AMERICA ONLINE AnswerMan Conference Host: Kevin Savetz (Netanswers) Topic: Basics of Electronic mail ________________________________ CJ Ellen: Good Evening and Welcome to AnswerMan. Kevin Savetz (Netanswers) is the AnswerMan and your host. He will begin by discussing tonight's topic, e-mail. Netanswers: Hi all, thanks for coming to AnswerMan. Electronic mail is one of the oldest uses of the Internet, and although it isn't as flashy as some of the other things you can do with the Net, e-mail is still one of the most useful Internet tools. You can use your America Online account to send e-mail to the Internet, and receive e-mail from friends and associates who use the Internet. You can also send e-mail to folks who use other online services, like CompuServe, eWorld, etc. *YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS* Netanswers: Your e-mail address is your America Online screen name followed by "@aol.com." For instance, if your screen name is "Netanswers," then your e-mail address is netanswers@aol.com. Note that everything is changed to lowercase. If you have a space in your screen name, there are no spaces in your Internet e-mail address. The screen name "Net Answers" has an e-mail address of netanswers@aol.com. No spaces. *SENDING E-MAIL* Netanswers: How do you send e-mail to a friend uses the Internet? Easy! Sending e-mail to the Internet is just like sending e-mail to another AOL user. Pick "compose mail" from your MAIL menu. A blank message form will appear. Enter the destination e-mail address in the TO field. (An Internet e-mail address looks like "someone@somewhere.somewhere," for instance, "waffle@rahul.net" or "test@redwood.northcoast.com") Netanswers: Next type a subject in the SUBJECT field, and compose a literary masterpiece in the message body field. Finally, press SEND NOW to send your message on its way. *QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS* BFB13: I want to know how to answer an e-mail survey with copy,edit, paste, reply. Netanswers: BFB13, it's easy to include someone's message in your reply--like answering a survey. Open the e-mail message you want to reply to and click in the message body. pick SELECT ALL from your edit menu, or select all the text with the mouse. Pick COPY from your EDIT menu to copy the message to the clipboard. Now press REPLY to reply. Click in the message body and select PASTE from the EDIT menu to paste in the contents of the clipboard. Now you can fill out the survey and mail it back. JMitch8070, your question? JMitch8070: How can you find addresses that you don't know? Netanswers: (For a complete answer, click here!) There's a nice search tool called Four11, it's at the URL http://www.four11.com/. There are several other excellent people-finding tools, too. Netanswers: If you want to contact a person who uses America Online, you can use the Member Directory (from your MEMBERS menubar item) to find them. If they use one of the other online services (like Prodigy, MSN, or whatever) you're out of luck (unless you use that online service, too, and they provide a search function there), call up your friend and ask. Netanswers: DePauldemo, your question? DePauldemo: Can I change my Internet address? Netanswers: DePauldemo..well, yes and no. Your AOL e-mail address is your screen name followed by @aol.com. Each AOL account may have up to five screen names. So if you want a new screen name, just pick EDIT SCREEN NAMES from your MEMBERS menu and create a new one. Syl1014 : I am trying to find a valentine sent to me at e-mail. It's supposed to be in the Web browser. Netanswers: Syl1014, I don't think I understand the question. You got a valentine via e-mail? No one e-mails me valentines :-( CJ Ellen: Valentine's Day is my birthday. I don't get valentines. Everybody sends me those two-for-one cards. Netanswers: That's cheap! Syl1014 : Yes and they said I could view it on my favorite web browser at http://holodeck.buildacard.com./card/3FD1709.htm. Netanswers : Oh, I see. There are a number of services on the Web that let you send "graphical" e-mail. The idea is that you get a piece of e-mail telling you to go to a Web site to "pick up" your card. You need to choose KEYWORD from your GO TO menu and then type http://holodeck.buildacard.com/card and you should be able to pick up your valentine :-)AMERICA ONLINE Internet Connection Topic: Finding Employment Using the Internet CJMezzie: TOPIC: Get a job! Finding employment on the Net." If you've been looking for work in all the wrong places, here's your chance to learn all about Internet sites that specialize in helping folks find gainful employment. You can explore free jobs databases. post your resume, or even attend an electronic job fair. AnswerMan will show you where these sites are, and will give hints on using the Net for your job search. Netanswers: Right. One of the great powers of the Internet is its ability to link up people of similar interests. One thing that the Internet has been doing for many years is helping people to find jobs. The Internet is home to many different job sources -- newsgroups where you can post your job requirements and a resume, other groups for offering jobs, and areas to discuss attaining employment. Netanswers: There are also a bunch of World Wide Web sites devoted to helping people find gainful employ. Some are free, and some aren't. In fact, some of them charge the employer to list jobs (but job listings are free to search) and others do it the other way around--finding a job will cost you money, but listing a job is free. Others are totally free to everyone. Netanswers: I have a nice big list of job sites that I will share with you this hour, and I will take some questions about finding jobs on the Net. *USENET* Netanswers: Let's start first with Usenet job forums. There are several jobs groups in Usenet. Most of these are well-established, having been around for many years. (You can access Usenet newsgroups by going to KEYWORD: