| Online
job applications more common
By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer
 | Photo by Sue Watson
Applying for jobs
Shannon Crane is a frequent visitor to the main library in Holly Springs
where she is applying for medical assistant jobs online. She has finished
her coursework and is working as an intern with Dr. Cassandra Hawkins
in Holly Springs while she awaits graduation in March 2011. With Crane
is Anne Bennett, assistant librarian. |
With the ever increasing skill level now required for
many jobs and the necessity to be able to use computers in the workplace,
many companies are requiring that job seekers file online applications.
Such is the case for Toyota Mississippi at Blue Springs
and for General Electric in Batesville, said Lecia Becton, director
of the Marshall/Benton WIN Job Center in Holly Springs.
Toyota, for example, is now taking applications online
for skilled positions and line positions.
Individuals may apply online directly if they are skilled
at the use of computers for applications or they can get help in both
learning how to use computers and where to go online to make an application.
Computers are available for job searches and applications at the local
libraries and at the WIN Job Centers, for those individuals who do not
have computer access at home or work.
Becton said individuals file an application for Toyota
Mississippi online and once Toyota reviews the application, the person
will be contacted by e-mail or phone and notified of where to go to
take a three-hour skills test. There are eight or nine sites where individuals
can take the Toyota test, she said.
Five or six people, locally, have successfully applied
online for Toyota employment and moved on to the second phase of the
application - the test, Becton said.
Some of the information a person needs at their fingertips
when applying for any job online include:
• a work history going back 10 years.
• current address and e-mail address and
Social Security number.
• references from previous places of employment
if called for.
• a resume. It is helpful for the individual
to have the resume on a jump drive so it can be uploaded directly into
the application for work.
Some companies - General Electric in Batesville, for
example - require that prospective employees have career readiness certification.
The test is administered at the Regional Technology Center but individuals
must come to the WIN Center in Holly Springs to schedule the test which
is given on Monday mornings between 8 a.m. and 12 noon, according to
Shirley Buford with the WIN Center.
The career readiness certification test is given in three
parts of 55 minutes each – a reading for information test, a reading
to locate information test and an applied math test, Buford said.
Individuals may also get ready for the career readiness
test at Catholic Social Services (662-252-1336). Jackie Mills at Catholic
Social Services administers the WIN Courseware on Tuesdays and Thursdays
between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
If an individual fails the CRC test, they may brush up
their skills for this test at Catholic Social Services located behind
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on East Van Dorn Avenue.
Reading for information is reading business correspondence,
memos and things like that. The locating information tests is for understanding
how to use business charts, graphs and tables, etc. The math test contains
business math questions such as ratios and volumes, converting measurements
from English to metric systems, use of fractions and calculating percents.
Age can be a factor, and computer skills are also a factor.
“If you cannot point and click, you cannot
use the computer,” she said.
Teacher assistants also have to take the CRC test and
also have to take a business writing test to get a job.
CRC is administered on different days. It can be taken
at any WIN Center testing sites - in Batesville, Oxford, Senatobia,
Southaven, and in Holly Springs. Any WIN Center can help schedule for
a test, Mills said.
“They can practice as much as they want and
they can practice at home, too,” Mills said.
Computer training to get a person ready to use the computer
to file an application is provided free at the Regional Technology Center
in Holly Springs, located on Highway 311 just past Holly Springs Funeral
Home. Classes started November 2 and will continue daily from 9 a.m.
until noon for 10 or 11 consecutive days. The course is 30 hours but
a minimum of 24 hours attendance is required in order to receive the
computer certificate, Buford said.
Registration for the career readiness test is free but
individuals are expected to let Buford know if they have to cancel the
test. If they do not provide notice of cancellation, the center charges
$25 to reschedule the skills test, she said.
Individuals may also use computers in the Marshall County
Library System to make online applications for work, according to Anne
Bennett, with the main library in Holly Springs.
The librarian can provide suggestions on where to go
online to apply for work, she said.
“Do a resume and make the resume impressive,” Bennett said. “I say, put your best foot forward on your resume.
Applications have a space where you can load your resume or type it
in.”
Everyone who applies online must have an e-mail address
or the application will not be submitted online. The librarian or WIN
Job Center worker can assist a person in obtaining an e-mail address.
Individuals may apply for work at the WIN Job Center.
Unemployment is filed online or by phone. Antionette Isom with the Southaven
WIN Center said from 2,000 to 3,000 people visit the center in Southaven
on a typical month. In Holly Springs, from 80-110 people per week come
to the WIN Center to get help with job referrals, unemployment issues
and computer classes assistance, she said.
Call 662-252-7893 to obtain more information from the
WIN Job Center in Holly Springs. The center is located on Rust Avenue
behind the Beckley Center. Look for the white house with the long boardwalk.
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