Hunting on the Internet Struggles with Demand, But Networking Remains Key Avenue to Job-Search Success

The most comprehensive career development site on the Web celebrates its 7th anniversary by developing several new tools and features for students and job-seekers.

DeLand, FL November 17 2003-- The key to uncovering job leads, in any employment situation, is to use the power of networking, noted Dr. Randall Hansen in announcing the addition of an Internet Networking Tutorial to Quintessential Careers (http://www.quintcareers.com/), the comprehensive career-development Web site he founded seven years ago this month. The site is dedicating November to an anniversary celebration packed with special features and events for job-seekers.

Job-seekers almost always undervalue the power of networking, of using your friends, families, colleagues, acquaintances and all their friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and so on, said Hansen, one of the nations leading career experts, in a recent talk on the current state of job-hunting. And now, job-seekers can take that networking power in a whole new direction by using some of the many resources available on the Internet.

Networking is still the best way to publicize your job search and learn about unadvertised job openings. The majority of a job-seekers time should be spent talking to people and cultivating relationships. Effective networking can result in a meeting arranged with a key executive, an endorsement conveyed to a hiring manager, a resume personally delivered to a hiring manager, or an invitation for an interview before a job opening hits the street, said Jeanne Knight, a career expert interviewed for the seventh anniversary edition of QuintZine, the Quintessential Careers free biweekly electronic newsletter.

In addition to the new online networking tutorial, the site continues to recognize the interest and growth of online job-hunting with the publication of the third annual Quintessential Careers Reports on the State of Internet Job-Hunting: Major Studies Poke Holes in Value of Internet Job-Hunting (http://www.quintcareers.com/Internet_job_search.html). The reports author, Katharine Hansen, notes that while the Internet continues to be a useful tool for numerous aspects of job-hunting, it still has many problems. The message of this year's report is clear: Diversify, diversify, diversify, Hansen writes. The Internet provides tons of great tools for job-hunting, but it's not the be-all and end-all. The Internet has got to be just one tool in the job-seeker's toolbox, and job-seeking time must be used wisely -- in proportion to the techniques, high-tech or low, that are the most productive.

Beyond several new articles and the tutorial added for the sites anniversary, visitors will find more than 100 articles and tutorials on all aspects of job-hunting, from career exploration to job offer negotiation included in the more than 1,900 pages that comprise the site. The site also reviews and links to more than 1,400 job boards and company career centers, including job sites in all industries and located in the U.S. and around the world. Visitors will also find career information on writing cover letters and resumes, mastering job interviews, and negotiating salaries. The QuintZine newsletter keeps subscribers current on college, career, and job-hunting trends while listing all the latest additions to the site.

Quintessential Careers 7th Anniversary Events:

The anniversary celebration began Nov. 7 when the Hansens awarded the second Quintessential Art of Business Purchase Award at Stetson University. According to Katharine Hansen, since Quintessential Careers began its life seven years ago at Stetson University, we wanted to give back to the university. This award enables us to celebrate Quintessential Careers' Stetson roots in two ways -- by providing the Lynn Business Center with culturally enriching artwork and by supporting Stetson's art students through purchasing their work for permanent display in the Lynn Center.

The next anniversary-related event takes place Dec. 2 when the Hansens donate 150 copies of their popular book, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, to first-year business students at Stetson University. Dr. Hansen is an associate professor of marketing, while Katharine is a former instructor of business communications. We want to help first-year students get solid footing on the importance of mastering writing and its effects on earning good grades, Dr. Hansen states. The book offers students techniques for coping with the fear of writing, as well as a guide to on-line research and high-tech library research tools, tips on writing and rewriting, suggestions beyond writing to help students improve their grades, and a list of resources on writing style and grammar.

The final event of the month-long celebration is the fifth annual Real World Panel discussion that Quintessential Careers is sponsoring with the Stetson University School of Business Administration. The Dec. 3 event features a panel of recent graduates returning to the Stetson campus to discuss, warn, and advise current students about all aspects of job-hunting and life after graduation. Following the 6:30 p.m. discussion will be a mocktail networking event in the lower level of the Lynn Business Center to enable current students to mingle with the alumni guests.

Throughout its seven years on the Web, Quintessential Careers has strived to be a job-seekers one convenient source for virtually all career information, offering expert advice on all aspects of job-hunting, including tips, resources, and examples to help job-seekers write a stellar resume and cover letter; information to prepare for job interviews; techniques for negotiating higher salaries; strategies for successfully changing careers; as well as advice and resources for returning to college and/or attending graduate school.

In addition to teaching marketing at Stetson University and serving as Webmaster of Quintessential Careers and publisher of QuintZine, Randall Hansen also writes a weekly career advice column under the name The Career Doctor (http://www.careerdoctor.org/), and is co-author of the cover letter bible, Dynamic Cover Letters, now in its third edition. Katharine Hansen, creative director of Quintessential Careers, is the co-author of Dynamic Cover Letters and author of Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates and A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market.

Quintessential Careers is the main site in a network of career-related sites, including: MyCareerBlast.com, CareerDoctor.org, and Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, among others. Quintessential Careers has received more than 100 awards and honors, been recognized in numerous career books and magazines, and welcomed the praises of career counselors, job-seekers, and employers from throughout the U.S. and around the world. Its most recent recognition is being named a Forbes Favorite in the Spring 2003 Best of the Web, stating, in part: This full-service job-hunting site also offers a wealth of career content, including articles, quizzes and tutorials."

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Editorial Note: More background about Quintessential Careers can be found at http://www.quintcareers.com/home.html.