Internet Use in Job Searching - Literature review Example

Internet Use in Job Searching Introduction With the swift development of the internet in recent years, some scholars believed that the internet is playing an increasingly important role for improving the channels of communication between employers and job seekers, and it may dramatically change the way workers seek jobs. In recent times, the Internet has become an essential part of people’s daily lives and jobs: in 2004, 73% of U.S households had access to the Internet (Stevenson, 2008). From the statistics, 28% and 58% of the sampled adults had used the Internet at work and home respectively. In 2000, Dale T. Mortensen commented, “The higher contact rate, lower cost, as well as, greater information content offered by Internet could lead to lower frictional unemployment” (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2003). In August 2000, a quarter of unemployed U.S. job hunters admitted that they use the Internet to search jobs regularly; one in every ten employed workers reported that they search for other jobs online more frequently (Peter & Mikal, 2004). Only from this comment, we still do not have a deep understanding about how the Internet has impacted job search and employment. In 2003, of 54.7% of the U.S. population that uses the Internet, 16% engages in online job search activities (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2003). Figure 1 illustrates a consistent growth trend for using Internet at home. It increased by 53.7 from 1997 to 2011. Fig 1: Consistent growth trend for using Internet at home in the U.S. Retrieved March 27, 2014 fromhttp://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/ntia_internet_use_report_february_2011.pdf. This paper has two objectives. The first is how the Internet will change job-searching activities. The second objective is to estimate how theoretically these activities of changing job search will affect the employment prospects of workers in the contemporary world. How did workers access job opportunities before the invention of the Internet? The answer may lie in the traditional methods such as the services of private employment agencies, using the registers of professional organizations or unions, and print advertisement (Autor, Lawrence & Alan, 1998). With the development of Internet, a growing number of people participated in using it for various reasons. “The Internet has facilitated a large number of employment innovations for both job seekers and those seeking employees.” (Randolph Beard, George, Richard, 2011) The Internet has augmented the availability and ease of employment information. This is facilitated by the existence of job posting boards where workers can easily access and view various job adverts as well as information relating to the employers’ requirements and expectations from potential candidates. Consequently, the internet has enabled workers to access job information and details for various companies through websites. For instance, Monster.com is one of the most comprehensive and creditable career website. The website recorded up to 18 million distinct visitors in September 2014 who searched for employment opportunities. Many websites also permit their former and current employees to provide or discuss work life and corporate culture of the company. Thus, all the effort is aimed at providing vital and complete information about job openings and details of the employer and the cooperation or company. Further, the introduction and use of email in job search has ease job search (Stevenson, 2008). The use of personal networks has complemented use of internet in job search since workers have an opportunity to learn about job openings or inform others about their hunt for new positions. The rise of email has ensured that workers and other job seekers send their resumes and cover letters to various companies as well as receive feedback on the short listing of potential candidates within a short time and at one’s convenience (Autor, 2000). Consequently, workers also use job search engines to look for jobs. People can access the first-hand knowledge of any information about a career on these websites with less information cost than the traditional job search tools. Because of the internet, workers now spend little of their resources while acquiring more information pertaining to job openings. Thus, the internet has ease learning of job openings as well as the manner of response of job seekers to such openings (Stevenson, 2008). Monster.com is a good tool for workers to find job vacancies that match their skills, experiences, and locations by learning detailed information about the company and the characteristics of the job position. Consequently, vault.com website offers detailed information to job seekers concerning salaries as well as work conditions and salary ranges for a variety of positions within a given company (Kuhn & Skuterud, 2004). Workers in search of jobs attribute many factors to the rise in the use of internet. The factors have made internet an effective means of searching job in the current world. Stevenson (2008) reports that among people who commenced working in mid 2002, 22% of them admitted that the Internet is responsible for their job positions. Thus, they got employed through use of the Internet. There are various benefits for workers to search job online. First is that the Internet has a wide geographic coverage (Glover, 2009). It can reach the every single corner of the world so that workers have a wide range of options to choose. Therefore, workers are not limited in their pursuit of job due to distance or geographical barriers causing inaccessibility. This enables an individual to apply for a job in one continent while residing in another. Moreover, both the employer and the job seeker can communicate effectively and efficiently without fear of distance barrier. Additionally, since the internet is present in every region of the earth, job seekers have access to a variety of information concerning different jobs worldwide (Stevenson, 2008). This makes them make informed choices on the type of job to apply as well as the region they want to operate or work in case they are employed in respective positions. The internet has also enabled employers to post job adverts to people in certain regions thereby targeting recruiting employees from the respective regions due to various factors (Natalizio, 2010). Secondly, time-sensitivity is a typical advantage for using Internet to search a job opening. It takes seconds for one to log into a company website and browse job postings. Instead of perusing through a number of magazines and newspapers pages, a job seeker using the internet spends little time and effort in locating for varied job openings and learning more about their details (Peter & Mikal, 2004). Consequently, employer and employee can contact each other by email immediately and frequently. This minimizes the energy and effort needed to communicate and thereby making communication faster, easier and very efficient. In addition, workers can submit their resume online in seconds, as this save time compared to mailing. The use of internet ensures that