Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

The Internet has brought about changes in the job search and application process. For this article, recruiters at several large commercial banks in the US were inter viewed on the usage of Internet recruiting tools. The interviews identified a number of trends that are fairly uniform across these banks, including the following:

1. Recruiters are using the Internet at an increasing rate.

2. While job site services are popular, most recruiters we interviewed preferred using the corporate Website.

3. The percentage of Internet-recruited applicants actually hired varies widely and is still a small percentage of the whole.

4. Diversity programs are not hampered by Internet recruiting.

Instructors who want to improve their teaching often do not know how to identify the changes they need or want to make. This article offers practical suggestions on course planning and class preparation, effective communication, questioning and responding, assessment and evaluation. The focus is on providing a method of observing the process of teaching and learning. If teachers know how to observe themselves, they can more easily establish a personal style that motivates their students.

Building on student and faculty enthusiasm for Web resources, we addressed four significant questions as we revised a business communications class to incorporate the Internet:

• What Web resources should we include?

• How do we make sure we select high quality sites and assessment tools?

• How do we effectively integrate Web tools with existing pedagogies?

• Will students find Web assignments valuable, easy to access, and useful for course assignments?

We integrated Web resources with other course pedagogies in the undergraduate business communications class and identified Websites relevant for teaching employment communication, including e-mail etiquette, online resumes, and elec tronic job searches. Student evaluations of our Web-enhanced course indicate that most found the Web-based assessments and tools accessible and valuable in fur thering their self-understanding and in leading them to explore other sites not required for class. We developed guidelines for using the new technology to support teaching and learning strategies.