¡¡Less than a month from graduation day, Theresa Smith of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, had yet to find the right job. The career placement center referred the liberal-arts major to JOB-TRAK, an Internet site listing 45,000 entry-level positions. ¡¡

¡¡Smith selected four keywords: Chicago, business, marketing and full-time. Immediately she found 45 jobs meeting her criteria, including one as an assistant to an administrator at the University of Chicago¡¯s business school. Four weeks later she was hired at a starting salary of $32,000.¡¡

¡¡¡°I had no training,¡± says Smith, ¡°but the Internet was extremely easy to use. I¡¯d never have known about this job without it.¡±¡¡

¡¡Smith is one American who clicked her way into a job. Steven Tools is another.¡¡

¡¡In 1996, the Rockville, Md., resident came across an employment site named CareerBuilder. He had just been promoted to director of marketing for a company that produces tradeshow exhibits and wasn¡¯t looking for a job. But curious, he decided to ¡°give it a try.¡±¡¡

¡¡Tools filled out a profile with the keywords marketing manager and entered his electronic-mail address. Within a week his computer¡¯s mailbox was filling up with available positions. Two interviews later he jumped to a new job. ¡°The Internet is like hiring a personal assistant,¡± says Tools. ¡°Effortlessly you can become aware of opportunities that may elevate your career.¡±¡¡

¡¡Even a couple of years ago, most job listings on the Internet were in high-tech fields. Today, non-technical jobs ¡ª salesclerks, bank tellers, secretaries, for example ¡ª are the fastest growing segment of Internet employment opportunities. Most major newspapers and trade publications have online versions of their classified listings, enabling job-seekers to scan for work available across town, in another state, or around the world. ¡¡

¡¡Madeline Gragg and Nedzad Dozlic are still another two who clicked their luck online. ¡¡

¡¡In 1996, Madeline Gragg, a 28-year-old high school teacher from St. Louis, wanted a change. When a friend mentioned teaching English in Japan, Gragg was intrigued. ¡¡

¡TShe visited the popular Yahoo! website and typed teaching English in Japan for a list of employment opportunities. She then followed the procedure for the online application. A week later she received a call and set up an interview with a recruiter in Chicago and got the job.

¡TNedzad Dozlic, 27 years old, was scanning the Houston Chronicle¡¯s Web site for the latest baseball trades. While online, he decided to check out the classifieds and spotted a job for a driver at a local car dealership. A refugee of the war in Bosnia, Dozlic had had a variety of jobs but was now ready for something new. He read more about the position on the dealer¡¯s Internet site and called the number listed. Two days later he was hired. ¡°It¡¯s really funny,¡± he says, ¡°I was just checking sports, and I ended up with a better job.¡± ¡¡

¡¡Another valuable use of the Internet is to research potential employers. When Wendy Mello started her job search in the summer of 1997, she logged on to CareerBuilder, where she learned of a human resources opening at Arbitron¡¯s, a media-information-services company in Columbia, Maryland. With a click of her mouse, Mello sent her r¨¦sum¨¦ to the company via e-mail and soon received an invitation for an interview. ¡¡

¡¡To find out more about the company, she clicked on to Artitron¡¯s home page and that of its parent company, Ceridian Corp., where she reviewed an annual report and the company¡¯s financial performance. ¡¡

¡¡Mello also wanted to know how much she¡¯d have to earn to maintain her present standard of living. Using an online salary calculator, she typed in her current salary, $34,000, and Baltimore (the nearest big city to Columbia). Within seconds her computer flashed $44,000. ¡°Because of the salary calculator, I knew what to ask for,¡± says Mello. ¡¡

¡¡By accessing an online real estate service, she saw color photos of rental properties, including detailed floor plans. When Mello arrived in Columbia, she felt completely prepared. The interview was a success, and the next day she was offered a job at a salary of $47,800. ¡¡

¡¡¡°The Internet is easy to use and it works,¡± says one job seeker, ¡°What more could you want?¡± ¡¡