Online Job Search and Recruitment Part II — Free Help with Your Job Search is Only a Library Away
I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book.
-Groucho Marx
Need Internet Access For Your Job Search? Need Help Learing How To Do an Online Job Search? Visit Your Public Library!
As we discussed in Part I of this series on how searching for a job has changed in the Internet age, the Web has become the place to begin the hunt for your next job.
However, if you’ve been laid off for a while — or are having a hard time finding that first job — you may be unable to afford the computer and/or Internet service provider fees that would allow you to conduct your online job search from home. You may also be concerned that you lack the computer skills to succeed in online job searching.
Fortunately, job-seekers have an easily accessible place to go for free Internet access — and you don’t even have to buy a cup of coffee.
That place is your local public library.
Oh — and don’t worry if you don’t have a computer or don’t know how to use one. Libraries let patrons use their computers for free, and will even teach people how to use them.
According to this recent article in the Huffington Post, “Three-fourths of all libraries offer information technology training to their patrons, including how to conduct online job searches and how to use standard office software applications.”
Photo courtesy webchicken via flickr
Variety of Job Search Services to Match Job Seekers’ Needs
In addition to providing Internet access and instruction in online job search, many libraries also offer services ranging from career counseling to resume-writing help. For example:
- The New York Public Library offered a career preparedness fair in January that drew 700 people.
- The Detroit Public Library has a Career Center that does everything from helping patrons prepare for pre-employment testing to presenting monthly workshops on how to conduct an online job search.
- In Lexington, KY, the library offers free resume and job application assistance on a walk-in basis.
- The Newport Beach, CA Public Library offers “…information on careers, exam prep books, newspapers and magazines, business reference databases, free WiFi, laptop computers for use in the library, and the expertise of reference librarians to assist in finding pertinent information.
“We’ve been in the job-search business for decades,” Paul LeClerc, the president of the New York Public Library, told the New York Times, while noting that President Obama has said that a librarian helped him find his first job as a community organizer. “This is a continuation,” said LeClerc.
Royal Oak, Michigan Library Director Metta Lansdale told me that her library began offering special programs for job seekers in January of this year.
“We began by offering a computer workshop to show people what we considered good job hunting websites and to give them pointers about the online environment, especially as it is related to job hunting,” Ms. Lansdale told me in a recent online interview. The librarians found that some of the workshop participants needed job-search help going beyond computer-related pointers. To accommodate this need, the library invited an area agency to give a general program on job hunting, not even using computer applications.
Adding that the job search resources and programs being offered by libraries are the “…kind of response to human needs,” that libraries have always fulfilled, Ms. Lansdale tole me that libraries “…definitely…have a role to play” in helping job seekers find jobs.
“Libraries are the ‘people’s university’, the great equalizer…” she said.
From Retail Jobs to Jobless Benefits
The library may well be the only place for some job seekers, as well as many people who are applying for unemployment benefits.
According to the American Library Association:
Libraries are helping level the playing field for job seekers as well. Less than 44 percent of the top 100 U.S. retailers accept in-store paper applications. Libraries continue to report that many patrons are turning to library computers to prepare resumes and cover letters, find work, apply for jobs online and open e-mail accounts.”
In addition, the Huffington Post article says:
The state of California actually requires applicants to apply online for unemployment benefits — but not everyone is computer-literate or savvy. Without free access to library computers and the Internet, how are these jobless folks expected to get back on their feet?
In the Face of Greater Need for Library Services — Budget Cuts
Despite the growing need for our public libraries’ job search and other services, their budgets are being cut as municipalities tighten their fiscal belts. Several sources I consulted for this article mentioned a dramatic increase in library use — from a 28% increase at the Howard County Library in Columbia, MD to a 60% increase in 2008 at her library cited by Royal Oak, Michigan’s Ms. Lansdale.
However, “I’m developing a budget with a 3% drop in revenue expected this year and another 12% drop expected next year, due to dropping property tax revenues,” Ms. Lansdale said. Other libraries are in similar predicaments.
In any event, our research and interviews indicate that many public libraries — and librarians — have a commitment to public service that includes helping job seekers, using online methods and otherwise. They also have knowledge of resources you may be unaware of. So whatever your level of comfort with computers, you may be well served by paying your local library a visit as you gear up your job search.
Find Your Public Library
To find the local library nearest you, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
