From: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject:    -->[l/m 4/11/92]---->Read BEFORE posting: stylistic consensus
Keywords: who, what, where, when, why, how
Followup-To: misc.jobs.misc
Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 11:15:54 GMT
Summary: Without style, you might not get a good employee, you'll never know, \
	Wow! 100+ lines edited out...... Text reshuffled.
Reply-To: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)

	Table of Contents (this list)
	INTRODUCTION
	HEADER COMMENTS
		Newsgroups:, Followup-To:, cross-posts
		Subject: Lines and other Header information
	OFFERING SUMMARY
	DETAILED OFFERING


 INTRODUCTION -- RECOMMENDED POSTING STYLE
 WHY?
 To make searches faster and easier.  Posting to the Net is not like writing
 newspaper copy.  The following suggestions are made for net media and
 its various interfaces (Usenet: misc.jobs.offered|contract).
 News interfaces have limitations and powers beyond mere pieces of paper
 (hardware consists typically of CRTs and software which formats and searches)
 Some users have automated information ferrets to find offering posts:
 a reason a more formally recommended style is suggested.
 These are suggestions, not posting requirements.


 HEADER COMMENTS

 Postings have two parts: the HEADER and the MESSAGE body.
--A sample header (your system may differ):

 Newsgroups: misc.jobs.offered
 Subject: Read BEFORE posting: stylistic consensus
 Summary: Without style, you might not get a good employee, you'll never know
 Expires: 
 Reply-To: your address goes here.
 Followup-To: misc.jobs.misc
 Distribution: localarea?
 Organization: Your Company here
 Keywords: who, what, where, when, why, how

1) Newsgroups: you are here: misc.jobs.offered.  You can cross-post your
   offering, BUT, if you do, make certain to use a Followup-To: line directed
   out of your cross-posted newsgroups.  Try:
  Followup-To: misc.jobs.misc
   or
  Followup-To: poster		[/dev/null is 'less friendly']
   to deflect posting discussion or criticism from cross-posted groups.

2) Subject: your single most important text line (more than the rest).
   Many readers use commands (like '=') which ONLY show Subject:
   lines to deciding whether or not they want to read a posting.
   A non-descriptive Subject: places you at a disadvantage:
	"Job offered"		# So what?
	"Job"			# We know this, the group is misc.jobs
	"Position"		# similarly non-descript.
   Past experience has shown that a following style of "Subject:" line
   is most useful to your potential readers:

 Subject: Computer Operator @ XYZ Computers Inc, USA, Yourcity, CA 12345

   The exact style, of course, is arbitrary, but the sample shown above has
   a number of features.  Primarily, the first field gives
   a 2 to 3 word job description: this summary phrase allows the readers
   to skip the offer if there is an obvious talent/aspiration mis-match
   with what they are expecting from their new job.  The second field
   announces the company name, which also gives the potential reader some
   idea of the flavour of the job.  (It should be noted that this information
   cannot be assumed to be already available in the "Organization:" line,
   since this is not always standard).

   The third field gives the approximate geographic location and allows the
   reader to skip those offers which have an obvious geographic mismatch.
   The fields are separated by punctuation characters ('@' signs and commas)
   to help the reader to spot fields quickly by eye.

   The full international Zip code is suggested for completeness
   (even though most posters in the States might assume that everyone
   in the world ought to know where "CA" is).  If for no other reason,
   this will encourage posters outside of the States to adopt the same format.
   For example:

 Subject: Computer Operator @ XYZ Computers Ltd, GB-M13 9PL
 Subject: Computer Operator @ XYZ Computers Cie, F-75123
 <end header comments>

 OFFERING SUMMARY
  WHY THIS SECTION?
 CRTs are not paper pages.  Terminals, terminal emulators, and windows
 do not have standard line lengths: 23 lines? 66 lines? 33 lines or 10, placing
 this series of one-liners will make readers happier.  You have attracted
 the reader, he or she now sees the first "page" of lines (suggest <20 lines).
Please make lines no longer than about 75 characters.  Some
newsreading software truncates long lines.  Use the "Return" key
rather than trusting your word processing software to insert returns;
otherwise some newsreading software may show only the first line of
each paragraph.
 These are really only the 5-Ws (and H).

