April 1999 Column
ARE YOU INTERNET
READY?
This
column is normally about Internet Recruiting but since nothing can be more
frustrating than trying to “surf the net” with the wrong type of equipment,
we decided to back up a bit and have a primer on this topic. Since costs for
both hardware and software are at an all-time low and placement revenues are at
an all-time high there is little reason why anyone should settle for less that
the optimal system for internet recruiting.
There
are certain “minimum standards” for your next PC or upgrade regarding CPU
speed, Hard Drive size, RAM, Monitor size, Video memory and Modem speed. You can
work with less but with the wrong equipment, your Internet recruiting experience
can be time consuming and frustrating.
The
motherboard is the large green board inside your computer case. These are
manufactured by dozens of companies and are all fairly standard. Most of the
motherboards out there have what is called a 66 MHz bus. The only reason I
mention motherboards is that there are now motherboards with a 100 MHz bus. Your
data travels via the bus back and forth from your peripherals to the CPU and to
the RAM. The faster the bus, the better performance you have on you system. Do
not upgrade your system solely to get the faster bus but when purchasing a new
system you will want to price the faster system.
Motherboards
normally come with a CPU or “chip”. This is the “brains” of the PC that
does most of the actual processing. The CPU is normally a black or gray square
that fits into a specialized socket on your motherboard. On Pentium systems
there is a small fan on top of the CPU. Many of the Pentium systems out there
run anywhere from 75 MHz to 166 MHz but these are older, slower systems. Your
CPU should have a minimum 200 MHz speed but with the lower prices these days you
should really be shooting for a 300+ MHz speed for a reasonable price. After a
good month, treat yourself to a 400-450 MHz system for a real enjoyable PC
experience.
For
years the 14” inch monitor was the standard. If you use you PC for more that
10 minutes per day, do not even think about a monitor less than 17”. The costs
have come down for this size drastically in the last couple of years and can not
be found in the $200 to $300 range. Worth every penny. Also, make sure the
monitor has at least a dot pitch (the smaller the dot pitch the sharper the
picture) of .28 with a .26 being much better.
This
is the PC card that your monitor plugs into. There are ISA, PCI, AGP and
On-Board video systems in use today. If you are using ISA video, you are
probably still using a 386 or 486 and need a new system today.
PCI video was the norm and standard for years and is still in widespread
use. Many new systems today are sold with PCI video but more and more come with
AGP or On-Board video. The technical issues comparing these technologies are
beyond the scope of this article but AGP is supposed to be faster than PCI
(faster = better). On an existing system, a video upgrade is a job that can
produce a lot of results for a reasonable price. Most video cards have their own
memory on the card. If you have a video card with 1 or 2 Mb of video RAM, you
need an upgrade. The Internet is one large graphic after another.
Some older motherboards do not support AGP as it requires a specialized
slot. If yours does, (see PC documentation) consider using it. If not, look for
a quality PCI video card with at least 4Mb of video RAM. Some of the newer AGP
video cards are being sold with 8Mb of RAM. An excellent choice. On-Board video
is not new but is being used more on newer systems now. On-Board video is a fast
method but since the video components are built directly on to the motherboard,
this system uses you CPU RAM instead having its own RAM. Also, this type of
video system is hard to upgrade.
Most
modems in use today are analog modems that use the same lines we use for voice
communications. After years of debate the standard for analog modem
communications has finally been agreed upon. All new modems will now use the
V.90 standard. If your modem does not support this standard you will probably
not experience optimal performance on the Internet.
Many older modems are upgradable via a software download from the
manufacturer. Check your modem manufacturer’s website for this information.
Aside
from analog, there are a few other choices. ISDN is the most common alternative
and is 3 to 4 times faster than analog depending on you ISP service. ISDN usage
has become more widespread over the last few years. Many people think it is too
expensive but our ISDN provider in St. Louis, Southwestern Bell, provides this
service for about the cost of two voice lines. Not bad considering that with
ISDN you actually get two phone lines and two phone numbers that can also be
used for fax and voice communications.
