One of the most efficient methods of conducting research on the Internet is to use the World Wide Web. Some of the most effective ways to tap into this resource include visiting individual Websites, exploring subject directories and using search engines.

Individual Websites

If you know the Internet address of a site you want to visit, you can use a Web browser, such as Internet Explorer, to access the site directly. Just type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Web address into your browser window to pull up the site.

If you don’t know the address, make an educated guess. Web addresses of companies are often formatted as www.companyname.com (e.g., www.microsoft.com). University web addresses are typically formatted as www.universityname or acronym.edu (e.g., www.ilstu.edu or www.iwu.edu). Likewise, government agency addresses are typically formatted as www.agency name acronym.gov (e.g., www.hud.gov or www.doj.gov).

Subject Directories

Increasingly, universities, libraries, companies, organizations, and even volunteers are creating subject directories to catalog parts of the Internet. Directories are organized by topic and consist of links to Internet resources relating to a wide variety of areas. They are useful for researching general subjects, topics that need exploring, and for browsing.

To get an idea of the range of directories available on the Web, start with Internet Subject Directories (http://library.albany.edu/internet/subject.html). You can also explore popular private directories like Yahoo, The Open Directory Project and Looksmart. If you need scholarly material, try:

* The Librarians’ Index: (www.liii.org) — This is a great way to explore a large number and variety of sources. Supported by a federal grant, this directory is the result of a large number of Californian librarians selecting and annotating Web resources across a broad range of topics.

* The WWW Virtual Library: (www.vlib.org) — One of the oldest and most respected subject directories on the Web, this directory consists of individual subject collections, many of which are maintained at universities throughout the world.

* INFOMINE (www.infomine.ucr.edu) — A large directory of Web sites of scholarly interest compiled by the University of California, this resource can be browsed or searched by subject, keyword, or title. Each site listed is accompanied by a description.

Search Engines

Search engines allow the user to enter keywords relating to a topic and retrieve information about Internet sites containing those keywords. Many search engines compile a database spanning multiple Internet protocols, including HTTP, FTP, and Usenet. They may also search multimedia or other file types on what is known as the “deep Web.” Some of the most popular search engines are Google, MSN, Ask Jeeves and Alta Vista.

Technically, a search engine service consists of three parts, a spider, index and search engine mechanism. The spider is a program that combs the Web from link to link, identifying and reading pages. The index is a database containing a copy of each Web page gathered by the spider. And the search engine mechanism is software that enables users to query the index.

Here’s how search engines work: With most search engines, you fill out a form with your search terms and then ask that the search proceed. The engine explores its index and generates a page with links to those resources containing some or all of your terms. These resources are usually presented in ranked order according to term relevancy.

Check for Accuracy and Reliability

Since the Internet is a self-publishing medium, anyone with the necessary technical skills can place information on the Web. Therefore, it’s important to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of your research information. You should consider:

* Who published the information – A site maintained by a university or government organization is probably more reliable than one maintained by a private individual.

* Who wrote the information – You can probably assume that material written or otherwise provided by a known expert in the field is likely to be reliable.

* The age of the material – If you need current statistics, carefully check the age of the material you’ve found. A site dealing with historical information may not need updating as frequently as one related to news and current events.

* Why the material exists – Many special interest groups have Web pages. And while this doesn’t necessarily mean the material is biased, it’s something you should consider. Think about whether they might have some reason, other than pure helpfulness, for posting information.

For the most successful Internet research, try to cross-check the information you find as much as possible. Explore another site with similar material, ask someone who’s knowledgeable about the topic, review a book on the subject or weigh the information against what you already know.

Connecticut Secretary interviewed Bruce Clinton of ASearch, LLC, a Connecticut based executive search firm, and discussed the uniqueness of his business and the challenges faced by companies that need to make a critical hire.

Increasingly, companies are evaluating job candidates on how well they fit their corporate culture — not just the job.

It’s an important consideration, as shrinking budgets and economic uncertainty put a squeeze on corporate environments and demand smarter hiring practices.

Filling open positions can be a grueling, expensive and lengthy process. According to recent research by global human resources firm DBM, 94 percent find the average job search is taking four to six months, with the majority seeing most job seekers taking about five months to secure employment. And finding a new, senior-level position in the current job market takes more than 12 months, compared to about seven months in 1998.

