Hunting for a job late last year, Lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across Career Builder, a job database on the Internet. He searched it with no success but was attracted by the site"s "personal search agent". It"s an interactive feature that lets visitors key in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then E-mails them when a matching position is posted in the database. Redmon chose the keywords legal, intellectual property and Washington, D.C. Three weeks later, he got his first notification of an opening. "I struck gold," says Redmon, who E-mailed his resume to the employer and won a position as in-house counsel for a company.
With thousands of career-related sites on the Internet, finding promising openings can be time-consuming and inefficient. Search agents reduce the need for repeated visits to the databases. But although a search agent worked for Redmon, career experts see drawbacks. Narrowing your criteria, for example, may work against you: "Every time you answer a question you eliminate a possibility," says one expert.
For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept—what you think you want to do—then broaden it. "None of these programs do that," says another expert. "There"s no career counseling implicit in all of this." Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database ; when you get E-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database again. "I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me," says the author of a job-searching guide.
Some sites design their agents to tempt job hunters to return. When Career Site"s agent sends out messages to those who have signed up for its service, for example, it includes only three potential jobs—those it considers the best matches. There may be more matches in the database; job hunters will have to visit the site again to find them—and they do. "On the day after we send our messages, we see a sharp increase in our traffic," says Seth Peets, vice president of marketing for Career Site.
Even those who aren"t hunting for jobs may find search agents worthwhile. Some use them to keep a close watch on the demand for their line of work or gather information on compensation to arm themselves when negotiating for a raise. Although happily employed, Redmon maintains his agent at Career Builder. "You always keep your eyes open," he says. Working with a personal search agent means having another set of eyes looking out for you.
单选题
How did Redmon find his job?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。文章第一段就是介绍Redmon如何找到工作的。该段中讲到去年年末Redmon找工作时，偶然发现了Career Builder，一个网上的求职资料库(a job database on the Internet)。然后Redmon使用资料库的“个人搜索代理”(personal search agent)，敲入了法律、知识产权和华盛顿特区这几个关键词，三周后就接到了空缺职位的通知。接着他把个人简历用电子邮件发送给了雇主，从而获得了一个公司内部法律顾问的工作。由此可见C项“使用一个资料库的特殊服务”是他找到工作的方式，其中special service指的就是网站上提供的“personal search agent”这种服务。A项中的“搜寻空缺职位”和B项中的“邮寄相匹配的职位”都是“personal search agent”代替当事人做的事情。
单选题
Which of the following can be a disadvantage of search agents?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。第二段第三句提到“...career experts see drawbacks(职业专家们看到了它的缺点)”，随后就具体列举出了一个缺点：每缩小一次搜索条件，对求职或应聘者来说就意味着失去了一次机会。另外，在第三段也提到了一个缺点“整个系统中没有任何关于就业咨询的内容(There"s no career counseling implicit in all of this)”，其中的this指的是前文中的job searching programs(搜索代理)，所以选A。
单选题
The expression "tip service" (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。第三段第四句中提到“Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database”(相反，最佳策略是把“代理”当作一种提示性服务，来及时跟踪一个特定数据库里的工作信息)，随后的内容“when you get E-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database again”是对这种策略的具体说明，所以tip service与reminder的意思接近。
单选题
Why does Career Site"s agent offer each job hunter only three job options?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。第四段第二句中提到“When Career Site"s..., for example, it includes only three potential jobs...”，由其中的for example可知，此句中举出的例子是为了说明前面一句中的论点，即“Some sites design their agents to tempt job hunters to return”(一些网站设计“代理”时考虑让它诱使求职者回访网站)。而且后文中的内容具体说明如何诱使求职者再次访问网站的：查找数据库中更多的匹配职位。所以选B。
单选题
Which of the following is true according to the text?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。最后一段首句提到“Even those who aren"t hunting for jobs may find search agents worthwhile. ”，其中的worthwhile(有价值的)和C项中的helpful意思相近，所以C项“个人搜索代理对那些已经就业的人也有用”正确。根据前面的内容可知，搜索代理也有缺点，最好的策略是把它当作一种提示性服务，所以A项“对于求职者来说个人搜索代理是必不可少的”是错误的；最后一段第二句讲到“一些人利用搜索代理(发来的电子邮件)密切关注职业市场对于自己行业的需求”，所以B项错误；根据最后一段中的“Although happily employed, Redmon maintains his agent at Career Builder. ”可知，就业后还可以继续使用搜索代理服务，所以D项错误。