Do you know what it’s like to set up a search agent, then get back hundreds of job listings you don’t really want? Employers do, too. They get thousands of e-resumes for any one job, and somebody has to screen them all. If your resume could just get through this screening process, your chances of getting hired are dramatically increased.

To help employers find you, try to think like they do, think like a computer. Here are some tips from industry experts, recruiters, and employers on how to formatting  your e-resume more searchable.

1. Use the top half of page 1 for the most important information. Employers search for their most important criteria first the same way they write job listings. Plus, many search engines pull hits based on the top half of page 1. So put your contact info, keywords, objective, achievements and your 10 most recent years of experience first.
2. Use page 2 for non-critical information. List other jobs, education, affiliations, or particulars like Spanish, Veteran, Will Travel.
3. Put a keyword list at the top. Include hard and soft skills in this order: technical knowledge, key action words (implementation, development), and relevant personal qualities (“organizational skills” or “detail-minded”). Include daily-use software (MS Project, Word, etc.) and cliche skills like teamwork and time management–provided they’re important to your job.
4. State clear and specific objectives. Yes: “To be a DBA working with Sybase on HR, payroll or customer systems.” No: “To use my technical and communication skills in a growing high-tech firm.”
5. Consider every critical job skill that employers might want. Consider this sample keyword list of critical skills and facts for an Oracle project manager: “Oracle. Project management for Oracle HR application. Team leader for 6-month implementation of Oracle Version 7.6. Development of Oracle Payroll application. Team builder. Organizational skills. Budget Management. Meets deadlines. $80,000 salary.” This list immediately makes 13 search combinations possible–all simple, specific, and unique: Oracle + project management, Oracle + development, Oracle + HR, Oracle + Team Leader, etc.
6. Just saying “Oracle” doesn’t work. Direct hits are like sales leads: to be useful, they must be qualified. Be detailed, tell employers exactly what you did on your last job and how you pushed the limits with your accomplishments.
7. Be redundant to get more hits. Having at least three mentions of each critical skill triples the odds of an employer finding and selecting your resume. Remember to be creative and leverage any acronyms: “Oracle knowledge, Development of Oracle HR system, Implementation of Oracle Version 7.6, and Team leader on Oracle payroll system project” produces four “Oracle” hits. “NT, Windows NT, and Win/NT” returns 3 “NT” hits.

Two More Essential Rules

Be sure you meet all of the critical job requirements. Here’s the acid test: If you can’t be 100 percent productive in 30 days, you’re probably not qualified. If the technology is new, for example, highlight related skills instead of traditional ones. The typical requirements for a job may be anything but typical.

Treat your e-resume like a newspaper ad. Passive marketing doesn’t work. Most employers still hire through traditional channels, so use a one-two punch: Send your resume and then follow up. It gets more attention and conveys more interest than a printout.

The Fine Print

There are a few computer basics to keep in mind when creating an effective e-resume. Play it safe with ASCII. HTML formatting looks great, but is not readable by every employer. Any key on your keyboard is ASCII. Other keys or symbols are not, and should therefore be avoided.

Use simple fonts: Arial, Courier, and Times Roman are the best. Set narrow margins, about 4.5 inches and flush left, to ease cutting-and-pasting of online resumes. And save your e-resume as a .txt file (the basic format for ASCII or MS-DOS files).

Resume Red Flags

The resume has sprouted a new pair of wings. Since the dawn of digital documents, companies are accessing resumes at record volumes and speeds. Because of this, the task of screening resumes is not getting any easier. Recruiters and hiring managers need to find the good ones, fast, while maintaining high standards of screening and selection. Effectively spotting red flags on a resume is an integral part of this process.

Screening Out, or In?
After determining that a resume contains the minimum requirements for the job, checking for problems is the logical next step. These can be interpreted in one of two ways. The red flags often serve as a “screen-out” tool: Certain details about a candidate’s background simply do not show the proven track record that you are looking for. Conversely, they can be seen as a “screen-in” tool. When a candidate meets the major requirements for the position, any red flags on their resume serve as points for further exploration.

Below are some of the most commonly cited resume red flags, followed by a brief explanation of how to use these red flags in assessing a candidate’s background:

1. Obvious Content Errors

Errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar are often considered proof of poor written communication skills, or a lack of attention to detail. Even if the position does not directly require strength in these areas, questions are raised about a candidate’s overall standards. After all, recruiters assume that candidates are putting their best foot forward when sending their resumes. As Chandra Fox, career consultant for e-resume.net, says to her clients: “[The resume] is your shot at marketing yourself into the interview.” If candidates are ignoring spelling and grammatical errors, companies may think twice about how their standards measure up.

2. Short Tenures

The word “job hopper” comes to mind. But are short tenures necessarily a negative? Not always. More often than not, a candidate will explain short stays at each company with reasons that appear valid. The recruiter’s job is to dig deeper. Due to dizzying trends in our global economy (dubbed by some as the “e-commerce Armageddon”), it is possible that the candidate was a victim of layoffs, company closures, or sweeping cutbacks. Perhaps they have a family member whose job requires constant relocation. Good resume reviewers think beyond the job moves and wonder how candidates arrived at their decisions.

