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How to Work the Internet to your Advantage in a Job Search Are you on the hunt for the perfect job? If you need a new job and you are spending every day running out and buying a paper and flipping through the classified ads, you are way out of date. The newest way to find a job is to use the Internet in your job search. After all, nearly everything else people do these days is done online, so why not looking for your next job. The best part is that the Internet is much better than the classified ads in your local paper when it comes to finding a job you love. When you search for a job online, you have a world of employment opportunities right at your fingertips. There are many ways you start your search for jobs online. There are several websites that are dedicated just to job hunting. On these kinds of sites, you can search through a database of literally thousands and thousands of jobs until you find some that appeal to you. Most of these websites let you search for jobs using many different criteria, from job location to job field to starting salary to jobs that let you work from home. These websites can be a wonderful way of getting a feel for what kind of jobs are out there and what the going rate of pay is for any job in any industry, and how that pay fluctuates regionally. In addition, these sites are also ideal if you are thinking of moving, and want to move to someplace you can find a job. If you don’t care where you move, you can look for cities where the job market is hot. If you know where you want to move, you can look for jobs in your desired city and get the inside track on the job market from no matter where you are. Additionally, on these job listings websites, you can upload your own resume to the site. That way, you can apply to jobs through the website with the click of a button, and potential employers can find you when they are looking for someone with your skills. Another way you can use the Internet to your advantage when you are hunting for a job is to build your own job hunting website. Create a website that showcases your resume and all of the work experience you have. You can set out your career objectives and show off any special skills you have. Having your own website is a great way to direct potential employers to where they can find more information about you and is a handy way of getting the message across about skills or achievements you have that may not be right for inclusion on your resume. If all of this sounds like casting the net a little too wide for your tastes, the good news is there are now local job listings websites in most towns. These websites work in much the same way was the larger job hunting websites, but they only list local jobs and only allow local workers to upload their information. Remember that the Internet cuts both ways when looking for a job. Just as you might Google a potential employer, so they may Google you. Be thoughtful about what you post about yourself on the Internet. If you don’t want your potential boss to know about that time you had too much to drink and passed out in your friend’s front lawn, don’t post the picture online. Likewise, be careful when blogging about political, religious or off-color topics. Almost anything you say online can be traced back to you, and may be used against you in a job hunt.

Yes, Freebies are Real! If you tell someone that something is free, they immediately start looking for the catch. After all, the words of wisdom “there is no such thing as a free lunch” have usually been proven true for people time and again throughout life, and so a healthy cynicism towards free stuff usually springs up with good reason. If you are one of these skeptical types, however, you may be missing out on some really great stuff. The truth is that you CAN get free things that are really and truly free, and yes, actually worth having. You just have to know where to look. OK, here is where the caveat comes in. The definition of “free” often depends on the definition of “cost.” As any economist can tell you, cost really doesn’t only come down to how much money you have to hand over to get something. There are additional costs, like inconvenience and time spent doing something. And true, some freebies have these “non monetary” kinds of costs associated with them. You have to balance all of the costs with the value of the free stuff you are getting and decide if it is worth it to you. The two biggest costs associated with freebies? Time and convenience are at the top of the list. Time is a big factor in many free offers. Companies want a bit of your time in exchange for their free products. Indeed, some companies literally want hours of your time. Have you ever taken advantage of one of those “free weekend vacation” offers in which you received free accommodation in a beach house or condo for a weekend in exchange for suffering through a long presentation and intense sales pitch? For some people, they can handle the presentation and have no qualms about refusing to buy anything and the free vacation more than makes up for it. Other people would rather pay any price to avoid having to listen to one of these spiels. So, while these weekends are freebies, for some people, they cost too much. More often, a company wants your time in a less obvious way – they want you to spend time filling out forms. These forms may simply be your name, address and email address, or they may be very lengthy, quizzing you about buying habits and the like. The reason the companies want you to do these forms is often for market research, and they are more than happy to give you a freebie in exchange for this. Many people find the time spent filling out these forms will worth it to get a great free product. Convenience is the other cost involved with many freebies. Time and convenience go hand in hand in some cases – after all, it may not be especially convenient to fill out form after form simply because it is time consuming, but convenience takes another hit from freebies in the form of spam email. Often, signing up for a freebie can land you on a spam email list, and for some people, getting tons of spam is so inconvenient that they would rather pay full price. The truth about all of these costs of freebies is that the freebie is in the eye of the beholder. You have to decide what you are willing to put up with in order to get a free product. Once you know the limits to your freebie costs, than you can cash in on some really great products that don’t cost you a dime. When you spend five minutes filling out a form and get rewarded with a free DVD player that you have been wanting, you will realize that there are free things out there to be had.

Is That Free Offer Legit? Tips that Can Help Everyone loves the chance to cash in some great free stuff, but navigating the world of freebie offers, especially online, can be like navigating a minefield. Unfortunately, a lot of people out there use the love others have of taking advantage of free deals to scam them out of money or personal details that can be used in identity theft scams. All of this gloom and doom doesn’t mean that you have to give up on free things altogether, however. The good news is that there are some simple, common sense steps you can take protect yourself from online freebie scammers. These tips will help give you the confidence that you can enjoy taking advantage of free offers without the fear of ending up facing some negative consequences. First and foremost, when you are checking out a free offer on the Internet, take a closer look at the website, beyond just reading the words and figuring out what you have to do get the free goods. Does the website look like it was made by a professional, with some consideration, or does it look like a five minute amateur job? Are typos and clip art the order of the day, or does it look like a website any business would be proud to call its own? What about the web address – is a domain name that matches the business the website claims to represent, or is a “free” domain address that includes the name of the domain company in the address? All of these factors can be red flags that determine the difference between a scam and a legitimate free offer. If the website looks half hearted or doesn’t seem to exactly “match” the company it purports to represent, then don’t even think about trying to get anything from it. When you’re reasonably sure that the website is actually the front of a legitimate business, it’s time to turn your attention to the privacy policy of the website. The best privacy policies guarantee you that the email address you use to sign up for this offer will not be shared with any other companies – but when it comes to free stuff, those kinds of privacy policies are few and far between. Many companies cover the costs of the free things you get by selling your email address to other companies that may have offers you they think you might be interested in. If you can’t find a privacy policy that lets you opt out of getting unwanted solicitations, at least make sure the site is secure and that any personal information can’t be obtained by hackers. Other things to look out for when you’re looking for freebies is products that are free but that require you to pay a shipping charge that seems beyond the pale for what it should cost to ship and freebie offers that seem to ask for way more information than needed for what the product actually is. Twenty pages of personal information for a travel size bottle of shampoo? That doesn’t make sense, and it should set off warning bells in your head. All of these red flags aside, giving out some amount of personal information comes part and parcel with freebie offers. There are a few things you can do to make life easier on yourself. Set up an email account that you will use specifically for freebie offers so all of the inevitable spam doesn’t clog up your main account. Use a phony phone number (preferably one that can’t be anyone else’s, like one that starts with 555). Last but not least, if you’re unsure about an offer, keep on moving. Better safe than sorry.