VIEWJOBS: Matchmaker for Students and Employers Copyright 1993 CAUSE From _CAUSE/EFFECT_ Volume 16, Number 1, Spring 1993. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, the CAUSE copyright and its date appear,and notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To disseminate otherwise, or to republish, requires written permission.For further information, contact CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301, 303-449-4430, e-mail info@CAUSE.colorado.edu VIEWJOBS: MATCHMAKER FOR STUDENTS AND EMPLOYERS by D. Edward Mathay and Debra E. McKinney ABSTRACT: At Marquette University, staff of the student employment office and the computer services division have created an automated tool to bring potential employers and students together for work opportunities. The system allows students to search job openings of interest in locations of choice from any terminal or PC with access to the central computer system. The students can generate their own job referrals which serve double-duty as salary authorization if a successful match results. Which of the following scenes is more familiar to you and the students at your college or university? At a university in another part of the city, a crowd of students gathers in front of a bulletin board outside the student employment office at the beginning of the semester. They attempt to maneuver close enough to copy pertinent information about potential part-time jobs. Other students inside the office wait impatiently for an opportunity to leaf through books of job listings in no particular order. Yet another group stands in line to have a staff member prepare job referrals for the potential jobs selected. Meanwhile, at Marquette University, students eagerly seek out one of over 150 terminals available at various campus locations. Are these students trying to get an early start on their class assignments, make connections with a member of the opposite sexvia a computerized dating service, or play the latest video game? Actually, none of the above! The students logging onto the central computing system at Marquette are taking advantage of VIEWJOBS, the University's innovative automated employment referral service for any student currently enrolled. The system is available daily between 6:00 a.m. and midnight, from any directly connected terminal or via dial-up connections from a student's room. During the first days of each semester, more than a thousand Marquette students will use VIEWJOBS successfully. How does VIEWJOBS work? Employer participation Employers, whether on or off campus, begin the process by submitting a job description form which includes the location, supervisor, job title, duties, qualifications, hours, number of openings, and the maximum number of student referrals desired. Student employment office staff then review the form and assign one of four pay-grade levels. After the data are entered, the system generates a job file number and produces a printed job description which the employer receives. The employer may modify any job attribute by noting the changes on the job description. Designated supervisors for each job at the employers receive a reminder a few weeks before the start of a semester about opening the position for applicants. This reminder invites the employer to update job specifications and to add or delete jobs. The employer opens and closes jobs by calling and providing the assigned job file number. Student use Students seeking part-time employment need not have an account on the computer system. At any terminal, they enter the word VIEWJOBS followed by their social security number. At this point, VIEWJOBS performs a verification process to confirm the following information: current enrollment, completed federal I-9 form, OSHA safety regulations understanding, and eligibility for Federal Work Study (FWS). Students who have not been awarded FWS cannot view any positions restricted to FWS students only. Following the verification process, students can begin viewing job descriptions. They may limit their search by type (clerical, retail, internships, etc.) and /or by zip code. Summer jobs are listed by state. Students can indicate an interest in any job description viewed. Job- seekers may select up to three on-campus and five off-campus positions to apply for each day. Once they have looked at all of the positions in which they are interested, they begin an ordering process. The ordering process causes a referral and salary authorization form to print for each selection. Students go to the student employment office to obtain their referral forms. Office staff can confirm that students have completed their I-9 form and have complied with OSHA regulations. Students may also receive interviewing advice or other assistance. The successful applicants collect supervisor signatures and other necessary information on the referral and salary authorization form which, when returned, becomes the vehicle to add them to the payroll system. System development VIEWJOBS represents the answer to problems of the manual process it replaced. The old system could not keep up with the 4,000 students per year seeking jobs on campus plus many more off campus. The nine office staff supporting the manual system asked for help. Initially, two student programmers were hired to write programs which would allow students to access job listings via a computer. As usual with student- developed systems, the programmers quit or graduated. Their replacements were forced to spend time determining what their predecessors had done. Changing regulations required frequent modifications which over time resulted in a patchwork of programs reflecting the individual styles of each programmer. For security reasons, these developers were not permitted to interface with student records systems. In 1989, the Marquette University computer services division performed a complete rewrite of the student employment system including the VIEWJOBS function. The programs evolved into the format described above. Now, only four employees are required to serve thousands of students' part- time employment needs. VIEWJOBS incorporates user-friendly features that permit students to use the system with only the assistance of a one-page instruction sheet. The basic functional aspects of VIEWJOBS could be replicated easily by most colleges and universities. Start-up costs are limited to forms and some programming. With so many students forced to supplement their incomes by working part time, VIEWJOBS offers a valuable service at a low cost to the institution. This matchmaker has become one which is always welcome! ************************************************************************ C. Edward Mathay is Director, Computer Services Division, at Marquette University. Dr. Mathay is a former member of the CAUSE Editorial Committee, which he chaired in 1992. For more information about VIEWJOBS, e-mail mathaye@vms.csd.mu.edu. Debra E. McKinney is Coordinator, Student Employment Program, at Marquette University. ************************************************************************ VIEWJOBS: Matchmaker for Students and Employers