Other
alternatives are Cable modems you get from your cable TV service. These are
potentially very fast but you share the service with many other cable modem
customers. Not all cable TV companies offer this service but if yours does, it
may be a great option for a while but as the service becomes more popular, I
foresee a slowdown in speed as more and more people share the same service. ADSL
is around the corner. Supposed to be much faster than analog or ISDN. Normally
offered by your telephone company but not in widespread use. Can’t wait.
A
note on WinModems. These are inexpensive modems that you can purchase as an
upgrade component or with a new system. These are fine except they do no
processing on the modem and force you system CPU to do all he work. Slightly
cheaper that non-WinModems but not worth the extra overhead to your system.
Also,
do not forget there are ways to tweak the Port settings on your PC for better
modem performance.
Strictly
optional. There are no resume or job posting boards that I belong to that use
sound. But overall more and more websites are integrating sound. Almost any
sound card and speaker will do for website sounds. If you are going to install
this component yourself (not advised), get a Plug-n-Play device. A lot of new
systems have the sound system integrated onto the motherboard and these work
fine except they are harder to upgrade.
Should
you upgrade to Windows 98 or leave well enough alone with Windows 95? Most
people have mixed feelings as do I. There are a couple of compelling reasons to
upgrade to Windows 98, the least of which is Active Desktop - the feature
Microsoft touts as integrating your desktop with the Internet. No one I know
that has used this feature likes it and thank goodness you can turn it off.
Windows 98 does, however, use the FAT32 method of organizing your hard drive.
Older Windows 95 systems use the FAT 16 method. Again, without going into a lot
of technical jargon the FAT 32 method makes much more efficient use of your hard
drive space and although that is not directly related to Internet recruiting,
more hard drive space equates to more space for resume downloads. Windows 98
also comes with the Windows Update feature whereby you dial into the Microsoft
website, and you can automatically download all the proper updates and patches
Microsoft offers for your system. This helps to eliminate the nightmare of
manually downloading the numerous updates and patches Microsoft normally makes
available to fix bugs that should have been fixed prior to release. Having said
all that, you do not have to upgrade to Windows 98 to take advantage of FAT32
and Active Desktop. FAT32 is available on the latest release of Windows 95 –
OSR2 and Active Desktop is available for Windows 95 users via an upgrade to
Internet Explorer version 4.x.
My
first PC was a 386 with 8 Mb of RAM, a 14” monitor, no CD ROM, no sound
card/speakers, a dot matrix printer and cost around $1,800.00. Today that same
system would be used as a doorstop somewhere and you can purchase excellent,
Internet ready systems for way less than $1,000.00. I have recently seen systems
with video and sound integrated onto the motherboard in the $400.00 to $500.00
range (monitor not included). If you are willing to go to the $700.00 to $900.00
you will get the newer 100MHz bus motherboards with the newer AGP/8Mb video
system and fast 32-40x CD ROM’s. Splurge and enjoy.
Before
you can properly utilize the Internet as a business resource you must have the
proper PC. We have covered the major components important for Internet
recruiting success. Most of the
items covered in this article are reasonably prices and well worth the price.
Most are also either easy to install yourself or easily upgraded by a
professional at a reasonable price.
Reader
Jeff Cravens had a few of his favorite Internet sites of interest to recruiters
to add:
Homefair.com
- Has a
salary calculator to compare cost of living in different cities as well as city
reports (schools, crime, taxes, etc.). An excellent tool to help sell a specific
location. Combines many of the features you have given all in one place.
Hoovers.com
- Offers
great information on thousands of companies (sales, P&L, % of new hiring as
well as executives names).
Pointcast.com
- Very
similar to Microsoft network except more business oriented. The one location for
industry specific information as well as weather, stocks, and updates on
executives who have recently changed jobs.
Thanks
to Jeff for his assistance!
Reader
Jackie Neva asked me a question I had no answer for. She was wondering I knew of
a state by state directory or list of the primary "local" job boards.
I referred her to Mark Gottwald of IIRC but other that I couldn’t help her. If
anyone knows of a site with this information please drop Jackie an email at jneva@alliancenetwork.com.