Getting into a job market by mobile phone

Some companies are working on a system in developing countries to use technology to connect job seekers with employers. In two thousand seven, five young people in the American state of Massachusetts developed an idea. The team knew that the world is filled with mobile phones. About eighty percent of all people are said to live within reach of a wireless telephone signal. The idea was to use mobile phones and the Internet to connect job seekers with employers. The young people wrote a business plan and formed a company called Assured Labor. Assured Labor won a development competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Three of the founders were graduate students there. Assured Labor is an electronic marketplace. It has two parts. One is for the United States. That operation was launched in January in Boston. It links people with employers offering temporary jobs. The other arm of the business is for developing markets. That operation is meant to help people get more permanent jobs.

A representative is currently building partnerships with universities and international companies in Central America. Assured Labor's president, David Reich, says the companies now place job advertisements on radio or in newspapers. Some even drive around in cars with loudspeakers announcing that jobs are available. He says the companies are interested in having more modern hiring practices. Through Assured Labor, companies will list open positions on the Internet. People who think they could do the job could reply by text message or on their cell phones.

This how the system works in Boston: The jobs available include house cleaning, dog walking and home repair. People who want their house cleaned, for example, can look online at a list of twenty housekeepers. The list tells what services they offer and how much they want to be paid. People need two letters praising their work to get on the list of service providers. The employer chooses workers they would like to hire. The company then sends the workers a text or e-mail message so they can respond quickly to an offer. After a job is completed, the employer and employee rate each other. The rating is kept for future use. Assured Labor is not charging anyone right now, but the plan is to have employers pay for the service.

8. What do you know about internet online job services? How can they help you to get the job position? Hope the following broadcast transcript will assist you within the process of job hunting.

 

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES SEEN HELPING, HURTING JOB SEARCH

Internet-based networking sites are transforming the job search process at a time when the number of people out of work in the United States has reached its highest level since 1983.

Don't Expect Immediate Results

Business-oriented networking sites produce results for those who are patient. Kurt Weyerhauser, a recruiter at the Kensington Stone executive search agency in Los Angeles, California suggests creating a resume on business networking sites such as Linked In or Plaxo. On Twitter, job seekers can create a brief summary of qualifications and contact information. "The real benefit (from these sites) is that they can enhance your visibility and credibility," Weyerhauser said.

Carefully creating a personal profile using key words that describe what kind of job is sought is the key to success because that's how prospective employers search for applicants. "What people should do is exhibit thought leadership," Weyerhauser says. He describes that as the ability to write intelligently and professionally about what they know and what they aspire to do.

A Warning about the Web

Although the Internet can work to a job seeker's advantage, it can also destroy the chances of finding a good job. Because of the Internet's "digital footprint," Weyerhauser advises to carefully word what is written and avoid posting personal information not related to professional needs. "A lot of people forget that what was posted many years ago can be found online today." Since Twitter asks users, "What are you doing now?," keep personal feelings to yourself and don't tell the world you hate your boss or your job because it will come back to haunt you. If you've been to a great party, don't tell the world how many beers you drank because that can make a bad impression.

A Permanent Record

"I once sent a tweet (what the short message on Twitter is called) about the kind of ice cream I was eating at a restaurant in Los Angeles. This was when Twitter just started. Several years later, someone sent me an e-mail asking if the ice cream was any good," Weyerhauser recounts in discussing how messages are kept in archives that "never seem to go away." "Instead of saying something important," he says, "it's easy to give the appearance that you have nothing to say," or say the wrong thing.

The Smoking Gun

Networking sites may not guarantee a job seeker will find employment. But, they can be instrumental in not receiving a job offer. What is posted online stays online and, if information is too personal or presents an unflattering picture and a prospective employer finds it, that information can be used to disqualify a person from consideration.

Weyerhauser's advice: Think before you post. Think about what you post.

 

9. Which employment opportunities should you study and why? “A comprehensive review of job openings should provide a balanced perspective of the overall employment opportunity, including long-run as well as short factors”. Comment such statement.

10. Why should you understand yourself before starting the job hunting? What does the term self-assessment mean? What questions should you ask yourself within the process of self-assessment?

11. Make a list of 5 to 10 accomplishments that you have enjoyed the most and of which your are the most proud. (They don’t have to relate to a job; they can be volunteer work, leisure activities, hobbies, sports) Analyze the list to see what these achievements have in common.

12. Underline your main disadvantages or weaknesses and analyze them thoroughly. Why should you know about you weaknesses?

13. Why should you know as much as possible about your potential employer? What does informational interview mean within such process? What other sources of getting such information do you know?

14. Do you think a good knowledge of business and professional English will help you? Prove your point of view.

15. What does monopsony in labour market mean?Is it a positivephenomenon for job market? Explain your own opinion subject to this problem.

16. Prepare the oral composition, “The role of job market for the job placement”. Let’s discuss your composition.*

 

 

 

* С дополнительными материалами для изучения и закрепления пройденной темы Вы можете ознакомиться в разделе Приложения (Chapter VIII “REFERENCE SOURCES”; APPENDIX XXVI).

UNIT XXVII

APPLICATION PACKAGE

I. Listening

RESUME AND COVER LETTER

1. Before you listen to the following broadcast match the key words and expressions in the left column with their translation in the right one.