Newsletter No. 11
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Free Pint
Helping you find quality information on the Web
ISSN 1460-7239 02 April 1998 #11
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Welcome to Free Pint Number Eleven!
We are bringing you this issue of Free Pint from our new offices in
West London. We've not quite managed to unpack all the crates but
there is now room to breathe which is great!
In this issue we start off with a look at domain names and their
importance, including details of the new top-level names shortly
being released. This is then followed by a super article about
how to use the Internet to find and apply for a new job.
As always we welcome your feedback and suggestions, and at the end of
this issue you will find full contact details for the Free Pint team.
You can also visit the Web site anytime at http://www.freepint.co.uk/
where you will find all past issues, the discussion forum, details
for advertisers and authors, and much more.
Now may I invite you to read on and enjoy your next Free Pint.
Kind regards,
William Hann
Managing Editor
william@freepint.co.uk
PS: This newsletter looks best with a fixed font like courier, and
you may find it easier to read and use if you print it out first.
If you do not already receive your copy automatically, then reserve
your free fortnightly issue at http://www.freepint.co.uk/ or by
sending the message "subscribe" to subs@freepint.co.uk.
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IN THIS ISSUE
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"The International Marketing Power of Domain Names"
By Steve Miller
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Job Hunting on the Net"
by Sue Hill
FREE PINT FEEDBACK
CONTACT INFORMATION
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TFPL RECRUITMENT SERVICES...finding the right people
* Business & Financial On-Line Researchers * Product Managers
* Sales & Marketing Staff * Information Analysts
* Knowledge Specialists * Web Developers
* Client Services Executives * Database Managers
Contact us: TFPL Ltd. 17-18 Britton Street, London, EC1M 5NQ
Tel 0171 251 5522, Email sam.grayson@tfpl.com or Web www.tfpl.com
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TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"The International Marketing Power of Domain Names"
By Steve Miller
There has been much talk of late about these weird things called
Domain Names. We live in fear of so called 'cyber squatters' who are
allegedly trying to hold company names to ransom; there is a massive
shortage of .com names, and stories abound of registries in monopoly
positions making millions of dollars hand over fist. No wonder
direction is frequently averted away from the positive attributes of
these unique identifiers of the Internet.
It is somewhat bizarre that web site production is consistently high
up on the list of online marketing priorities. Far too often
organisations are happy to pay ridiculous prices to build a web site,
but with little thought given on how people are going to arrive at the
URL. It is a bit like producing 200,000 brochures, and leaving them in
a warehouse to gather dust.
An International presence using Domain Names
In essence, Domain Names create an international shop window. People
who want to access your web page will try to think of the shortest,
most obvious URL to try to track you down, and will usually type in
what they feel is likely to be your web address straight into their
Internet browser.
Of course they can attempt to track you down via a variety of search
engines, but in doing so you have already lost the initiative. An
arduous process awaits any end-user that quickly wishes to find out
more about you via your web site. And lets be honest, how many times
have you grown frustrated with trying to search for a site to no
avail? In many cases you spot something more interesting and jump from
link to link. In the end you have probably forgotten what you were
searching for in the first place!
Many multinational companies have cottoned on to the importance of a
'Domain Name Hierarchy', and have set up web sites in their company
locations around the world. Take a look for example at just some of
the Microsoft sites around the globe:
www.microsoft.ch (Switzerland) www.microsoft.com.ar (Argentina)
www.microsoft.com.tr (Turkey) and www.microsoft.co.za (South Africa).
Well I know what you are going to say - 'Microsoft are the sort of
company that can afford to set up sites around the world, but our
organisation cannot possibly afford that!' But with Web Forwarding,
you can set up a number of web sites, and have them pointing at a
single location.
Take for instance the following URL's:
www.netnames.ch (Switzerland) www.netnames.com.ar (Argentina)
www.netnames.com.tr (Turkey) www.netnames.co.za (South Africa)
Voila! NetNames projects an international flavour, but the above web
sites all point at the generic .co.uk site. That is of course until
the day that we set up an office in these countries, when we will
simply point to the relevant web site set up in the local language.
Most importantly, the names are registered, and in doing so, nobody
else can take them. It is important at this point to remember that
Domain Names are available on a first come, first served basis.
Albeit on a smaller, but nonetheless still vital level, you can keep
the window of opportunity wide open by registering your name under the
.com and .co.uk domain to cover either eventuality. For example, if
you put www.freepint.co.uk or www.freepint.com into your browser, you
will of course find the Free Pint home page the first time around.
The new generic Top Level Domains
There is much talk about new names that are due to enter the market -
the generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) as they are fondly known. The US
Government is currently embroiled in arguments with various
International organisations on who ultimately controls these names. As
a result .shop, .arts, .firm, .web. info, .arts and .nom are currently
patiently waiting in the wings until later in the Spring.