To manage the more extensive search process, many companies are using personality assessments to find the right person for their company. In fact, one third of

2,100 human resource managers recently surveyed by the American Management Association were incorporating personality profiling into their hiring decision-making process.

Personality testing allows companies to go beyond first impressions and analyze the true value of candidates’ skills and character. The goal is to determine how the combination of the two will fit into the organization.

Considering a job candidate’s characteristics can help employers determine if that person has the right ability and adaptability for their work environment. For example: a new hire may have outstanding abilities, but if he doesn’t have the communication skills to work well with a team, he may not be the best candidate. The company may be better off hiring a great communicator with average skills that can be improved upon with training instead.

The bottom line is: Personality assessments can help companies hire the right employee — and retain them longer. And employee retention saves companies money and valuable time due to lost productivity and costs associated with recruiting and hiring.

In addition to personality testing, more businesses are relying on the expertise of innovative firms like ASearch LLC to help them identify the best candidates for the job and company. ASearch is a Connecticut executive search firm that heavily factors a potential employee’s character into the recruitment and hiring process.

In his 30 years of organizational development consulting, Bruce Clinton has watched too many poor executive hires endanger the success of organizations. But very few executives fail because of their resume, says Clinton, a founding partner of ASearch. “Most failures are due to lack of the right behavioral or cultural fit.”

If you only hire on experience, he poses, how do you deal with the behavior and chemistry that walks in the door? “We help the hiring authority get beyond the tip of the iceberg, which is the resume, experience, interview and references…to find the best fit for the organization’s culture and job requirements.”

ASearch takes an in-depth approach that helps its clients lower their transaction costs. The company provides value-added services such as a company culture analysis of the executive team. As a result, job candidates submitted to companies will all meet the cultural and behavioral requirements for the position and will have third-party assessments to verify their qualifications. Therefore, their clients generally only need to review a few candidates to find the best match.

ASearch’s process guarantees the suitability of candidates and removes the risk of a poor fit. “Our value proposition is not offered by all search firms,” Clinton says. “As a matter of fact, I don’t know of any that do all we do.”

The company’s approach is evidenced by its bold slogan: “We go beyond the search. We take the risk and doubt out of your next critical executive hire.”

ASearch is a major New England search firm that represents decades of organizational development, executive search and assessment experience. Following are questions and answers about the company’s background and perspective on the executive search process. More information is available at the company’s Website at www.asearchllc.com.

Q: Why did you start ASearch?

A: I saw this as an opportunity to fill a gap in an under serviced and misunderstood market of closely-held businesses. I believe small and medium sized businesses are the key to our economic growth and felt that this retained search business could make a positive difference. And between my background and that of my two partners, we had an exceptional value to offer key executives and company owners.

Q: Tell us about your experience.

A: My background is over 30 years of organizational development consulting to closely-held and family businesses. Prior to this, I was owner and president of a residential real estate business with two locations plus a new home sales division; president and owner of a land development company; and general partner of a limited partnership which developed 200 acres of land into a luxury subdivision of 96 lots. I later joined the consulting company that helped me build my real estate business when I sold it to one of my managers in the mid-seventies.

Q: What about your partners and their experience?

A: Anthony Townley has over thirty years of staffing and executive search experience. He conducts our searches once the position requirements have been defined. Barry Foster has extensive assessment knowledge and is a leader and innovator in the business and executive coaching profession. Barry and I procure the retained search assignments, facilitate the development of the position requirements with the position development team and the selection team, and coach the integration process of the new executive.

Q: Describe the typical client you work with.

A: Closely-held companies with a sweet spot of $25-100 million in sales. We have worked with organizations with sales of $4 million to over $300 million. We deal mostly with the CEO or President of the organization or the COO.

Q: Can you give us an overview of your company and its services?

A: ASearch takes the risk and doubt out of the next critical hire an organization makes. We take an organizational development approach to make this a reality. We help our clients understand their culture, define the position and the goals for the first 30, 60, 90 and next 180 days with agreed upon evidence of goal accomplishments, required and desired experience and education and the objective psychometrics required for the new position based on the understanding of the culture and position requirements. We also make sure that the selection team understands its role in making this new key person successful. Finally, we coach the integration process of the new hire with reviews at the 45- and 90-day time periods. At that time, if all parties are progressing as expected, we extend our guarantee for the balance of the first year from the date of hire.