3. Employment Gaps

Are they hiding something? Did they take that long to find another job? If so, is something wrong with them? The truth is, employment gaps are not uncommon. Gershon Bergwerk, editor-in-chief of Resume.com, hears these questions all the time. “People have gaps,” he says, “and they’re easy to catch.”

Although spotting employment gaps may prompt companies to raise a red flag immediately, they usually just want to know more about the candidate’s thought process. Maybe the candidate quit their last job to start a small side business that failed. Or maybe they simply wanted take a long-deserved break. Whatever the reason, there’s always a decision-making process involved that may provide useful information.

4. Incorrect Degree/Certification Data

Someone “MCSE-certified” should not claim to be “MCES-certified.” An extreme explanation for this red flag is that the candidate has provided false information. On the other hand, there’s a good possibility that this is simply a typographical error. Either way, these errors make one wonder whether a candidate is honest or detail-oriented enough for the job.

5. Inflated Titles

“People can fudge [titles] or claim that they worked at a place longer than they did,” says Kevin Donlin, founder and owner of gresumes.com. An inflated title is sometimes obvious: It elevates the candidate unrealistically from one job to the next in their career trajectory. So recruiters ask, “Is this title really what the candidate claims it to be?”

But inflated titles are not always due to a candidate’s lack of honesty. Once again, consider the recent “e-commerce Armageddon.” Start-up companies admit to having inflated titles in order to boost morale. Also, smaller companies will tend to have people such as VP’s and CFO’s who were formerly managers or directors in larger organizations. The key in interpreting an inflated title, real or false, is to clearly understand what the role of the person was in that job.

6. Lack of Credible References

Although not all resumes will readily contain a list of references, those that do are worth a second glance. Donlin always looks beyond the appearance of good references on a resume: “First, check out the names and titles of their references. If they give you their former supervisor’s name, then that’s a good sign”, Donlin explains. But the converse is also true. If a candidate does not list any former supervisors on the resume, then it could be a signal that he or she did not leave a company on good terms.

To clarify, recruiters will ask for additional references. If they prove unsatisfactory, a final red flag goes up–and the candidate doesn’t get the job.

Jim Hillestad, former VP of Creative Services at Chemical Bank, remembers the massive corporate lay-offs of the ’80s all too well–especially the day he was told to cut his staff from 38 to 15. Jim balked and, at 48, took a voluntary severance package himself. He never looked back.

When some people lose a job, they literally don’t know what to do with themselves. Others, like Jim, know exactly where to turn–to their hobby. Ever since childhood Jim had been fascinated with toy soldiers. As an adult he became a part-time collector and dealer.

Losing his job enabled Jim to realize his dream of making his hobby more than a sideline. He traded the bustle of Manhattan for the tranquillity of the Pocono Mountains where he built what has become the largest toy-soldier museum in the country. His museum, which is open to serious collectors by appointment only, is home to over 35,000 toy soldiers.

An avocation is defined as “a subordinate occupation pursued in addition to one’s vocation especially for enjoyment.” Want to turn your avocation into an enjoyable vocation? Here’s how:

Be Creative (About Making Money That Is)

Ann Kullberg always loved to draw. Then 13 years ago she discovered professional-grade colored pencils. A neighbor suggested she enter one of her drawings in the county fair near her home outside Seattle, Washington. She won first place.

At the time, Ann was a homemaker and mother of two small children, one with severe autism. When her marriage ended, Ann was at a crossroads. She could put her children in day care and go back to teaching or try to make a living with her art, a prospect Ann remembers as being “really scary.”

She knew that creativity alone wouldn’t pay the bills. But coming up with creative ways to support herself with her art just might. Today Ann travels the country teaching classes, does commissioned portraits, has a contract to write a book (her second) and is designing colored pencil by number kits for beginners.

She also has her own on-line magazine, www.annkullberg.com. Professionals and novices alike sign up for book reviews, critiques of artist’s work, business and art advice, workshop listings and more. In just four months over 200 paying subscribers signed up.

Pay Attention and Shoot High

You never know when or where inspiration will strike–so pay attention! When Travis LeDoyt was in ninth grade he signed up for his high school talent show. In typical teenage fashion, he wasn’t sure what his act would be until 30 minutes before show time. That’s when he came up with the idea to lip sync an Elvis tune. His performance took first place. At next year’s show he sang for real. And once again, he won. Little did Travis know that his last minute decision would set him on a future career path.

Out of high school the furthest thing from Travis’ mind was becoming a professional Elvis impersonator. He’d put on his blue suede shoes to perform at some local function once a year or so. But Travis says it was more of a lark than a hobby. What he really loved was music. So, at 21 he taught himself to play guitar and piano.

Last summer Travis stole the show at a local ’50s festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts. That’s when he started “paying attention.” He polished up the band, recorded a CD and set about learning everything he could about the music industry. “Once you have a goal in mind,” he says, “one thing just seems to lead to another.” With what he says were “high hopes,” the 23-year-old sent his CD to major rock n’ roll festivals around the country.