These new names will bring further classification to the Internet. For
example, anyone stumbling across the URL www.blackheath.co.uk will
know it as an area in Southeast London, but the Domain Name gives
nothing away about the sort of web site that lies behind it. Could it
be Blackheath's tourist information, concert hall or rugby side? The
URL in fact reveals the home page of Blackheath Hockey Club, which
would probably be better sitting under the blackheath.rec domain.
Following this model, the tourist information office is suited to
blackheath.info and the Concert hall under blackheath.arts. This is
not a perfect situation (for instance, where does Blackheath Rugby
Club live if blackheath.rec is already taken by the hockey club?) but
it does start to create a classification that has long since been
missing on the Internet.
Whilst, at time of writing, we await the advent of the new gTLDs,
there are other marketing opportunities in the offing. There are over
200 country domains already in existence, of which around 80 do not
require a local presence in that country in order to register the
name. Record manufacturers could promote their artist's new compact
disks at .cd (The Republic of The Congo); General Practitioners could
register at .gp (Guadeloupe), and companies can register their
trademarked products at .tm (Turkmenistan) to name just a few. It is
an interesting fact that the Pacific Island of Niue has been very
popular with companies who wish to register under its .nu ('new')
domain. It is also interesting to note that an anonymous organisation
has already registered www.microsoft.nu, perhaps with the intention of
grabbing a bit of Microsoft's limelight?
But where do you start in all this?
Well you need to see if the name you require is available. Check out
the Global Search engine at www.netnames.co.uk It is completely free
to use, and does not require you to register a Domain Name - although
you might be tempted to do so if a suitable name is available. Not
only can you obtain information on the sort of Domain Names that are
already registered, but you can also dig up some quite interesting
information on the sort of web sites your colleagues, partners and
competitors are setting up on the Internet. So even before you part
with any money you can find out that there is more marketing ability
associated with Domain Names that first meets the eye!
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Steve Miller mailto:steve@netnames.co.uk is Marketing Director of
NetNames www.netnames.co.uk, an International Domain Name registry
with offices in London, New York and Denmark. NetNames registers
Domain Names in over 200 countries. Its motto is 'Mining the Domain
Name' and has a portfolio of products to enable businesses to search,
register and protect their business names on the Internet. These
include www.gtld.com - an information site about the new generic Top
Level Domains, www.domainstats.com - a regularly updated picture of
how Domain Names are registered around the world. Search + Alert is a
unique name watching service, and www.quickdomains.com is a budget
Domain Name registry.
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Do you have an idea for an article for Free Pint?
See http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm for full details
or contact Rex Cooke, the Editor, by email to rex@freepint.co.uk
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Institute of Information Scientists IIS 40th Anniversary Conference
Sheffield, England 8-11th July 1998 http://www.iis.org.uk
Day 1 Knowing what we know - Knowledge Management
Day 2 It's there but where? - Archiving Electronic Publications
Day 3 Who owns wins - licensing and copyright in the electronic age
Day 4 Web and other workshops
For the full programme email:iis@dial.pipex.com
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Advertise in Free Pint for Results!
Email alison@freepint.co.uk or phone +44 (0)181 460 5850
Full details at http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm
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FEATURE ARTICLE
"Job Hunting on the Net"
by Sue Hill
Where do I start?
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Job hunting on the web is no different to job hunting via any other
medium. The elements of the right job, in the right place at the
right time still apply. Whether your search is traditional or
electronic, if the job for you isn't there then you must be patient.
You also still need to have the essentials of the job hunting process
(a good CV and an application letter) refined and up to date. If
searching on the web, you may need the facility to email your CV and
application letter to the 'advertiser'.
Why do people advertise on the Net?
-----------------------------------
Often speed is a factor, and things can move quite quickly, but
usually it is one of the many ways in which they will advertise. Just
as a company with a job to fill may advertise in more than one
newspaper or journal and register their vacancy with more than one
employment agency, they will also use more than one type of approach.
They may advertise, brief agencies, ask their contacts or place the
vacancy on the web or in a newsletter like Free Pint.
Where should I start my search?
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A number of organisations or potential employers have taken to
advertising vacancies specific to them on their own web pages. If
there is a company out there you are dead keen to work for then check
their web site as a starting point. Most American companies have a
section on their home pages concerning jobs and careers with them -
and this will grow in Europe.
Recruitment agencies that specialise in your area of intended work
will generally have brief details of their current vacancies there to
browse.
Full details are usually available at the click of a button, or an
old fashioned phone call. (It pays to check these even if you have
registered an interest with an agency - their view of what you want
may not be the same as yours - or two consultants may not have
conferred.)
