| In the science fiction world of the 21 st century simple access to a PC and a connection to the web opens up employment opportunities in every corner of the globe. Practically every major company, consultancy and financial institution now takes applications online and a host of smaller players are following suit. But is finding your perfect job through the internet quite as simple as it first seems?
Well, unfortunately nothing is ever as straightforward as it might seem. Finding the right sites in the first place isn't always easy. Try feeding the name of a major company into a search engine and chances are that you'll come up with everything apart from the main site address. And, when you do find what you're looking for, despite large amounts of cash invested in company websites, not every one seems to have been designed with the eager job-seeker in mind. So, fresh from a tour of virtual world of MBA recruitment, here are our quick tips on how to get the best out of job-searching via the Internet:
• Don't expect to just enter 'MBA jobs' into a search engine and find what you are looking for. The same applies to internal search engines on corporate sites which often just highlight individuals in the organisation who've been to business school. Think laterally and try approaching through searches for specific sectors, disciplines or job titles relevant to your background and qualifications.
• Don't assume that you will be able to get back to the instructions page once you start the application process. If in doubt print it off before you get going.
• Not all sites save information until the process is complete. Check this out in the FAQ first and if there is still no confirmation, assume the worst.
• Check that your browser is up to date and delete all temporary Internet files from your computer to ensure you are viewing a current site and not a cached version.
• Don't enter information straight onto a form. Put it into Word first so that you can use Tools to check grammar and spelling.
Now that we've all forgotten that unfortunate dotcom bubble business and decided that internet companies are fashionable again, it's good to know that some of the biggest players have got their act togther when it comes to recruitng online. Search engine Google, for example, has a dedicated search area for jobs across their international operations at www.google.com/jobs . A homepage with the usual smiling employees gives you useful information on the company, how it works and its attitude towards work/life balance. You can then hunt down the right role for you by department or location or even by simply working your way through all their current openings. On the day we visited we focused on Europe and quickly found a couple of MBA-friendly openings on the company's Sales and Operations Management Program and for an Emerging Markets Analyst. One small complaint - enter 'MBA' into the apparently helpful search box and you end up with a long list of unhelpful results from the main Google site.
Not to be outdone, rival search engine, Yahoo!, has a simple and easy to use recruitment area at careers.yahoo.com. There is no dedicated entry program for MBAs, but the company is at pains to communicate that business school graduates are very welcome and are 'generally a good match with jobs in production/product development, business development or marketing.' Yahoo! visits a number of major US campuses every year but is by nomeans confined to these schools and is happy to receive applications from anyone with the right background and qualifications and a genuine interest in the company.
For international MBA level jobs, we also recommend the following sites:
|
