When I applied for the job I held for almost two decades until I retired this summer, I didn't yet have email or even an Internet connection. At least I had a computer for creating a master cover letter to revise with each application, an easily refreshed resume and even a way to "type" addresses on an envelope.
As for the job search? I did it the old fashioned way -- reading ads in the newspaper and sending hopeful snail mails to bricks and mortar offices. Tedious. Time-consuming. Not very rewarding. And once sent...the applications often drifted off into obscurity. Did they even receive it? Did I address it correctly? Don't they want me?
It's a whole new world in this second half -- and I mean that figuratively and literally. With a few simple clicks of my mouse I'm shooting applications off here, there and everywhere (which can include around the world, and certainly to prospective employers with a global presence). You gotta love that. It's so easy -- upload my resume, customize a brief online cover letter, include links to my website and voila! I've applied.
And they respond with a confirmation. "Hi Ginny, we received your application. Thank you!" Heck, I'm almost there! We're already on a first name basis.
Then there's the plethora of online job consolidators like Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and CareerBuilder.com -- and that's just a tiny scratch in the surface. Pages and pages of employment possibilities shining away at me from my computer screen.
Much like surfing the Internet, surfing for job prospects is a little addicting. Who knows what might be out there tomorrow, tonight, or a few minutes from now?
I gotta get a grip, because job surfing is not the same as working and the amount of time I spend doing it might be better spent, say, writing a book -- that I'll publish on the Internet! Or playing cello. Or baking cookies for my husband. And there is that laundry....
Technology. Love it.
