how to find current jobs
Puget Sound/Pacific NW
Our intention here is to draw your attention to job possibilities in
geography, not necessarily to find jobs FOR you. We're more interested
in showing you HOW TO FIND jobs, so that you can do it again later in
your life, whenever you may need to.
This page has a number of excellent Websites to check regularly, and
there are two ways to search.
The traditional approach is to use the newspaper classified ads
- and now you check many of them on the Web. We list several local papers.
You can search each listing, A through Z, but it will take a long time
and may ruin your eyes.
It's more efficient to use Web search facilities, but you have to supply
the descriptors to find the listings you want. That means that you have
to know what you want to do, including the job title (although sometimes
ads are written to attract applicants in a particular business, like "international
trade," or for a pretty general kind of work, like "clerical"). On occation,
you'll find an ad that asks for the title of a degree, like geography,
or a specialty, like cartography (although GIS seems to be the exception).
To use the classifieds effectively, you MUST have a good idea of what
you want to find, you should know the job titles it would be listed under,
and the variations of that vocabulary.
A more proactive approach is to search for a particular kind of
an organization you want to work for (because you already know that those
organizations have the kind of work you want to do -- and they may need
someone with your talents). For a Web-based search of that kind, you should
know which of those organizations have websites, and you should be checking
their job listings periodically.
SOURCES OF CLASSIFIED ADS
Seattle Times Classified
Unless you look at ads alphabetically, to find particular jobs that apply
to you, you'll need to do a search for the job title or kind of work,
the organization name, or the topic the ad writer chose. Remember that
many organizations now have their own Websites with more employment information
listed there. Even if you decide not to apply to a particular job, if
you like the company that lists a Website, bookmark that site and return
to it occasionally to see the kinds of jobs they do list. You just may
return to find a job that you can apply for.
http://www.seatimes.com/classified/jobs/
Sound Opportunities http://www.soundop.com/
Here's a publication that many job seekers are not
aware of. Sound Opportunities is a biweekly print newsletter listing classified
ads of current employment, internship, volunteer and other opportunities
in Pacific Northwest nonprofit organizations. The website contains an
electronic version of the print newsletter, plus information on subscribing,
advertising, etc.
Sound Opportunities (since 1989 is the Northwest's
most comprehensive list of employment opportunities in local nonprofits.
Each issue contains 30 to 75 of these classified advertisements, most
of which cannot be found in other local daily or weekly newspapers. Most
positions are from the greater Seattle metropolitan area and the Puget
Sound region, with other listings from around Washington and the Northwest.
Visit frequently for updates!
Today's Careers
http://www.todays-careers.com
This online "career newspaper" does have classified
ads that you can search several ways, and it also has a series of articles
offering career information and advice. It's worth some exploration time.
Northwest High Tech Career Expo
http://www.nwhtjobs.com/
Not quite a newspaper, the Expo site carries information
on current or coming Expos, and the site features options to "Search
for Jobs" and "Post a Resume."
ORGANIZATIONS (that may hire geographers)
For most organization Websites, you'll have to use the search
facility to find their job listings, but be aware that you may have
to use different words - some list jobs as "jobs," while others use
"employment," and some have that information listed with their "human
resources office." Government and quasi-governmental agencies
City of Bellevue http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/
City of SeaTac http://www.seatac.wa.gov/
City of Seattle
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/personnl/
King County Office of Human Resources
http://www.metrokc.gov/OHRM/
(subsite for current
openings: http://www.metrokc.gov/ohrm/psd/openings.html)
Pierce County
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/
(subsite for employment
opportunities: http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/services/citzopp/personnel/jobsmenu.htm
)
Puget Sound Regional Council
http://www.psrc.org/
Seattle Housing
Authority http://www.sea-pha.org/Employment/Employ00.htm
Seattle-King County Private Industry
Council http://www.skcpic.org/
Snohomish County
http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/
Sound Transit Online http://soundtransit.org/
Thurston Regional Planning Council
http://www.trpc.org/
Washington State
Department of Personnel http://www.wa.gov/dop/statejobs/index.htm
Other sites with employment information
Seattle Public Access
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/
You can do a search here for employment, but first look at some of the
other information categories available on this incredibly useful site.
Click Business on the menu bar for the Business Information Center, where
you'll find the Employment list of current relevant links.
Also see on Seattle Public Access site:
Business
Information Center http://www.pan.ci.seattle.wa.us/html/business/#employ
(Scroll to the top of the page for more general information and access
to other parts of the site.) You can also access the "INET Newsgroup:
Seattle.Jobs.Offered" by clicking on it, in the list of Current Job Opportunities,
if your server supports newsgroups.
Searching
for Training and Employment Programs
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/business/step/linksold2.htm
Training
and Employment Resources http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/business/step/links.htm
Job Phone
Lines Seattle Public
Access http://www.spl.org/scisoc/joblines.html
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