newsgroups -- information on using newsgroups is in keyword ANSWERMAN, then press "Accessing the Internet via AOL.) Netanswers: The majority of newsgroups for discussion of jobs are "misc.jobs.".... misc.jobs.offered is where you can find job listings from employers. There are actually lots of listings here--sometimes a couple dozen a day--posted by employers and headhunters. However, most of the jobs posted there are in the computer technology fields. Lots of jobs for programmers, system administrators and the like--hardly any for hotel management, mechanics, and other "real" jobs. (Some of the Web sites we'll talk about are less focused on the computer industry.) Netanswers: Misc.jobs.resumes is another Newsgroup--one where you can post your resume in ASCII text for others to peruse. This is certainly worth a try, but in my personal experience, it appears that lots of people post their resumes, but very few employers actually bother to read what's posted there. They would rather you go directly to them, which makes sense. Also, there seems to be a glut of entry-level and just-out-of-college resumes on misc.jobs.resumes, so if you're going to post your resume there, it has better stand out. Netanswers: Usenet also has a lot of "local" newsgroups-- discussion forums intended for specific geographic areas. Netanswers: If you live (or want to live) in a particular area, you might try looking for a jobs newsgroup covering that area. For example, the group atl.jobs focuses on jobs in the Atlanta GA area. There are a whole lot of these local groups - I can't list them all. You can search for them using AOL's Newsgroup search function. Netanswers: One more point, then some Q&A...Two other newsgroups to mention--misc.jobs.offered.entry -- where listings for entry-level jobs go. And, misc.jobs.contract is for postings for contract jobs. If you want to *discuss* finding a job, the newsgroup for you is the offly-named misc.jobs.misc - there you will find lots of others discussing the art of getting hired. *WEB RESOURCES* Netanswers: Academic Position Network gopher://wcni.cis.umn.edu:11111/ This site lists employment opportunities for teachers, professors, and other academics. This is a nice, specialized job database. Netanswers: Americas Job Bank at http://www.ajb.dni.us/ lists several thousand state and federal jobs. Your tax dollars at work :-) Netanswers: The Career Resource Homepage: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cdc/ is a clear and comprehensive Web site devoted to job hunting resources and employment opportunities. A good general resource. Check it out. Netanswers: CareerMosaic at http://www.careermosaic.com/cm. This is a nice one--it has its own job listings, plus a searchable database of all recent job ads posted to Usenet. Netanswers: Another great general Web resource is CareerWeb at http://www.cweb.com/ Netanswers: Employment Edge is at http://www.employmentedge.com/employment.edge/. This service lists many jobs in various fields. If you are interested in one, you can send your resume via fax or email to them, and they will forward it to the employer. Netanswers: Just out of school? Check out the Entry Level Job Seeker Assistant at http://www.utsi.edu:70/Students/jschmalh/jobhome.html Netanswers: Check out http://mlds-www.arc.nasa.gov/form/BAMTA/-- this is the Bay Area Multimedia Technology Alliance Job Bank (wowza, what a long title.) Netanswers: You professionals in "Hypermedia" can try "Get a Job!" at http://sensemedia.net/getajob Netanswers: Also, check out "Getting Past GO: a survival guide for college grads" at http://lattanze.loyola.edu/MonGen/home.html. Netanswers: Another good general resource is the Internet Job Locator, at http://www.joblocator.com/jobs/. Yes, there are a lot of these. Yes, some are better than others. Yes, you need to check them all out to find the ones that are focused on your field. Netanswers: JobHunt -- http://rescomp.stanford.edu/jobs.html --is a comprehensive annotated guide to employment resources on the Internet. Netanswers: Oh -- and if you are dying to be hired by a specific company, check out their Web page. Many individual companies have "Positions Wanted" areas on their Web sites. So if you would kill to work for America Online or Microsoft or the Physics Friends Network, check out their Web pages for job listings. TLMcLaugh: Where do you type to find the "http" stuff? (We're new to this) ga Netanswers: TLMcLaugh, pick KEYWORD from your GO TO menu and enter the http:// stuff (which, by the way is called a "URL".) That will bring up the Web page. For more info about using the Web, go to keyword "answerman" and press "Accessing the Internet via AOL". Lots of good answers are there. *Q&A* MOMMASAN 7: What's the best way to make your resume stand out? Netanswers: Well, besides all the usual advice job counselors will give you, I'll give you an Internet slant. Keep your online resume simple, short and professional. Keep it under 70 columns--it may look great on your screen, but if it is too wide for the receiver's screen, it will look ugly and it will be trashed no matter how brilliant you are. Netanswers: Also, if you compose your resume in a word processor, be SURE to save your resume as plain ASCII, with no bold, italics, fonts, etc. Those will all go away in your ASCII resume. And don't make the mistake a zillion others before you have made: don't use "Smart Quotes" in your word processor. If you do, when you export to ASCII, the quotes will look Qlike thisR instead of "like this". Netanswers: It's useful to have an ASCII resume even if you don't post to misc.jobs.resumes -- many businesses accept resumes by e-mail. For those that do, it's simple to just fire off a pre-prepared resume to them. If you do find the perfect opportunity, and send in a resume by email, many people suggest also sending your resume via fax or "snail mail" (US mail.) That way, you can be sure the right person gets it... Besides, I don't think anyone