Career networking: Internet plays vital role in job hunting

An increasing number of University students are deciding that applying for jobs via the information superhighway beats the overwhelming paperwork and time-intensive traveling often associated with job hunting.

The developing trend toward e-recruiting and online job applications indicates that these technological advances offer many new advantages for both the companies offering jobs and the students seeking them. Via the Internet, students can send their applications to potential employers with the click of a mouse.

It is also less expensive for both the student and potential employer to use online services because they do not have to pay for stamps, phone calls or recruiters' airline tickets.

Rosanne Sonatore, the associate director for recruitment and employer relations at the University's career services office, noted that a "vast majority" of companies use e-recruiting and that most "students are doing everything online."

"Technology has changed the career process both on the employers' side, the students' side and [the University's career services office] side," she said.

Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, director of the career services office, said there also has been an increase in the frequency of video interviews by major firms.

Video interviewing offers advantages similar to those of e-recruiting. "Recruiting on campus is very expensive," Hamilton-Chandler said. "They want to get a return on their investment [and are] looking for ways to maximize their efforts and reduce costs."

In the last several years, career services officials have invested time and money to make it possible for students to take full advantage of the various e-recruiting resources now available.

But the increasing dependence on Internet technology is not without its disadvantages. University technicians are still working out bugs in some of the career services systems that have hindered the transmission of some electronic job applications.