His high hopes–and hard work–paid off. Travis just returned from performing at the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame Celebration with the likes of Brenda Lee, the Comets and Elvis’s original back-up singers, the Jordanaires. Now it’s on to the big time. Travis has been chosen to sing at this summer’s Elvis Presley Festival in the King’s own hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi.

Start While You Still Have a Job

While still in the corporate world Jim Hillestadt had another sideline, freelance advertising. Today he combines being a toy-soldier collector-dealer with his own full-service ad agency. As Jim sees it, “Some are born to follow a path. Others have the good fortune to find a fork in the road and follow both paths.”

In those early years, Ann supplemented her art by substitute teaching and cleaning houses. Travis still works part-time at a large grocery chain. Few people can afford to just up and quit their jobs to follow their passion. That’s why Jim advises everyone to have some kind of parallel business in addition to his or her job. “That way,” he says, “when you’re ready to take the leap, you’ll have something to leap to.”

Getting Started

Step 1: If you already have a hobby, skip this step. Otherwise, make up your own “I’d rather be� bumper sticker. Would you rather be following sports, writing poetry, gardening, shopping, fixing things, fishing, watching old movies? Don’t get hung up on whether or not you can earn a living at your “hobby” just yet. For now it’s enough to tap into your natural interests.

Step 2: Once you’ve nailed that assignment, you’re ready for another. Get a notebook and label it “Shopping for a Living,” “How to Make Money Watching Movies,” or whatever it is you’d like to do. Then, get busy studying all the ways you could do just that. Here are some good places to start:

The Web
Visit web sites featuring your hobby or interest. Note what potential customers are looking for. See if you can find any untapped niches.

Industry associations
Professional and industry associations offer a wealth of information. Is whipping up a four-course meal your idea of a good time? The United States Personal Chef Association (www.uspca.com) can help you get out of your kitchen and earning money in someone else’s.

Into crafts?
Check out the National Craft Association (www.craftassoc.com). You’ll find craft and trade show listings, a small business center and handy resources like the Directory of Wholesale Reps for Crafts Professionals.

Books
There’s a book for practically every hobby or interest. Love sports? Read “Careers for Sports Nuts: & Other Athletic Types” by William Ray Heitzmann and Mark Rowh. Love to shop? Cathy Stucker (aka “The Idea Lady” at www.idealady.com/mystery.htm) tells you how you can get paid to shop and eat.

Magazines
The larger bookstores are where you’ll find such niche publications as Cats & Kittens, Canoe & Kyack and Gold Prospecting. Peruse the ads for clues as to possible income streams.

Step 3: With your notebook filled with lots of neat ways to turn your hobby into your job, you are, as they say, ready to rock n’ roll. From here, says Travis, the formula for success is pretty straightforward: “Have a goal in mind. Then go for it.” Elvis himself couldn’t have said it better.

Predictions and forecasts prepare us for change.

A decade ago, “futurism” was barely considered a real occupation. Futurists were likened to soothsayers, crystal ball gazers, and psychics. It was hardly a conventional way to earn a living–but not anymore. Futurism is a respected discipline, and futurists are playing an increasingly important role in industry and government. Universities are teaching courses in “future studies” and even offering full degree programs. The coursework covers how to use a number of predictive tools to make assumptions about the future.

Respect and Recognition

Futurism was legitimized when companies and nonprofit organizations began hiring futurists–also known as “directors of future research” or “ideation specialists” or “marketing specialists.” “Futurists use a set of tools and techniques to assess risks and uncertainties,” explains Ken Hamik, futurist and vice president of marketing and strategy at Triple Aught in Berkeley, CA. “Futurists look at early indicators before anyone else. Their research helps make better decisions, which is an invaluable tool for money managers, securities analysts, and CEOs charting the direction of their companies.”

What are the qualifications? “Most futurists have some or all of the attributes of experienced renaissance managers who excel at strategic planning,” says Hamik. “They have analytical minds and study all the variables before making a decision. They consider the future to be as important as the present.”

Half of the hottest futurist jobs don’t even exist yet, according to Daniel Burrus, author of Technotrends and CEO of Burrus Research Associates. “We’re in the early stages of shifting gears into the e-society,” he says. “Virtually every part of an enterprise will be e-enabled, which includes connectivity, content, commerce, communication, collaboration, and community. Supply chain management, for example, will be taken to new levels.”

A host of new jobs will likely open up, including technical specialists, sales and marketing experts, and experienced managers to pull an organization together.

Language Specialists

Bilingual (English and Spanish) candidates used to have the edge. That’s not going to be enough in the future. Hamik says you’re well positioned if you have multiple language skills. High on the list are English, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese. Knowledge of Japanese, German, French, and a few of Indian dialects wouldn’t hurt, either.

Authentic Crafts/Techniques Specialists

The faster we race into the future, the more historians and anthropologists want to know about the past. Not necessarily facts and data, but in how to create a product, machine, building, or farming technique. These specialists uncover drawings, blueprints, or primitive languages that describe how things were built in detail.