ever lost a job by being too persistent. Netanswers: You may want to get creative and put your resume on the World Wide Web. Netanswers: A few notes regarding that, though. I don't suggest getting too fancy with the HTML...Simplicity is the key. Forget the wacky backgrounds, and don't include a picture of yourself on the resume. Just deliver the info an employer would want, and leave it at that. Also, I have a philosphical problem with putting resumes on the Web-- If you do this, you need to tell a potential employer "Check out my resume at http://whatever..." Which means that THEY have to come to you. Someone else has to take action. If they don't, you lost a job before you even got in the door. So send your resume to THEM, get it into their hands, and your chances are that much better. MOMMASAN 7: Where are the best places to post your resume then? Netanswers: Keep a copy around your hard disk to e-mail to specific businesses for specific positions. And there are several Web-based employment-locating services that I haven't talked about yet--you can place your resume on file with them. Also, you can certainly try posting it to misc.jobs.resumes, but I wouldn't bet the farm that that will do any good. PM Graphic: Where do I find work designing Web pages. Is there work out there? GA Netanswers: That is an interesting question. In my experience, there are a LOT of people who think they can design Web pages. Only a relative few can really do it well. Let's face it--learning HTML is a breeze, but it takes some graphic design and artistic skill to make a really good web page. So, even though I'm sure you're a great Web page designer, PMG, the perception is (at least, my perception is) that Web page designers are a dime a dozen. If I were you, I would create a totally astounding Web page advertising your business, and point to it on several newsgroups for Web service providers. Once the world sees how good you are, you might get some business. PM Graphic: Thanks for being honest. I think I stick to print:) Ststarkey: How do I find a sales position in Michigan? Netanswers: Ststarkey, you might try looking for newsgroups local to the Michigan area. Go to keyword "newsgroups" and search for "Michigan" using the search tool. That is a good way to find a postition in a specific geographic area. IMPASHUNT: Where would writers look for jobs and post clips/samples of work? Netanswers: Well, in addition to the jobs newsgroups I referred to before we were so rudely interrupted, [Ed note:Kevin got bumped from the system for a minute or so.] there is a newsgroup called "misc.writing," where people discuss all aspects of writing, including finding work. If you want to post clips of your work, I suggest setting up a web page, maybe with a simple resume, and some of your best work. I don't know if anyone will check it out, but it's worth a try. Come to think of it, I've gotten work thanks to the clips on MY web page :-) Justy5: What are the top sites for non-technical positions? Netanswers: I like the Internet Job Locator and Career Web. They both seem to have a nice balance of non-technical jobs. It's the newsgroups that seem to be very heavily slanted towards tech jobs. On the Web sites, it isn't so bad. NationDesk: Would the posting of a home page advertising your skills help? Where would it be best to post one's home page so it could be seen by employers in specific industries? Netanswers: It can help. But there are some issues to keep in mind. You may want to get creative and put your resume on the World Wide Web. I don't suggest getting too fancy with the HTML. Simplicity is the key. Forget the wacky backgrounds, and don't include a picture of yourself on the resume. Just deliver the info an employer would want, and leave it at that. Netanswers: Also, I have a philosophical problem with putting resumes on the Web. If you do this, you need to tell a potential employer "Check out my resume at http://whatever..." Which means that THEY have to come to you. Someone else has to take action. If they don't, you lost a job before you even got in the door. So send your resume to THEM, get it into their hands, and your chances are that much better. You can put your resume on a Web page right here on AOL. AnswerMan does chats occasionally about how to do that. :-) Question: What about working at home on computer? So many scams out there. How can you tell if they are legitimate? Netanswers: That's a really good question. It can be hard to tell the scams from the real work. If you can't get started in a job without paying THEM, its a scam. :) If you have to buy any equipment ar a computer from them, don't do it. If you find an ad for one of these "jobs" anywhere other than an employment-oriented newsgroup, skip it. And otherwise, just use your best judgement. :) Question: What about the credibility of the vast number of "virtual job fairs" that have popped up lately? Netanswers: I believe that most of these are credible. I would not have any qualms about recommending them. There's the Virtual Job Fair at http://www.vjf.com/ and HEART / Career Connections' CyberFair Calendar at http://www.career.com/cyberfair.html. More job fair listings are at http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Employment/Job_Fairs/. Netanswers: In closing, if you're hunting for the perfect job, it's important to remember that the Net is a great tool, but don't make it your only tool. Head to the local library or career center, read the want ads, and also log in and hunt for the perfect job online. You're making a resume anyway, so certainly you should create an ASCII version and have it ready to fire off to the perfect employer. :-) Netanswers: If you have any questions about using the Internet, go to Keyword: ANSWERMAN. There you will find a bulletin board for your Internet questions (and answers), frequently asked questions about the Internet, a list of upcoming AnswerMan conferences, and transcripts of previous chats.