Beyond Method 4

1.Take a look at the Finding Jobs page from the Texas Workskills Development in Libraries website. Search two or three employment sites listed.

Do you think that you would be able to do this if you were not computer literate?
Probably not. Especially if I was just plunked down in front of a computer and someone else pulled up this page. I would probably need some additional information/assistance (scrolling down the page, clicking on each site, learning about what goes in which search box, etc).

Were there any confusions on the employment site?
I might click on the first link since I am a novice. And then get sucked into the online instruction instead of finding jobs.



2.Take a look at the Goodwill Community Foundation’s Computer Basics page.

Do you think that this would be helpful for patrons in learning to use the computer?
Yes. At least to learn some of the lingo. Thinking about this with my patrons in mind, I think most of them are looking for more practical lessons. For example, How do I email this thing to my teacher? How do I double space? How do I start a new page? I ran out of slides on my PPT, now what? I think some of the other cool tutorials would be useful, but I don't think my patrons would have the patience. Usually, they have a deadline.



3.Blog about your experiences looking at these resources (make sure to include Beyond Method #4 as the title).

What do you think you could do at your library to help job seekers?
I am working on creating a tutorial about job searching using Camtasia. I think that would help. I also have created a resource page with links to information about jobs and links to job search websites. Both of my libraries are a little different because they are Academic. They both have classes that teach students how to create resumes, search for jobs, create cover letters, etc. But, it never hurts to have additional resources (such as books on how to create resumes, tutorials on how to use Word 2007/2010 to create resumes using templates, etc). Maybe offering a resume workshop or a career research/search workshop.



Blogging about my experiences...I think the Visual CV looks pretty awesome. I would like to try it out. I've done a lot of interesting stuff online, and it would be nice to add images or direct links to them from my CV. However, I don't know if any places I would like to apply would be able to accept it. I know some online applications require specific file types such as .doc, .docx, .rtf, etc. I am also going to try out Emurse. It might be a really useful tool for students. I've been on LinkedIn for a number of years, but don't have many contacts at the moment. I don't know if anyone would actually hire me off of LinkedIn. I know networking is very important, but I'm socially awkward. Where's the networking site for the socially awkward?