1) Job Description: Position Title:
    - FT/PT/TMP/SUM/INT/FAC (on subj line)
      (Full Time, Part time, Temporary, Summer, Intern/Co-op, Faculty)
    - Min requirements should be at top.  Some type of mention should be
      made on whether or not the company offers internships/co-ops.
2) Company Name:
        Division Or Department Name:
3) Work Location (street/town/state):	# being precise describes commute
4) Time Frame: (When is application cut-off? When is decision date?
		When does work start?)
5) Point of Contact (name/email/tel):
        Preferred Resume Format (US-Mail, FAX, ASCII, Postscript, etc.):
6) Mandatory Requirements: (No candidates considered that lack these.)
	Legal Restrictions: (Citizenship, security clearance, bonding, etc.)
        US Citizenship Or Security Clearance Required:
7) Experience required:
8) Desirable Qualifications: (Prefer candidates with these additional skills.)
9) Salary:	(Readers wish to encourage posting this optional field)
        Non-Salary Compensation (Bonuses, Options):
        Vacation, Benefits, Day Care:

Check, 20 lines or less?

	If not specified, then it is assumed that anyone that has a
	legal right to work in the country will be considered.
	Beware! Make sure that any restrictions are legally defensible
	in the country in which the work is to be done.)

        Beware! Make sure that the requirements actually 
        relate to the functional abilities needed.
        For example, requiring a B.S. C.S. might be construed to be
	a form of age discrimination, since the older persons in the field of
	computer science graduated with majors in other fields because
	most schools did not offer the B.S. C.S. degree until recently. 
        Specify instead B.S. C.S. or equivalent combination of education
	and experience.)

Solicitation:  (Recruiter, Job-Shop, Direct Employer,
		Two-Party Direct Contract, etc.)

DETAILED POSITION DESCRIPTION:
        (Put details here. Tell why its a great project.)
Travel Requirements:       (E.g., 20% of time spent on overnight travel, or
                           we have 30 offices nationwide, and we will transfer
                           you every couple weeks, etc. Omit if no travel.)
Job Duration:              (If omitted, then the job is assumed to be as
                           permanent as any job is these days. Of course, there
                           are no guarantees. If the position is temporary,
                           be sure to say so: there are tax implications.)

DETAILED OFFERING
 Company Description:
	Your chance to be creative, describe: major products and services.
        why you are a great company to work for.
	Tell what your net earnings, profit margins, and dividends are.
	Brag on your major customers and clients.  Tell what your market
	share is.)

Number of employees (this location/all locations):
        Company Values (Drug-Free, Smoke-Free, Just-Plain-Free):
DRUG-TESTING POLICY:       (Pre-offer, post-offer, random, reasonable cause, 
                           impairment testing, you are assumed to be a 
                           responsible adult, etc.)
SMOKING POLICY:            (Smoke-free environment, non-smokers only, 
                           we all smoke and hope you do too, etc.)
Drug testing.  Does the company require a drug test performed on employees?
    Company Net earnings, Major Products.
A "Puffery" field, so each company could describe what it is the "market
leader" in.  For example:
>
>   "Bubba Co. is a market leader in Beer Brewing Technology."

It provides a checklist of items of information that are important to the
readership of misc.jobs.offered and misc.jobs.contract. It organizes the 
information in the most efficient manner for those reading the postings, and 
helps to ensure that you get responses from the largest number of qualified 
applicants and the smallest number of unqualified applicants.

OTHER BENEFITS:            (Relocation, insurance, profit sharing, vacation, 
                           etc. Omit if this is all negotiable.)

 Legal Disclaimers:
        (Affirmative Action, EEO, etc.)