“When constructed, they are not replicas or simulations, but the actual objects,” says Hamik. Imagine building an authentic 18th-century stone house. Once the research is completed, software is written that precisely outlines the exact steps and dimensions for creating virtually anything from the past.

Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

The biotechnology field is going to explode, projects John L. Petersen, president of The Arlington Institute, a Virginia think tank specializing in the future. One of the hottest biotech areas is nanotechnology.

“It didn’t exist 15 years ago,” says Petersen, “but now it’s in its early stages and will be fully developed in two to three years.” Nanotechnology explores the fascinating world of atoms where things are measured in nanometers, a distance one-hundred-thousandth the width of human hair. “Sensors, lasers, and virtually all electronic devices will be extraordinarily small,” says Petersen.

Computer Security Experts

Annual global losses from computer break-ins are approximately $1.6 trillion, says Winn Schwartau, a computer security expert and author of Internet and Computer Ethics for Kids and Cybershock. Schwartau projects that government and industry face dangerous security problems over the next two years. In a good or bad economy, security professionals have little difficulty finding jobs. But the demand for security professionals, technicians, programmers, and network specialists will escalate to critical proportions if these positions aren’t filled. “Our national security is at stake,” warns Schwartau.

Meta-Database Analysts

Knowledge transfer, data-mining, and data analysis will be taken to greater heights in a few years, predicts Watts Wacker, a futurist who heads FirstMatter in Westport, CT. “We’re only a couple of years away from the meta-database, which will produce a higher order of insight, making knowledge more accessible. This leads to faster and better decision-making and new jobs related to creating, developing, and managing these vast storages.”

Having a career plan in place can make the difference between wanting the career of your dreams and actually getting it. “If you don’t design a plan, you are very likely to end up in a job you don’t like,” says Louise Garver, founder of Career Direction, a Connecticut-based career planning service.

“To get where you want to be,” adds Nicholas Lore, “you have to start from the very beginning.” Lore is founder of the Rockport Institute, a Maryland career counseling and research organization, and author of The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success (Simon & Schuster).

“Think of yourself as a painter with a blank canvas and go from there,” Lore says. There are several design stages that serve as a practical guide to getting the career you want.

1. Know Thyself

Examine who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, your talents and abilities, and your values. This will be the foundation of your plan. “As much as I want to be a basketball star, if I’m four feet tall, that isn’t going to happen,” says Lore. “Make realistic goals based on who you are.” Self-examination can be hard to do on your own. Family and friends may not be the best sources of help. However, there are books (remember What Color is Your Parachute?), Web sites, and counselors that offer personality tests and provide objective assessments.

2. Know the Job

“This doesn’t mean that you must have a firm job title in mind,” notes Garver. “It’s an idea of the work you’d like to be doing.” What do you envision when you close your eyes? Are you barefoot and outdoors? Are you in mellow environment with a great view? Do people surround you in a fast-paced, high-energy office? To get a better idea of what’s required in a particular career, check out the Department of Labor’s Occupational Handbook, which gives summary information and earnings potential.

3. Know the Industry

“Get to know everything about the industry you’ve chosen,” Garver suggests. “You may even want to have a few specific companies in mind.” Read news articles, trade association publications, and industry journals to get a good picture of the industry as whole.

4. Put It in Ink

“Commit your goals to paper,” recommends Garver. Write down your big goal and then break it down into bite-size pieces. Where do you want to be in ten years? Five? Two? What are the specific steps you need to take to get there? Do you need more schooling? More experience? Better connections? Write down what you need to do to fill those gaps.

5. Find the Right Fit

It can be tempting to abandon your plan and jump at the first job you’re offered. That can be a mistake, especially if the job doesn’t further your career objectives. If you’re under pressure to pay your bills, take a stopgap job. ” Prospective employers will understand why you had to work for a time at McDonald’s,” Garver says. “What they won’t look kindly on is you taking a professional job in another field and then leaving a month later.”

6. Get Into It

Start wherever you can in your field. Working from the bottom up isn’t a bad way to go. “You should always be looking a few steps ahead,” Garver says, “so that you can better position yourself.” Take advantage of training opportunities that will add to your resume and volunteer to lead committees to gain experience.

7. Stay Motivated

“It’s human nature to seek the status quo. People talk themselves into killing off their dreams,” Lore says. If you find yourself in a job and it’s not going forward, step back and find out why your career is stagnating. “Ask yourself what you need to do in order to get momentum back, and then do it,” says Garver. If not, you’ll wake up ten years down the road, stuck in a job that was only meant to be a stepping-stone.

8. Review and Revise

A career plan is a living document. “It should evolve as you do,” says Garver. Review your plan annually on some important date, like New Year’s or your birthday. Update it so it reflects where you are on your career path.

The baseline logic is simple, Lore says: “Take practical steps to go after what you want. If you do that, your life can get pretty close to perfect.”

Your vocation could be a vacation.