workers can frequently send and receive information from potential employers concerning the status of their application (Peter & Mikal, 2004). Thus, in case an employer needs something urgently from the worker, he can provide it through the internet. This is good since it increases employment prospect of the worker. Thirdly, recruitment network help workers to lower their costs (Krueger, 2000). The cost of accessing and learning of job postings has been increasing and thus unaffordable to many people seeking for jobs. This has made them lose hope of being employed since they cannot bear costs charged by private job search agencies. Consequently, the use of mails to send resume and other details of the worker and the employer has been costly and cumbersome. This lowered the prospects of workers getting new jobs since it was ineffective to both employers and workers. However, the introduction and use of the internet has significantly lowered costs and expenses of accessing information about job vacancies and openings in the whole world (Krueger, 2000). Job search and application have been easy and efficient to many workers. For instance, a worker who is employed in an office with internet does not need to go and mail his resume to a given company for a job advert. What he does is just to send the resume into a website of the company and then wait for a reply. This lowers the costs related to searching and applying for the job since the person does not need to buy posting stamps or pay for the delivery of the mail. Due to ease and appropriateness of job searching and application, many workers have the chance to apply for many job openings as possible. This increases their chances of being recruited and employed in one of the several companies they had sent their applications (Krueger, 2000). Fourthly, recruitment network overcomes the obstacles of time and space (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011). Before the introduction of the internet, workers faced various challenges in their pursuit for new jobs. One of the main challenges was the obstacles occasioned by time and space. However, with the introduction and use of the internet, which is everywhere, various workers can access job postings in any place on earth and send their details while remaining assured that such details have reached the expected destinations. Due to increased accessibility of job postings in various regions on earth, workers have high chances of being recruited for various jobs in any part of the world. Therefore, such workers can commence working in any region without undergoing stressful processes and procedures of job search, application, and recruitment that would otherwise have existed minus the internet (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011). Through this, the internet increases the employment prospects of many workers who can shift their workstations whenever they like and in any place that they prefer. Fifth, the use of the internet has enabled both employers and employees to select specific requirements on the work websites based in their own demands and supplies (Glover, 2009). Employers select the type of job postings to advertise as well as the type of website to use in advertising for the job. Therefore, a worker does not need to struggle going through various sites in looking for job adverts. Instead, he goes straight into a specific company website and select on the type of job to apply after learning and meeting the requirements for the position advertised. This saves time and energy while increasing efficiency in advertising as well as looking for jobs and thus increasing the prospects of workers getting jobs. Finally, the existence and use of the internet has ensured efficiency in job searching thus increasing chances of companies employing new workers (Natalizio, 2010). The efficiency has significantly reduced various formalities and requirements that earlier hindered job application among workers. Because the barriers have been minimized, job search, application, and recruitment have become so easy, cheap, and convenient, and this increases the employment prospects of various workers seeking for new jobs. In conclusion, there has been a dramatic rise in the use of internet within the past ten years, which has risen from zero to approximately 70% (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011). Such a rapid rise has altered labor market outcomes with an increase in its use in job searching. I think that the internet has greatly improved the employment prospects of workers in the current world. This is due to the various factors introduced by the internet in the employment industry. Currently, the internet is fast, lack geographical and time restrictions or barriers, cheap, is efficient, and has ease communication between employers and employees (Autor, Lawrence & Alan, 1998). These have significantly reduced earlier challenges that existed when workers tried to seek employment in various companies and institutions. Due to its efficiency, use of the internet will result in an increase in number of people employed in the near future. Therefore, this will attempt to solve the issue of unemployment in the whole world. References Autor, D., H., Lawrence F., K, and Alan B., K. (1998). “Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol: 113, no 4, (November), p 1169-1214. Autor, D. (2000). “Wiring The Labor Market” Journal of Economic Perspectives vol: 15 Issue 1 (Winter) pages: 25-40. Beshara, T. (2012). The job search solution: The ultimate system for finding a great job now! New York: AMACOM. Glover, C. (2009). How to Use the Internet to Get Your Next Job. Atlantic Pub Co. Kuhn, P. and Skuterud, M. (2004 February) “Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations”. American Economic Review, 94(1), pp. 218-232. Krueger, A., B. (2000). “The Internet is Lowering the Cost of Advertising and Searching for Jobs.” New York Times. (July 20): p. C2. Natalizio, J. (2010). Fast track guide to a professional job search: Expert advice on how to acquire executive jobs, even in a difficult job market. Cupertino, CA: Happy About. Peter, K., and Mikal S. (2004 March). “Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations”. American Economic Review, March 2004, 94(1), PP. 218-232. Randolph Beard, T., George, S. F, and Richard, P., S. (2011) “Internet Use and Job Search” Department of Economics, Auburn University, AL, USA. PP. 260-274. Stevenson, B. (2008 March). The Internet and Job Search. NBER working Paper Series. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://www.nber.org/papers/w13886.pdf?new_window=1 U.S. Department of Commerce. (2003, February). A nation online: How Americans are expanding their uses of Internet. Economics and Statistics Administration, National Telecommunication and Information Administration. Retrieved March 27, 2014 from http:// www. ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/dn/nationline. U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011, February). Digital Nation: Expanding Internet Usage. NTIA Research Preview. Retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/ntia_internet_use_report_february_2011.p df. Read More