Old text:

A job description must strive to give the "right" amount of information.
Too much, and you bore the reader or project as arrogant.  Too little and
the reader might ignore the offering because of the extra time and effort
it takes to learn more information (play email tag).

Please limit 'puffery'; the same space used claiming to be a 'market leader'
(like every other company posting) could be better used to describe further
your job or environment.

Please don't describe 'world class' skills in your employee requirements
unless you really need them and plan to pay a high premium for them; there
are lots of very ordinary people reading the job listings who can do your
job but won't respond to such a description.

Readers do not cull postings maliciously.  They seek a good match between
employer and potential employee.  No sense in causing grief for
either potential employee or employer.  If you have multiple offerings,
the current consensus is to have multiple postings.  (If you don't
agree with this, say so and this advice will be modified.)

Please state MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS in EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, etc.
Please state BENEFITS.  Please describe the COMPANY or INSTITUTION.
- U.S. citizenship and/or permanent resident status
- Security clearance
- Background checks
- Drug tests
- Polygraph tests
- Psychological profiles
- Dress codes
- Medical exams
- The location of the job, if different from the location mentioned in
 the SUBJECT line
- The presence or absence of car/van pools

Please state WHEN the position becomes available.

Please note that MAXIMUM REQUIREMENTS ARE ILLEGAL AND CONSIDERED AGE
DISCRIMINATION UNDER US FEDERAL LAW!!  Requirements such as "3 to 7 years
of experience" are a typical violation of Federal law.  If the individual
has the minimum requirements and is willing to work for the given salary,
then maximum requirements are not relevant and, in fact, are illegal.
See the tail end regarding the laws.

Please be receptive to their questions.  If you have specifics which
you can elaborate, please say that you can accept email inquiries about
the offering, please supply an email address.  Please be prepared.
You have an obligation to insure privacy.

Note: some information is regarded as personal and care should be taken
when giving it out.  An example of such is salary information.
Please be discreet.

To avoid missing out on contractors/consultants who only subscribe to
misc.jobs.contract, be sure you include that group for any non-permanent
job offers.

Posted offerings and resumes were more casual at one time.  And it's free.
I personally wish it could continue to be so casual, but....unfortunately, 
the volume and the competition makes it difficult to sift through the
field to find the right match.  Good luck.

YES, people accept employment offers from the Net.
Personal observation: I believe the Net acts somewhat like
a filter for employers (unlike, say, a newspaper), through the
requirements on the job seeker of having a rough idea how to use a
computer to read the postings, and of being able to use a text editor
to respond.  But it's getting more and more difficult to sift thru all
the inappropriate postings and resumes.  Hence, this message.

misc.jobs.offered => offerings only, NO discussion, "Followup-To: poster"
misc.jobs.resumes => resumes only, NO discussion, "Followup-To: poster"
misc.jobs.contract => contract work specifically (offerings & ...)
misc.jobs.misc => DISCUSSION, NO offers, NO resumes
Questions? news.announce.newusers
Consider other groups on different topics like rec.travel for moving info.

If this posting seems initially a bit long, this is deliberate.
The Net edits this message.  I'll cut and paste pieces as people
request and as I accumulate comments about less than consensus topics.
This message is the result of 100+ people who expressed opinions
on wading through many offerings.

This style posting is subject to comment and improvement.  Just send
mail to eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov or {uunet,mailrus, other UUCP}!ames!eugene.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Michael Berch:

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IS THE LAW

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, prohibits
discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits,
and other aspects of employment, on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin.

The Age Discrimination Act of 1967, as amended, prohibits age
discrimination and protects applicants aged 40-70 from discrimination
in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, and other
aspects of employment.

These laws cover most private employers, state and local government,
educational institutions, employment agencies, and labor
organizations.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended, prohibits sex discrimination in
payment of wages to women and men performing substantially equal work
in the same establishment.

Executive Order 11246, as amended, prohibits job discrimination on the
basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin by employers
holding federal contracts or subcontracts.

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, prohibits
job discrimination because of handicap by employers holding federal
contracts or subcontracts.

Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of
1974 prohibits job discrimination against Vietnam Era veterans by
employers holding federal contracts or subcontracts.

For more information, or if you believe you have been discriminated
against, contact:

U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
2401 "E" Street, NW
Washington DC 20507
Telephone toll-free 800/USA-EEOC  (TDD 202/634-7057)

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
ESA/Dept. of Labor
200 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington DC 20210
(or a regional OFCCP office listed under "US Government" in the
telehone book.)

--------------------------- cut here --------------------------------------

=====

Here's another question:  do you think it would be feasible to break up this
newsgroup into 3 categories:
    misc.jobs.internships   :  	internships/co-ops; summer research 
    	    	    	    	opportunities
    misc.jobs.newgrads	    :	positions for new graduates (i.e. those
    	    	    	    	that new grads would be eligible for)
    misc.jobs.experienced   :	positions for experienced professionals

         These would help (with ``experienced'' distinguished by temporary
and permanent positions).  But I think separation by field of training
or by type of position is more important (with cross-posting allowed if
multiple majors are acceptable).  None of the above categories
caters to non-professional positions, such as dental assistants.

         Presently we have mostly computer positions, making it hard 
for non-computer positions to be seen (and discouraging such
postings).  Even within the computer category, 
I tire of those for system administrators.  Some have suggested
misc.jobs.offered.comp.  Based both upon what I see here and what
I see in the newspaper, I suggest a much bigger division such as

        misc.jobs.offered.bilingual     Positions requiring multiple
                                        languages (often crossposted)
        misc.jobs.offered.biosci        Biological sciences
        misc.jobs.offered.clerical      Clerks, secretaries, 
                                        bookkeepers, data entry
        misc.jobs.offered.compadmin     Computer administrators, operators
        misc.jobs.offered.comphard      Computer hardware
        misc.jobs.offered.compmisc      Computing positions not covered
                                        elsewhere (e.g., AI)
        misc.jobs.offered.compsoft      Computer software
        misc.jobs.offered.education     School positions (all disciplines)
        misc.jobs.offered.engr          Engineering (other than computers)
        misc.jobs.offered.finance       Accountants, auditors, bankers, 
                                        financial and loan experts
        misc.jobs.offered.food          Cooks, restaurant positions
        misc.jobs.offered.health        Medical, nursing, hospital, dental,
                                        pharmacy positions
        misc.jobs.offered.humanities    Humanities (e.g., musicians)
        misc.jobs.offered.insurance     Insurance sales and claims
        misc.jobs.offered.manage        Managers and CEOs
        misc.jobs.offered.math          Mathematicians and statisticians
        misc.jobs.offered.physci        Physical sciences (e.g., geologists)
        misc.jobs.offered.repair        Repairmen (e.g., auto mechanics)
        misc.jobs.offered.sales         Sales and marketing (all products)
        misc.jobs.offered.socsci        Social sciences (e.g., attorneys)
        misc.jobs.offered.travel        Deliverymen, travel agents,
                                        taxi, bus and truck drivers, valet
                                        parkers, airline and ship personnel
        misc.jobs.offered.writer        Editors, technical writers, printers
        misc.jobs.offered.misc          Positions with no established subgroup
                                        (e.g., architect, child care, guard)

=====

In the cover matter say what you LIKE to do, what turns you on.
Something beyond "Challenging position in Software Engineering". That
sort of statement means nothing to me as a potential employer.
For example, if Unix or network or graphics or GUI or languages
programming turns you on, say so. Say it in the Subject line if
possible. Be selfish, say what's in your heart.

Don't try to be all things to all people, you end up looking like NO
things to NO people.

Back the claim up with things you've done that you enjoyed: Totally
unsponsored projects are fine, in fact, I find that interesting, e.g.,
you'd develop a new language or piece of freeware out there for sheer
sport. Work projects are fine too, I won't knock you for getting paid
for what you enjoy.

Don't market to me, I'm too smart for that, tell me who you really
are, what you like to do, and have faith that someone out there wants *you*.