Does the idea of slaving away indoors make you shudder? Don’t fret– there are many ways to work under the glare of midday sun. So, grab your straw hat and get thee outdoors!

Landscape Architect

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 40 percent of all landscape architects are self-employed (translation: they clock their own schedule). Other landscape architects work for the government or for independent firms that adhere to 40-hour workweeks. A landscape architect will typically spend half his time on site and the other half indoors, working on plans. They create harmonious landscapes, balancing purpose, functionality, and related eco-issues. Landscape architects are the masterminds behind parks, golf courses, playgrounds, and corporate headquarters’ grounds.

• More Info: American Society of Landscape Architects; Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards
• Salary Range: $22,800 to $78,900
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture required for many entry-level positions. Some companies even prefer candidates to have an internship or two under their belt. Furthermore, most states require registration or licensing via the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.), which is administered by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards.

Lifeguard

Ah, the perennial outdoor lover’s perfect job: lifeguard. While a small percentage of lifeguards actually spend time indoors at hotels and YMCAs, most work near pools, lakes, and seaside resorts. Perks abound (did we mention the tan?), but the pay and consistency of work can be troublesome. Positions often last from Memorial Day thru Labor Day, with only an enviable few grabbing coveted year-round positions.

• More Info: Check out the United States Lifeguard Association and the American Red Cross for career and certification information
• Salary Range: Starting at around $7/hour
• Background: The Red Cross and the United States Lifesaving Association both offer courses to certify lifeguard wannabes.

Enologist

Enologists are known as “winemakers” or “cellar masters” to you and me. This position is perfect for, shall we say, the more sophisticated outdoors person. If wine is your passion, you can make a go of it just about anywhere in the world. Enologists find work from California and Colorado to Africa and Australia. You’ll work with the head winemaker or producer overseeing the cellars, vineyard operations, winemaking procedure and protocol, quality issues, and testing barrel samples for consistency and standards (hiccup). Using descriptive phrases like oaky, buttery, and tinged with a hint of vanilla is a crucial job requirement.

• More Info: Consult the American Society for Enology & Viticulture and the Society of Wine Educators
• Salary Range: According the California Employment Development Department, salary levels of enologists depend on the size of the winery and education and experience of individuals. Those with ample experience may earn more than $5,000 a month in the larger wineries.
• Background: This career requires a wee bit of planning. You’ll need a BS in Enology, Winemaking, or a related field. Most employers are looking for hands-on experience in the two- to five-year range.

Park Ranger

Think Smokey the Bear has a good gig? You could live the high-life just as easily: clean air and natural living. As a park or forest ranger, your duties range from watching out for forest fires to keeping the peace across America’s forestland. In your first few years, you’ll log plenty of outdoor time checking on trees and fauna and ensuring the safety of campers. You’ll work in concert with fire and law enforcement agencies to rescue wayward hikers from steep ravines. As you escalate in responsibility, you may find yourself inside more often, working on schedules and managing new recruits. The veteran park ranger trade-off: more money, less time outdoors.

• More Info: The National Park Service, National Association of State Park Directors, and National Recreation and Park Association
• Salary Range: Not bad these days. Expect anything from unpaid volunteering to nearly $50,000 annually–depending on experience and education.
• Background: Forest folks need at least a bachelor’s degree in forestry or biology, with an emphasis in forest plant and animal life. A related major (environmental science, public administration, archeology, science, or history) will often suffice. However, many can hike up the ladder of ranger success by working their way up from park volunteer. Experience goes a long way in this neck of the career woods.

Other tan-inducing gigs careers to consider: Professional beach volleyball player, civil engineer, cruise ship captain, mailman, or professional sailor (think America’s Cup). With so many options available, how can any self-respecting sun-worshipper afford to stay indoors?

From Temps to Tops

Untraditional workers make major headway.

Dramatic increases in temporary, “free agent” jobs and a related shift away from traditional nine-to-five employment could be precursors to a change in the structure of the American workforce, according to a study by national staffing company Kelly Services, Inc.

Before the economy stalled, a record one-quarter of all U.S. workers were listed as free agents last year. Assuming the economy rebounds and grows to support this trend, 41 percent of all U.S. workers could become free agents within the next decade.

The study initially cited a growth rate in the U.S. workforce for temporary/contract workers of 22 percent, with another 13 percent considering free agency. Today, 26 percent of the survey’s respondents work as free agents, and 17 percent are considering it. The shift is being driven largely by worker dissatisfaction with internal corporate cultures and by the broad recognition among corporations that hiring in specialized categories is not what they do best.

For the Time Being

“Free agents are searching for more job satisfaction with fewer restrictions than with conventional employment,” said Carl Camden, Kelly’s Chief Operating Officer. “This is particularly true among those under 30 years of age. They are the group most interested in free agency and account for the potential strong growth of temporary and contract workers in the future.” Free agents are defined as workers employed outside the traditional labor force in such positions as freelancers, independent professionals, full-time temporary workers, consultants, and contractors.