Q: Any additional information about your services?

A : Because we become so knowledgeable about an organization and are able to provide so much value, we often reach the level of trusted advisor and are asked to assist in other organizational development type assignments. In this case, we will do the assignment or bring in other professionals who we have worked with to perform the services on behalf of ASearch and the client.

Q: Have most of your clients had a negative hiring experience?

A: Yes. Almost all of our current search clients have had a poor hire in a similar position or understand the value of getting the right fit the first time.

Q: Can you give us an idea of how much money is lost due to these failures?

A: It’s hard to gauge the lost opportunity costs — which are the higher costs — lost business, turnover of good employees, lost production and bad comments about an organization which means opportunities you will never get or know why. On the tangible side, are the transaction costs, advertising, resume culling, extensive interview time, training costs of the wrong person once hired, lost wages and benefits, placement fees, law suits for wrongful discharge, contractual costs, relocation costs and contractual separation costs if the executive is let go for any reason but cause. Minimum figures for turnover of an executive have been four to five times the annual salary.

Q: Why have those employees failed?

A: If you interview companies, you will find a lack of cultural fit (chemistry) and behavior that did not allow the new hire to perform i.e. no sense of urgency, low energy, not able to make a decision or hold people accountable, etc.

Q: What are the challenges you see facing employers who are trying to do it on their own?

A: Understanding the real requirements of the position and their culture, being able to get below the surface or tip of the iceberg to match the position requirements to the candidate, determine what is success early on as well as long term, integrating the new hire into the organization and working out the rough spots — especially if the position requires different behavior(s) than the current culture.

Q: At what point do employers give up their own attempts and seek your help?

A: I am not sure…the need to know that there is a better way than the traditional search firm… Otherwise they will continue on a hit or miss proposition. I knew of one firm that turned over a key executive position three or more times and still did not get it right.

Q: Can you quantify the retention rate of employees who were sourced on their own, compared to those hired using your firm’s services?

No, but the cost of any turnover is great …We know that if you know how to define your culture and the position and have objective means of measuring the culture and behaviors required for success in this culture doing the position requirements, with the right experience and education you will have little chance of turning over the position. That is why we offer an unprecedented one-year guarantee to everyone who uses our process.

Think of marketing as a continuous process, not a single event. It typically begins with creating an identity for your business … a name, logo, tagline, etc. It extends to product/service creation, manufacturing, packaging, advertising, promotions, sales, customer service, shipping and delivery. It can involve any number of tools brochures, direct mail, websites, postcards, press releases and print, radio and TV advertising.

Now that you understand these fundamentals of marketing, you’re ready to engage in guerilla marketing warfare.

Guerrilla marketing is marketing that is unorthodox and often revolutionary. Unlike traditional marketers, guerrilla marketers throw out the rule book and apply creative, flexible strategies to achieve results — rather than money. In a nut shell, guerrilla marketing can help you work smarter, not harder. And it can save you time and money.

Here’s a good example of guerrilla marketing: A new home security business wanted to gain clients as quickly and cost-effectively as possible in a market dominated by a well-established competitor. The rivaling company offered basic service, but had built a reputation for outstanding customer service.

To overcome this competitive challenge, the home security business decided to offer a more comprehensive product and included a 100-percent, money-back satisfaction guarantee. It also offered free security seminars to neighborhood watch groups, discounts for referrals and complimentary security audits to customers who signed up for a time period. The new approach worked like a charm. Within several months of opening, the business received double the amount of customer sign-ups it had originally anticipated.

Here are some simple ways you can you capitalize on guerrilla marketing:

* Invest time, energy and creativity into marketing, instead of money.

* Use a blend of marketing weapons, instead of a single tool.

* Carefully focus all of your marketing tactics, instead of using a random approach.

* Tailor marketing messages to individuals, instead of groups.

* Focus on making long-term relationships, rather than sales.

* Form mutually-beneficial business partnerships.