MARYLAND CAREERS

Links and content from a systems perspective to assist Marylanders with job search, career change, recruiting and counseling. We're intent on continuous improvement and want your suggestions.

Sailor, our state library system's fine collection of resources for jobseekers, including AskUsNow, the interactive reference librarian. Sailor is available in public libraries throughout the state. The Job and Career Information Center of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Library is another unique and valuable resource, with links to the state personnel office and the Maryland State Job Service. If you're a job seeker, your best friend is still your community librarian or college career counselor.

Maryland's Workforce Exchange provides links to a wealth of resources, including a calendar of job fairs and other events.

Phone numbers for almost a hundred recorded listings of vacancies. This list has shrunk as more employers post their vacancies on the web.

Maryland job listings A-K and L-Z: Links to postings by more than 450 employers and professional associations. In addition: Job Fairs and Other Employment Sites provides links to other high-value sites, including visa information and long lists of Federal agencies and Maryland World Trade Center Institute member firms.

Printed material and people. Micro-reviews of resources on management, career change, selecting an employer, managing your career, small business ownership, job search strategies for the disabled and hiring.

The Riley Guide provides comprehensive, frequently updated advice on Internet job search and recruitment in general, with links to most of the worthwhile lists of jobs in the U.S. The entire site was recently redesigned.

Job-hunt.org lists hundreds of links to websites related to jobsearch. As old as the Web, but improving continuously.

Vault.com and the Electronic Water Cooler, where you can visit message boards for specific employers and post questions to be answered (unofficially, of course) by people who work there--people with firsthand knowledge.

Facts about how hiring is actually done in Maryland: Results of a 2001 survey by the Professional Outplacement Assistance Center, part of Maryland's DLLR. A valuable alternative to the folklore still found sometimes in books and articles.

Ask the Headhunter provides unconventional wisdom.

Newspapers and magazines: More than want ads.

TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax issue credit reports that are often used by employers. Get a copy from each one (free, if you're in Maryland) and be sure it's accurate.

NACE's JobWire is for career counselors.

Recruiting: sustaining quality while you control costs. Practical ideas and sources for H.R. professionals and line managers. SearchFirm.com links corporate recruiters with executive search firms. Electronic Recruiting News gives an interesting slant on the latest developments. See the website of Lou Adler, author of Hire With Your Head, now in its second edition. Keep 'Em is a new site by the authors of the classic Love 'Em Or Lose 'Em. Performance Enhancement Group is a local source for recognition programs.

Alta Vista, Google, Hotbot, MSN, Webcrawler and Yahoo. If you can't locate a website or newsgroup any other way.

Changing to a new occupation? Two strategies that work and one that doesn't. Plus a suggestion for a new career and a reminder about a valuable program for people 60 and over.

Get career advice from experts, the people who make hiring and assignment decisions in a field that interests you.

The defense industry: links to useful resources (directories, associations, job fairs, specialized websites, and recruiters) plus suggestions for everyone who possesses extensive job-related information that they cannot divulge.

Resumes and interviews should be planned together. This article shows you the steps involved. Purify the final version of your resume with Bullfighter.

References are an important but easily overlooked part of your jobsearch strategy. And employers can make strategic use of references and other sources to improve the accuracy of their hiring.

The Federal Procurement Data System and Federal Business Opportunities (successor to the Commerce Business Daily) track federal contract solicitations and awards. Federal contracts have long been a worthwhile source of employment for Marylanders. For additional information about the federal government, try the Government Information Locator System and the Government Information Exchange.

Small business ownership is sometimes a good career strategy. Here is a conservative approach, popular and effective for many years with enterprises of all sizes.