Extend your online reach

May 17, 2001: 8:30 a.m. ET

Tips to expand online horizon and the effectiveness of networking skills
By Peter Weddle

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - This column is the second in a two-part series dealing with how to use the Internet for employment-related research. There is an almost overwhelming array of information available online, so it's best to focus your research on those key areas where it will help you the most.

Recent surveys suggest that two of the most productive areas are interview preparation and networking.

The first column in this series dealt with conducting research on an organization with which you have an upcoming interview. This column will explore the research you can do online to expand the reach and the effectiveness of your networking.

Networking has never been more important and potentially more useful. Making contact with friends and colleagues has long been recognized as a vital part of any job search campaign, and the Internet dramatically increases the number of people you can reach and the speed with which you connect with them.

The key is to use the research resources available online to locate people with whom you have lost touch and to reinvigorate those relationships.

Most of us have college classmates, former associates at work, and friends from professional organizations with whom we are no longer in contact. How can you track them down on the Web?

To find a person's address, telephone number or e-mail address, use the meta-search engine at www.theultimates.com. It enables you to look through seven different online directories of contact information, all from one easy location.
If you have a person's fax number and want to track down their telephone number, use a reverse look-up directory. There are several available, including www.bigbook.com and www.reversephonedirectory.com.
If you think your contact may still be a member of a specific professional or trade association, you can check with it to see if they are still listed on its member roster. To find association sites (and, potentially, their online membership lists), use the free Association Directory at my Web site, www.weddles.com.

To reach a former college classmate or roommate, check the alumni association site of your alma mater. If you're not sure of its Web site address, search the college and university directories at:

the search engine Google and
Yahoo!

To reach a former friend or colleagues who shares your interest in a particular hobby or activity, check newsgroups and the homepages of virtual communities that might have online discussion forums on the topic.

Among the largest virtual communities are YahooGeocities (www.geocities.com), Tripod (www.tripod.com), and Angelfire (www.angelfire.com). You can search their member homepages at no charge.
There are 90,000 newsgroups or "virtual water coolers" where people chat by e-mail about topics ranging from astronomy and astrology to zoology and playing the zither. To find a specific newsgroup, use the directory at Deja.com; it has recently been purchased by Google and most of its search capability has been preserved at www.deja.com.

Once, you've located a friend or colleague's contact telephone number or e-mail address, make sure that you re-connect with them carefully. Although you may still remember them well, it's possible that their memory might have faded a bit, so begin by reminding them of your previous relationship. Then, be short, polite and to the point:

If you're actively looking for a job, briefly bring them up to date on your career (since you were last in contact) and ask for their suggestions or assistance.
If you are networking for the future, indicate that you are simply trying to re-establish contact and ask about what they've been up to.

As in the real world, networking online can be an effective way to increase your visibility in the job market and your awareness of interesting employment opportunities. Best of all, the research resources available on the Internet enable you to expand your "address book" of contacts and hence the power of your networking.

Peter Weddle is one of the nation's leading experts in online job searching. He has written numerous books, including "Career Fitness" and "CliffsNotes: Finding a Job on the Web." For more information, please visit his site at www.weddles.com.