As specialized technologies and services expand in the free market economy, so do the number of free agents required by business to implement the specialties and so do the number of business managers hired to monitor the free agents. This means that the growth of a full-time temporary work force is occurring at a rapid pace.

“You have to look at companies heavily staffed with specialists in such diverse areas as accounting, insurance, 401(k) planning, and information technology,” says Paula Fleming, Director of Human Resource Effectiveness at Xerox. “It’s often beyond the company’s core competency to manage these specialties as their complexities grow. That’s when the companies outsource to staffing agencies that know the specialties cold. By doing this, the companies create both new opportunities for free agents and a runway for new managers who have to deal with the agencies.”

But there is a downside. “When the economy slows the free agents usually get released first, and thus serve as a safety valve to shield full-time employees from layoffs,” says Steve Armstrong, a Kelly Vice President and General Manager. “But the shoe is on the other foot in good economic times. That’s when the hiring decisions are on the side of the free agents and they can take their time sizing up companies they might like to work for.”

According to Armstrong, home computer use and the explosion of the Internet could add measurably in the future to the general trend toward free agency. “Direct placement websites that work from resumes give free agents the opportunity to monitor openings offered by national staffing companies on a daily basis,” he said.

Uncle Sam Steps Up

The Federal law removing social security disincentives for senior citizens will also have an impact. As of last year, millions of vigorous men and women over sixty-five were free to seek “gold collar” jobs for the first time since Social Security started. These are jobs that pay well and have strong career opportunities, but don’t require a four-year college degree.

The push for gold collar jobs may lead to an even greater work force challenge: ‘platinum jobs,’ according to the Kelly study. These involve professional careers in law, science, finance and information technology that require even more skills and training than the gold collar jobs.

That’s where companies like Volt Information Sciences help, says Volt area manager Francine Pieper. “We’re dedicated to a broad range of highly-skilled disciplines, from supplying the professional services of temporary medical doctors and lawyers to technical printing to office support. All of these areas have seen substantial growth in recent years.

“There’s also growth in the number of retirees who work full-time to augment their incomes and in the number who only work three or four months a year so that they can travel and enjoy themselves,” Pieper explains. “For example, we have a retired fire chief who likes to stuff envelopes just so he can to talk to people and meet prospective golf partners. I don’t think he’s going to alter the structure of the American workforce much, but he’s certainly lots of fun to be around.”

Each year, millions of Americans volunteer their time to community-service organizations. According to the Electronic Journal of the U.S. Information Agency, more than 90 million American citizens participate in volunteer activities. And in recent years, the number of corporate-sponsored employee volunteer initiatives has increased in response to the realization that they benefit employers and employees, as well as the organizations they serve.

Research Links Volunteerism & Profits

Betty B. Stallings, a San Francisco-based trainer, consultant, and author who specializes in volunteerism, cites a 1993 survey in which more than 50 percent of businesses surveyed acknowledged a link between volunteer programs and profitability. Stallings states that research involving Fortune 500 companies demonstrates “an exponentially increasing number of employee volunteer programs.” These programs bring corporations and communities together as partners, and have been shown to be beneficial in attracting talented employees and in motivating staff.

Stallings points to General Mills, Federal Express, and Intel as examples of companies that have reported enhanced skills among employees who have participated in corporate-sponsored volunteer programs. Specific skills mentioned include leadership, teamwork, decision-making, communication, and time management.

“The employees themselves derive considerable benefits as well,” Stallings writes. “Through their volunteering, they have developed new business contacts, gained experience in strategic planning, [and] become involved with community leaders. There is a decided link, too, between physical and mental health and participation in volunteer activities.”

Volunteers Undervalue Experience

Surprisingly, many volunteers don’t realize that their altruism can result in acquiring highly marketable skills. Anita Collins, a licensed independent clinical social worker and life-planning coach, says people—especially women—tend to undervalue their volunteer experience simply because they don’t get paid for it.

“There is still a strong bias about volunteer work—that we shouldn’t list it on a resume because it’s not considered a real job,” Collins explains. “I encourage my clients to include it because they’ve brought value to an organization with the skills they were using and developing.”

Collins, who practices in Worcester, MA, suggests that one of the best ways to identify those skills is to analyze the volunteer activity as if you were writing a job description. What tasks were performed? What was accomplished? What goals were achieved?

“In my work, I find that women in midlife are really stopping and saying, ‘I have 30 productive years ahead of me, and I want to spend them in a way that makes sense to me and makes me happy,’” Collins says. “The challenge for me is to help them identify why they’re not satisfied now, and how to move to the next phase.

“Many of these women have had wonderful non-paid work histories,” Collins continues. “They run organizations, work on committees, address neighborhood and school issues, and put together major charitable events and fund-raising campaigns. The fact is, they have skills and experience to do just about anything they choose, and that information most definitely belongs on their resumes. I try to help my clients realize the value of their volunteer experience, and connect that with their careers. Without that value piece as an underpinning, they often have a hard time finding satisfaction.”

