If you are going to search for a job, you are going to need a resume, of course. Most job boards and employer Web sites want you to "paste" a copy of your resume in the space provided for this purpose so they have the opportunity to review your background and qualifications. It you don't already have a resume, you're going to need one in any case.

If you are not comfortable with computers, try your children. Today, most children of school age are suite skilled at using a computer and can teach you a thing or two. If you don't have children, perhaps you have a niece or nephew who might be willing to give you a hand. You might also try the regional office of your state employment service. Many are well equipped with computers, and there is usually a counselor available who can lend a hand in getting your resume posted on the more popular Internet job boards.

By the way, posting your resume on most major job boards will cost you absolutely nothing. That's about as good a deal as you can find these days. The only thing it will cost is the time it takes to post it. Once posted on the job board Web site, your resume is than stored in a searchable resume database that employers pay a small fee to search. There are now thousands of employers and perhaps millions of recruiters using these resume databases to find qualified candidates for their job openings. So, you'll want your resume to be there!

Having a resume can be an enormous timesaver. If responding to a newspaper ad, for example, it is much easier and faster to send the employer a resume rather than make a trip to the employer's office to pick up and fill out an employment application. In the time it would take you to go to a single employer's office to pick up an application, you could easily send out a dozen or so resumes to other employers, thus greatly increasing your chances of landing a job interview sooner.

This is doubly true when the employer's ad provides an e-mail address to which your resume can be immediately sent. In such cases, the employer can have your resume in a matter of seconds. You could well be contacted by the employer and scheduled for a job interview before a second candidate, who has not e-mailed his or her resume, has even arrived at the same employer's office to pick up an employment application.

Things can happen fast on the Internet. There was a case where a job seeker was turned down during a job interview in the morning, returned to his office in the late morning to find an e-mail invitation for a job interview with another company early that same afternoon. By the end of the day, he was offered and accepted that job. Thanks to the Internet, it all happened in a half day. Sometimes, it can be just that quick.