Hey, I can do that job.

Let's see. Background in journalism or related field. Got that. Organizational abilities - that's me - well, just don't look at my desk.

What's it pay? That can't be right. Holy moley! That's three times what I make now! 

Pack up the Dodge honey, were headed for New York! 

Yeah, New York. The Big Apple. City of opportunity in the land of the free and brave . . . and HMO's and drive-by shootings and watery beer. Maybe I'd better think this through a bit more.

After all, at least the leader of my country only chokes and pepper-sprays people. He doesn't make them, well, you know. 

Finding the perfect job is always a daunting task, especially when you're staring down a mortgage payment, credit card bill and an urgent need to eat, while all you have in your pocket is a pink slip and some lint.

But if you can find your way to a terminal, the Internet offers lots of places to look for a springboard up the corporate ladder. Or at least a way to put some Kraft dinner on the shelf.

When folks start using the Internet to find jobs, they usually begin with their favourite World Wide Web search engine. Most of the big ones, be it Yahoo, Hotbot, Webcrawler, Lycos, etc. all include a standard link for job hunters that routes surfers to a variety of resources, some of which we'll be outlining here. But one of the problems in using those big search engines is that most of the jobs listed apply only to the United States. 

If you don't have a problem with a profit-bound medical system, a U.S. mindset and having to deal with Americans on a daily basis, nabbing a job south of the border is not a problem. But there are some folks who actually like Canada. 

For true-blue Canucks, one of the premier job-search sites is CareerMosaic Canada. It's typical of many of the job hunting services available on the World Wide Web. The site (http://canada.careermosaic.com/) offers employment services both for job hunters and employers looking for staff. Once you log onto the site, you are presented with a host of employment resources.

For example, you can post your resume where prospective employers can discover your impressive qualifications. Another section is specifically dedicated to students looking for a foray into the real world, with resources to help determine career paths, places to gain valuable work experience, and connections to campus career services. 

Career Mosaic, in what it calls the Careen Resource Centre, offers a host of links to help you improve your writing skills, keep you up to date on trends in your industry, build a resume (including CareerMosaic's own guide to developing an on-line resume) and even guides and resources when you need to relocate. I found the link to a an international wage calculator particularly revealing. The New York job's wage was not as attractive as I first thought.

Another very interesting feature of CareerMosaic, a feature often included in other job- hunting cyber-stops, was a job search agent. A user fills out a simple form, indicating a preferred job description, job title, city, etc. and submits the information so that it will be registered in the CareerMosaic database. The service will then scan its job listing on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and if a match is found, will notify a user by e-mail.

I submitted my own form, but as yet, have't heard back. I guess there's not much call for tanning boutique body-oilers right now.

CareerMosaic is only one place on the Web offering employment services. There are also spots like the Career Advisor (www.careeradviser.com), Career Internetworking (www.careerkey.com), the CareerBuilder Network (www.careerbuilder.com), Employment News (www.employmentnews.com), On Site (http://onsite.epi.ca/emplinks.htm) and the St. Thomas Human Resources Development Canada homepage (http://www.st-thomas.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/english.html). These sites also often offer features and services similar to CareerMosaic. 

There are many industry-specific job sites like IT Staffing (www.itstaff.com), which focuses on finding employment in the information technology industry. And all these sites are also open for employers looking for qualified staff. 

Most companies maintain an Internet presence with a web site. And those web sites can be an invaluable tool for a job hunter. Quite often they will include a listing of job openings at that particular firm. But even more important, those corporate web sites are also a great spot for a job candidate to dig up information about a company to which they plan to offer their services. 

There's nothing more impressive than applicant who shows up at an interview brimming with information and pertinent questions about the firm. It shows you are really interested in the job and that you have the gumption and brains to dig up that data. Conversely, you could also find out some things about your potential employer that might make year leery about joining up - like an obituary for a gold company geologist who just tossed himself out of a helicopter. 

While the World Wide Web has a lot to offer job hunters, it's not the only way the Internet can put a Mercedes in the driveway. The fabulous newsgroup frontier also has listings of available jobs. 

One of the easiest ways for a World Wide Web fan to track down the job newsgroups is through Dejanews (www.dejanews.com). Click on the classified section under Money and you soon find a place to investigate job offerings.

Of course, newsgroup junkies will probably suggest that you need to use a program like Forte's Agent for a thorough search, but web-based engines are a bit more accessible. And some of the web sites discussed previously also include a newsgroup search engine among their features.

Most newspapers now maintain an Internet presence and offer their classified sections on the World Wide Web. Logging onto the local paper can also turn up some job leads. The nice part about browsing through newspaper sites is that you can localize your search to a community that you think would be a nice place to live.

Unfortunately for me, neither Florida nor Las Vegas have a great need for tanning boutique body-oilers.