This writer can attest to the value of showcasing volunteer work on a resume. A few years ago, while in the throes of a career transition, I served as a volunteer board member for a patient-services program of The American Cancer Society. In helping plan a multifaceted event, I co-wrote a video script, helped produce printed materials, and organized a workshop on women’s cancer issues. The event was a success and the video earned a recognition award from a local ad club. Referencing this activity on my resume has led to several lucrative freelance assignments that I would not otherwise have been offered.

Perceptions Are Changing

Collins says it’s gratifying to see that the perception of volunteerism has changed. Unlike 20 or 30 years ago, the value of volunteer contributions is recognized.

When you think about what’s involved in, for instance, organizing a charity golf tournament, “you realize that it takes organizational, management, marketing, and public relations skills, as well as dedication, stamina and a willingness to work very hard,” says Collins. “Those attributes are attractive to potential employers. And they can open up entire new career avenues that you might not have considered.”

Nate Breindel is one busy student. In addition to completing his last semester at Washington University in St. Louis with a major in marketing and psychology, he also owns and operates his own business.

“It’s especially difficult when you have three stores. There’s a lot going on. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything,” says Breindel.

The undergrad decided early on that he would rather work for himself than someone else. He opened his first on-campus store, called Nate’s Place, in August 2000. The store provides students with an array of services, including cellular telephones, test preparation and travel-arrangement services and computer repair.

Breindel came up with the idea for a student-focused store after he went to a nearby mall to buy a cell phone. He was upset with the service and soon realized that most students would rather go to an on-campus store geared toward their needs than drive several miles to a nearby mall.

“This is a platform for student-oriented services. We can add and take out,” says Breindel. He not only added services. He added stores. Breindel now operates three stores and employs seven part-time employees. In addition to the first store, he also operates a store at St. Louis University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

“With any luck, we’ll have five more next year,” says Breindel, who plans to continue the business after graduation. “I see the large state schools as the most lucrative. I think there eventually could be 350 Nate’s Place stores across the country.”

A Good Alternative

Starting a business now, while the job market is lousy, may be a good alternative to finding employment. At first glance, though, it might seem especially risky with the economy still in the doldrums. But Breindel may be on to something. Over the years, college-age students have started some of the largest and most successful companies. At the age of 17, Fred Deluca borrowed money from a friend and started Subway Restaurants. Paul Orfalea leased a garage, rented a copy machine and launched Kinko’s.

And now actually may be a good time to start a company, says Kenneth Harrington, professor of entrepreneurship at Washington University. Harrington has seen the entrepreneurship program at his school triple in size since the year 2000. Breindel is just one of 450 students in the program this year.

“If you find the right opportunity where you can make high margins and high growth and cover your capital needs, it’s possible that these types of businesses can get started without support financially in good times and bad times,” says Harrington.

But how do you go about finding the right opportunity? Harrington says the first and possibly the most important step is creating the idea. Think about major societal trends.

Next, look for pain. Harrington says it’s important to notice things that bother you. “If you see a major trend and see some things around that trend that are causing pain or not working well, then that creates an opportunity,” he says.

Who Will Buy and Why?

Once an opportunity is identified, ask questions to find out if the idea is promising. Who would get the most value of any offering? How much is that person willing to pay? How would you sell or distribute the product or service? “What we want to do is identify whether the opportunity is really real,” says Harrington.

If you still think the idea is promising, the next step is team formation. Decide what kind of team is needed to implement the business. What kinds of skills are needed? Who would play what role? What legal structure would be most appropriate? These questions help the entrepreneur to imagine what the business would look like.

Now comes the hard part: raising the necessary funds to get started. Since most college-age students would have problems raising money for a new venture, you may want to consider the bootstrap approach to entrepreneurship, which means starting a business with very little money.

“If you bootstrap, [your] idea has to be valuable enough for you to get the customer to give you high enough gross margins or terms on your offering, in terms of paying you early or paying you for your effort as you create your product. The value has to be high enough that they, in fact, are funding your business,” says Harrington.

He continues: “You could have a mediocre idea, execute flawlessly and be successful. But the probability to have an undergraduate execute flawlessly is low. Therefore, the opportunity has to be right, or we would recommend you not pursue it.”

Good Timing

A lack of family responsibilities is another reason why undergrads may want to consider starting a business, says Caron St. John, director of the Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson University in South Carolina. “It’s not as much risk for them to try to start a business as it would be for someone with a family and other obligations,” she says.

The key to success, according to St. John, is the student entrepreneur’s willingness to rely on others with experience. “If they’re willing to work with people who have experience in developing new businesses and launching them, then I think they’re much more likely to be successful than someone who wants to do it completely on their own.”

Help From Friends

Many students she works with are good at enlisting the free assistance of friends and family, she adds. “Often they enlist the support of others to give them time. That’s a wonderful source of bootstrap funds,” says St. John. “That goes beyond the ability to recognize an opportunity.”

Adam Witty, a marketing major at Clemson University, enlisted his friends and family to help him start a business. Witty launched TicketAdvantage in the fall of 2001 with the financial backing from his father and help from friends.

