Eighteen years ago, Usenet was the first resume database on the Internet. Usenet is a huge bulletin board system for many thousands of newsgroups – topic-specific discussion platforms. Anyone across the globe with access to the Internet can participate and often, it seems as if each and every one does. Today, there over 50,000 different newsgroups ranging in subject matter from pet care to religion to job hunting. Each day, tens of thousands of people read and post messages in the threaded (and public) conversations. And a few thousand post jobs and resumes. Finding these resumes can be more than time-consuming; it can be downright frustrating. Often, they’re mixed up with lots of other stuff you don’t want — get-rich-quick schemes, other recruiters’ postings, and rather unsavory personal messages. And, there’s cross-postings galore. Next week we’ll talk about how to sort through all this chaff. For now, consider these newsgroups: alt.building.resumes alt.medical.sales.jobs.resumes alt.resumes atl.resumes aus.ads.jobs.resumes ba.jobs.resumes fl.jobs.resumes il.jobs.resumes israel.jobs.resumes misc.jobs.resumes nm.jobs pdaxs.jobs.resumes stl.jobs.resumes us.jobs.resumes You can access these newsgroups and more, through a newsreader or through a Web-based service such as the following: * Alta Vista * Ask NPAC * Deja News * Excite * Forum One – Searches 37,000 newsgroups * HotBot * InReference – Searches only 17,000 newsgroups – but a sizeable number of publicly accessible mailing lists. * SuperNews If you are new to Usenet and newsgroups, and want to know more, try News Basics – ZDNet’s great and handy rundown of Usenet 101. From Netiquette to newsreaders, they cover what Usenet is; what software you may want to use to access it; what websites catalog postings; what an FAQ is and how to find them, and more. Next week: “Didja Know of DejaNews”
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