Then there are the sites dedicated to job postings. These are a
mixed bunch and depending on how you start your search you can find
yourself mesmerised by Farmworker Vacancies in Huntly, New Zealand
when you really wanted an Information Scientist Vacancy in Europe!
Some services enable you to register your search, and have results
emailed to you.
Some sample searches I did came up with precious little. It is fair
to say that I based these on the job title Librarian (one that rarely
warrants listing in pre-defined lists) and restricted it to the UK,
except for one foray into New Zealand. I registered myself with one
site using the words librarian and information specialist and within
a week had been mailed about a vacancy as an information assistant in
the City of London with a salary of PdsUK7,000. A start I guess.
I was suspicious of most sites that mentioned the 'thousands' of
visits they had had (no time limit given) and the equal thousands of
jobs and or candidates they had registered. One, where I had to fill
in a form, rewarded me with a 'sales-type' phonecall the next day.
Of real concern was the lack of valid date limitation. This was as
prevalent in the glamorous and glossy sites such as www.topjobs.co.uk
as it was in www.jobhunter.co.uk, a summation of jobs in the regional
press within the UK. Major corporates in www.topjobs.co.uk had in
some cases numerous jobs on offer, but no indication of when the ad
would expire. Within www.jobhunter.co.uk looking at the full details,
presumably the full ad as inserted in the relevant newspaper, did in
some instances bring up a closing date. (In my 10 hits for Librarian
jobs, all of the close dates had passed!). When looking in a
newspaper or journal you can make intelligent estimates based on the
issue date.
The message here has to be 'Don't be disappointed if you get no
response, or subsequently find out the job has gone'. On the
positive side there were some genuinely valuable hints and tips on
the job application process in general posted on most of the sites.
Submitting the application
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When emailing off your CV and application letter you should take the
same amount of care as you would with a paper based application.
Check both carefully for typos, and other inaccuracies. Remember too
that not everyone out there has the latest software, so it is safer
to send attached files as Rich Text Format (.rtf), rather than the
latest version of Word. Or at least check in advance that the
destination address can accept the type of attachment you wish to
send.
Another good hint is to name your attached file with your name (e.g.
"suehillcv.doc"), because nearly everyone calls this document
"cv.doc".
Some sites have a standardised form that you can complete with the
details from your CV. These can be very time-consuming to complete
(and expensive if you pay for connection to the Internet) and so
always try to judge how effective you expect the site to be before
spending time completing all the details.
Use the information within the advertisement to carefully tailor your
application. If they are looking for someone with 5 years experience
and you don't have it, don't make that the first thing you tell them.
Use their keywords when promoting yourself.
It makes good sense to call and check that your application has been
received safely and in readable format. You can also ask what the
timetable is.
If you do get an interview, then remember that the web is an
excellent resource for finding out more information about the company
where you are about to go for that interview. You will feel more
confident and do a better interview if you have done your research in
advance. This will also help you prepare a couple of questions for
the end of the interview when they ask "Do you have any questions for
us?"
Incidentally one employer did tell me that as an 'equal
opportunities' employer, applicants who did not follow their set
procedures and ask for and complete their standard form and address
the application specifically often did not get short-listed. If you
can't be bothered to follow their lead, they may not be bothered to
take your application seriously.
Keeping the search going
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As well as bookmarking sites for regular reference, you could also
set up a URL-minder so that you know when vacancies have been
updated (see http://www.netmind.com/html/url-minder.html).
One word of caution if you do not want colleagues to know you are
looking for a new job: If you have been looking at jobs on the Net
and someone uses your computer after you then it is fairly easy for
them to see where you have been. For a start all visited links will
be a different colour, and there are certain places on the computer
where one can find out where you have been looking (like netscape.hst
and the cache). Therefore, be warned.
Other benefits
--------------
To those of you involved in business information research -
particularly competitive intelligence - the job pages on the WWW can
be a lucrative source of company information. It may not be
comprehensive but can give excellent clues to a companies strategy.
(e.g. Global IT company recruits IT sales staff for new Telesales
Centre in Dublin).
And finally
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If you use a search engine and use the words 'jobs' or 'careers' then
you will be flooded with thousands of sites!
Remember to take the same care as you would when submitting any job
application.
The web is only one source of vacancies. If you are seriously job
hunting (rather than idly keeping an eye open) then you should use
the web, specialist recruitment agencies, the general and specialist
press and do your networking.