TicketAdvantage is an online secondary-market ticket exchange that allows season-ticket holders to sell their unused tickets. Witty spent about a year building the infrastructure of the business before launching it.

He says his biggest problem is skepticism from the business community. “It’s probably a little bit harder to get the attention and the respect of companies that you are trying to work with, because a lot of people think we’re just stupid kids,” he says.

Witty plans to continue the business after graduation and hopes it will eventually support him and the friends who are working with him. He advises other students who want to start businesses to follow their dreams.

“If you do have an idea, develop it, and if the pieces fit together, start a business,” he says. “Starting a business in school is a great opportunity. If you can get it going, then when you graduate, you won’t have to work for someone else.”

Like countless summer interns before her, Bonnie Ulmer stuffs envelopes, jots down messages and signs for packages. But you won’t find her hanging out at the mall after work — she’d rather be doting on her grandson.

Ms. Ulmer, 56, signed on to be an intern at consulting firm Triad Communication in Washington, working alongside a college student who listens to hip-hop and frets about life after graduation. Laid off and looking for something to do, she jumped at the grunt-work opportunity. “It’s all fun money for me.”

This summer, the regular crop of interns has some interlopers in its midst: the over-30 crowd. From small businesses and restaurants to large health-care companies and public-relations firms, eager workplace veterans are lining up for a shot at the bottom rung of the ladder for little or no pay, just like those college kids. And companies are happy to let them in the door. While only 5% of internships were open to folks past their college years in 1995, that number has climbed to 20% today, according to career-information company Vault Inc.

Some of these aging interns don’t have much choice, with jobs scarce in a down economy. Others say they’re using internships as a convenient way to try something different, take a break from the job track or just dabble. In New York, there’s a 35-year-old ex-VP playing pastry chef at an upscale restaurant. A Chicago TV station had a lawyer running errands for the boss.

But not all of these graying apprentices are winning friends, of course. For out-of-work veterans, the notion of companies beefing up their ranks with experienced workers in short-term internships can be infuriating. Then there are the young interns forced to work side-by-side with condescending boomers. Jonathan Krause, a 22-year-old law student, found himself teamed with an older intern at a government office. The woman not only patronized him, but snorted whenever she heard him making after-work plans to meet his friends at a bar. “At first I was irritated, then I tried to provoke her,” he says.

Internships used to be just for kids, of course. Then came the dot-com boom of the late ’90s, when jobs were plentiful and labor was scarce, and some employers were forced to go outside the traditional intern mold to fill their slots. Now that the economy has slowed, companies from public relations giant Fleishman-Hillard to law firm Cleary Gottlieb are welcoming older interns. And why not? It’s a way to get better help for less, and without a long-term commitment. McKesson Corp., a health-care information company, has five over-30 interns out of a total of 40 at one of its units.

Thrill of the Kitchen

That’s all just fine with dabblers like Marissa Rothkopf Bates, who is starting a six-week internship as a pastry chef’s apprentice at a tony New York seafood restaurant. When she was laid off from her job as a vice president at Oxygen Media, she quickly signed up for cooking school and a follow-up “externship.” After following a chef around for a day and whipping up chocolate treats, she exalted in the “adrenaline thrill” of the kitchen. But once she’s done garnishing desserts, she figures she’ll look for another media job: “I don’t actually see myself becoming a chef.”

Michael Feldman, a 34-year-old former software entrepreneur, actually converted his internship into a cushy new job. After seeing his business go down the tubes last year, Mr. Feldman talked a friend into bringing him on as an intern at his online food-delivery service, arguing there was no downside since he would only get paid on commission. He then negotiated flexible hours to accommodate his morning triathlon-training schedule. “Sometimes I’ll roll in the door at noon,” he says.

While nobody’s expecting a gigantic rush of middle-aged interns, the summer workplace may well continue to get more mature. For starters, rules about workplace equality make it tougher for employers to consider age when hiring. Earlier this year, one Massachusetts company was forced to revisit its internship policy after rejecting an applicant for being too old (the would-be intern complained to state authorities). Plus, many employers like having older interns around. At McKesson’s information solutions unit, senior vice president Terry Geraghty says it’s a no-brainer to bring summer help with years of experience into the fold.

‘Stop the World’

Still, these May-September internships can have drawbacks for both sides. Experts say some boomers are more likely to worry about what comes next rather than the internship itself. Others may think it’s fun to try something new, but should make sure they aren’t just trying to avoid the commitment of a real job. Says Lynn Friedman, a clinical psychologist and workplace consultant in Bethesda, Md.: “I see a lot of ‘Stop the world, I want to get off.’”

Even if interns are excited going in, they may find the glamour fades quickly when they see just how little money they are getting. Alex Livingston moved to Los Angeles to serve as the unpaid producer for “Wide Awake in Nothing,” a film-student friend’s movie about a group of rebellious factory workers. He had a blast working 15-hour days for seven weeks straight, but then he jumped at a paying job — as a software engineer.

Starting Over

Companies and organizations vary widely regarding their approach to employing older interns. Below, a sampling of some of the programs: