The Summer is really heating up. It's getting HOT! HOT! HOT!
Come Share the Excitement.
Visit us at http://www.careerlab.com
Although there've been some big changes at CareerLab® over the years—we've moved into larger quarters 15 times, for example—the past changes are small compared to what's just happened. By creating a presence on the Internet, we've undergone the biggest revolution in our company's history—a change from fast to lightspeed, from national to global, from standard business to 24-hour interactive. The purpose: to serve you and your company better, to make your work with us much easier! Here's how:
Imagine a 300-page Brochure
In the past when prospective clients called us, we chatted with them and sent a brochure. Good corporate prospects received a folder with about 10 pages of inserts: our client list, staff biographies, reprints of published articles, and thank you letters, to name just a few. They received the brochure in a day or two, urgent packages went Federal Express. We still send brochures by mail, but . . .
Now we have about 300 pages of text online 24-hours per day, 7 days per week. Anyone worldwide with Internet access can log onto our site and see everything instantly. No waiting, and no missing pieces. Also, no more "business hours." If you're awake at 3:00 a.m., there's a good chance you can find the answer you need in the middle of the night.
In the past when career clients faced a challenge, we mailed them a book or how-to article. Again, another one or two-day delay. (Some things could be Faxed.) Today a lot of our resources are online. If you're ready to begin a resume, for example, simply go to "Showcase Your Home Run Accomplishments" at www.careerlab.com/art_homeruns.htm/. This 10-page article will get you or your friends or employees started instantly. No waiting for anything: busy signals, voice mail, U.S. Mail or Federal Express, or traveling consultants.
War Story
Several years ago, David Goodis relocated from Colorado to Australia to begin a job assignment. When it was time for his next career move, he contacted us for help. (Because of expense and time zone differences, long distance calls are impractical. And Federal Express delivery takes five days.) We sent Dave an e-mail, attaching his old resume as a wordprocessing document. He updated the resume and e-mailed it back to us. We polished the final draft and returned it to him. Dave consulted with us online until he had two job offers. Then he phoned from Australia. We talked for 45 minutes, during which time Jeff decided to accept a promotion and relocate back to Denver.
We're doing something similar for Irene Janney, a U.S. citizen consulting in Russia: using e-mail to prepare Irene's letters in a matter of hours—not days or weeks. It's no coincidence that trend expert Faith Popcorn calls her new book CLICKING. Clicking—using a mouse to make choices on a computer—is definitely "in," especially in our business.
Imagine Searching 225,000 Libraries
The Internet expands our research capabilities dramatically; we're completing consulting projects in record time. If you've surfed the net, you know what I mean. If you haven't, I'll attempt to explain. One Internet search engine, an index called Alta Vista, searches 30,000,000 pages on 225,000 servers (host computers) and also 3,000,000 articles from 14,000 Usenet groups, worldwide, and gives a printout of its findings in about 10 seconds! Alta Vista is only one of about 50 search engines.
Why Is This Helpful?
Because the worldwide web really is a web. Everything is connected. If you think of the Internet as new, as I did, you're only partly correct. In spite of what the press reports—namely, that the "Information Superhighway is just a dirt road," the Internet is very far advanced. In the career, outplacement, and human resources arena, which is our business, the resources are truly astounding. For example: on whitepages.com you can look up lost contacts, get their addresses, and even a street map of their location. You can find the top 25 recruiting sites at www.careerlab.com/kennedy.htm. Amazing, isn't it?
No more trips to the library—unless, of course, you want to hug the leather chairs.
Knocking on 225,000 Doors
In the past, job candidates called their friends to say they were looking for work. They still do that, but today we convert their resumes into ASCII text (simple computer language) and upload their resumes into 50 electronic talent banks worldwide, reaching those 225,000 computers out there. Why search locally when you can search globally just as easily?
Imagine 1,000,000 Visitors Per Month
America Online has 6,000,000 members, and we are partners in their Career Center, which receives 1,000,000 visitors per month. I've re-written my bestselling book, 200 Letters for Job Hunters (Ten Speed Press) for America Online. Now any job candidate can access the entire book online, find a letter, and download and edit it in a matter of seconds. There is no charge for this, except for the AOL membership. In addition, AOL members can chat with me online, ask simple questions, and their questions are answered by e-mail, usually the same day. As one visitor wrote, "Is the Internet great, or what?" To find the "RED HOT COVER LETTERS" collection on AOL from the main menu, go to keyword CAREER CENTER, then scroll down the menu to RED HOT COVER LETTERS.
How Else Are We Making Life Easier?
We're linked to "The 10 BEST Human Resources Sites on the Web," and also "The 15 BEST Career Sites on the Web." This means that if you don't find what you want at our place—www.careerlab.com—you can easily jump elsewhere, without the frustrating, time-consuming task of roaming the net without a map.
Stopping Workplace Violence
On the human resources side of our business, we're founding members of Safe@Work™, a group of three internationally-known consulting firms who've teamed up to prevent workplace violence—and to provide turnkey solutions to all corporate violence issues, including verbal and physical threats, dangerous employees, and potential assault. Knowing what to do—or what not to do&mdsah;often saves lives. "Turnkey solutions" means we handle the entire project from A to Z.
Who's involved?
Outplacement-CareerLab
Threat Analysis-Psychological Consultants, Ltd.
Protection-Corporate Security Associates
ONE CALL DOES IT ALL:
The purpose of our tactical response unit is to make it easy for you to prevent conflict and violence in your company, or to de-escalate violence in a crisis. One call to our central number will get you in touch with the right experts: police psychologists, physical security experts, family counselors, human resources and outplacement consultants—you name it. To preview
Safe@Work, go to w
ww.careerlab.com/safework.htm/. Or telephone 303/555-1212 or 1/888/SAFE-WRK (Toll Free). The E-mail address is SafeWork [at] gmail.com/.
What hasn't changed?
We don't advocate change for change's sake. In fact, we worry about technology de-personalizing our lives. Some folks never answer their telephones directly; they route them to voicemail. Others talk only by e-mail; you can't meet them face-to-face. What hasn't changed at CareerLab is that we're still a personal company. We care about individual people, one at a time, whether they're at the end of a phone line, FAX, or e-mail, or whether they're sitting in front of us in our new offices.
We thrive on hustle-and-bustle in the waiting room, and one-on-one meetings still dominate our consulting practice. As much as we love the web, we believe in John Naisbitt's "high touch"—that is, in humanizing our service. (That's why Rachel stocks the candy dish with M&M's.)
For Internet Beginners. How to get hooked up.
I'm writing about e-mail and electronics with the fervor of a religious convert. I believe strongly that the Internet will change the way all of us do business—and for the better. But I also know many of our friends aren't online yet. In fact, we're beginners ourselves. When we built our new offices in November, 1995, we wired every phone terminal for the Internet. Experts said we needed it, but we didn't have the slightest idea what it was for! Therefore, this primer:
- [The bullet points in this section were obsolete, so I deleted them, except for point #2.]
- Register means, "Have your credit card ready."
We want your thoughts, ideas, and comments
I borrow a line from Faith Popcorn when I say, "call us, write us, FAX us, e-mail us—or simply beam us up."
With best wishes, always,
William S. Frank
P.S.—The INSERT in this letter is a printout of the "Quick Tour" from our home page. It gives an overview of our website. I hope it will encourage you to dial us up. And if you don't want to do it yourself, we'd love to give you the tour in person. Just give us a call at 303/790-0505.
Come share the excitement. Visit us at www.careerlab.com/.