Useful links (mainly UK based)
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Top Jobs on the Net
http://www.topjobs.co.uk/
Jobhunter
http://www.jobhunter.co.uk/
The Guardian
http://recruitnet.guardian.co.uk/
Milkround Online (for details of graduate opportunities)
http://www.milkround.co.uk/
The Response Centre
http://www.responsecentre.co.uk/
Taps (a job alert function available here)
http://www.taps.com/
Euro-jobs (info on working in different countries in Europe and
includes visa requirements)
http://www.euro-jobs.com/
New Scientist Planet Science
http://www.newscientist.com/
VNU's job.net
http://www.jobnet.vnu.co.uk/
Daily Mail Career Link (managed by People Bank)
http://www.peoplebank.com/pb3/CANDEX/CareerLink/CareerLink.htm
The Daily Telegraph (Electronic Telegraph)
http://www.appointments-plus.co.uk/
Information & Library Agencies:
TFPL
http://www.tfpl.com/
LA
http://www.la-hq.org.uk/
Phee Farrer Jones - Online
http://www.pheefarrerjones.co.uk/
Unique Recruitment
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/unique/
Intelligent Resources
http://www.intelligentresources.com/
Birches Consultancy
http://members.aol.com/birchscon
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Sue Hill has specialised in recruiting for the UK and European
Information profession since the mid '80s. In January 1998 she set
up her own recruitment agency, Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Ltd,
to continue to cater for the needs of information professionals.
She has written numerous articles and given numerous talks and
workshops on all aspects of job hunting (CV writing, interview
technique, career planning etc) and is currently writing a book on
this subject which will include a chapter on the subject of job
hunting using the WWW.
Sue, (a farmers daughter from New Zealand!) has been an active part
of the information profession for many years and intends to continue
to contribute for the benefit of others in the information world.
Her web site (http://www.suehill.com) is currently being designed and
will be available by May 1st.
Contact suehillrecruit@compuserve.com or Tel: +44 (0)171 732 6718
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Why not post a message or question on the Free Pint Forum?
Or see if you can help someone out with their question ...
Visit the Forum now at http://www.freepint.co.uk/eforum.htm
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PROFESSIONAL WEB SITE SERVICES
Willco provide a wide range of Internet & Intranet services.
These cover site creation, promotion, consultancy and
out-sourced updating and maintenance services.
To find out more call us on 01784 455 435
Email: info@willco.co.uk Web: http://www.willco.co.uk/
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FREE PINT FEEDBACK
"Just wanted to say how much I liked Alison Scammell's piece in Free
Pint #10 but I do have a comment on finding people on the net. It's
very difficult. The WhoWhere site is OK, but I've never found anyone
I know. I can't even find me! But then again, maybe that is just as
well, because I don't want my name and details being available to
anyone - that is one of the fears of people who use the net. A
marketing dream because companies can identify profiles of
individuals from the Web sites they visit etc. I try to keep Cookies
away from my computer, but you can never be sure. I have a "Cookie
Monitoring" program called ZDNet Cookie Master which you can find at
www.zdnet.com. It is free of charge. They're not supposed to be
nasty things, cookies, but I prefer to delete them if I can.
Telephone numbers are freely available though for a lot of countries.
And in the US they've got a reverse look up, whereby if you state the
phone number, it gives you the name and address of the person. Very
useful for checking on addresses, but once again there could be a
privacy issue."
Michael Harrison
Hennessy,
Cognac, France
email: harr377@ibm.net
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Letters and questions should be sent to letters@freepint.co.uk.
Please note, if you write to us we will not publish your letter if
you do not wish us to, and cannot guarantee a reply to all letters.
Letters may be edited for content and length, and we will withhold
your contact details if you wish.
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Well we hope you've found this issue useful. If so then please do
spread the word to your colleagues, friends, students, boss,
lecturers or family ... why not forward this copy to them?
Have a great Easter break and we'll see you again on the 16th April
for your free fortnightly dose of Free Pint.
Kind regards,
William Hann, Managing Editor
(c) Willco 1998
http://www.willco.co.uk/
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Rex Cooke, Editor
Email: rex@freepint.co.uk
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)171 681 1653
Alison Scammell, Account Director
Email: alison@freepint.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)181 460 5850
William Hann, Managing Editor
Email: william@freepint.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1784 455 435
Fax: +44 (0)1784 455 436
Address (no stamp needed)
Willco "Free Pint"
Freepost SEA3901
Staines
Middlesex
TW18 3BR
United Kingdom
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free email newsletter for anyone who
uses the Internet to get information for their work in any business
or organisation. The newsletter is written by professionals who share
how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet.
More details about subscribing, contributing or advertising can be
found at http://www.freepint.co.uk/ or call +44 (0)171 681 1653
Please note: The newsletter is published by the information
consultancy Willco (http://www.willco.co.uk/), and the publishers
will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company
or organisation.
The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care
has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the
publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or
distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers.
All rights reserved.
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- Publication Date: 1st April 1998
- Plain text
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