The national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent according to the National Conference of State Legislature’s. Because securing a job seems to be more difficult than improving one’s education these days, many people are going back to school. Whether one earns a traditional education at a university or an online MBA, the work does not stop there. Academic education comprises only part of the necessary requirements to land a good job. Preparing for potential interviews by studying common questions and practicing answers, researching various corporations, and even preparing for possible aptitude tests will give an interviewee an advantage over the competition. There are several comprehensive websites and wikis that offer excellent resources for the jobseeker. Wikis are particularly helpful when preparing for the application and interview process, because anyone can contribute to and edit the information offered.
One wiki that offers a broad spectrum of helpful tools is WikiJobs. Based out of the UK, WikiJobs has a vast supply of in-depth materials to help with job searching and the interview process. There are job postings, forums for jobseekers, and practice tests. One of the most helpful aspects of this wiki is the job interview questions section, which is organized by profession—such as law or investment banking—and covers the application process of numerous large corporations like Ernst and Young, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.
Another way to research the interview process of various corporations is to conduct a simple search on Wikipedia. One search that yields particularly useful results is the Microsoft interview. Microsoft’s application and interview model was innovative and has been picked up by other companies, including Google. The Wikipedia article includes several sample interview questions and a detailed description of Microsoft’s recruitment process.
Wikia.com is a database of hundreds of wikis about a variety of topics that are all located in the same place. Jobs.wikia.com is the “jobs” section of this website. The articles cover a variety of topics that can help any jobseeker, such as self-assessment and resume and cover letter assistance.
Another site that offers resume help is ResumeWiki. Not only is the content of the articles on ResumeWiki edited by the community, but readers are also able to post their own resumes and cover letters to be edited by anyone who wishes to contribute, as well. For anyone who wished to offer up their documents to be reviewed and edited, all of the changes can be reverted, or the resume can be set so that contributing editors can only make suggestions as “comments” rather than alter the document. Existing resumes and cover letters that are posted to the site are also available as reference points.
In today’s competitive market, jobseekers need all the assistance that is available. Wikis provide some of the same resources that other websites and blogs do, but the advantage to wikis is that they can be edited, so the information is constantly being updated and is provided by individuals who are experiencing the job market firsthand.
