NEED A JOB? ASK YOUR COMPUTER 

If you think want ads are the only place to find jobs, think again. Try your computer.

A new computer network, called IPMnet, is being set up as a joint venture between BCE Information Services Ltd., a subsidiary of BCE Inc., the holding company for Bell Telephone and Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd., part of the Hutchison Whampoa group, an important part of the Li Ka-shing empire.

What has this got to do with finding a job? Well the first service to go "on-line" at this new network will be listings from Hong Kong companies that are seeking employees. These companies will list their requirements on-line in Hong Kong. Seconds later they will be available on a computer data base in Canada. After studying who is looking for what, you make your selection and call a local number and then enter your resumes for study by employers in that bustling Asian city. Mobility is a must in the new age. Two of my colleagues will be moving from Vancouver to Hong Kong in January, 1990.

Electronic want ads, according to John Kyriaco, Managing Director of INET Hong Kong, are the outgrowth of requests from Hong Kong's Institute of Personnel Managers who realized they had to canvas the world to find solutions to Hong Kong's current labor shortage. Many former colony residents will likely return to Hong Kong after they have met Canada's or another country's requirements for citizenship. Regardless of what happens in Hong Kong in 1997, they will have "insurance papers" for possible return to Canada. Meanwhile, they can cash in on the high salaries being offered in that world-renowned marketplace today.

This method speeds up such expensive recruiting processes as phone, fax and personal visits by recruiters overseas or trips to Hong Kong to look for such positions.

Business in Hong Kong is still booming (generally up 35%?) last year. This has created a strong demand for middle managers (of which Canada has an abundance) among many Hong Kong organizations. Some 45,000 workers left Hong Kong last year (about 50 percent moved to Canada) leaving a big gap in that already-tight labor market.

Go West young woman. To the Near West, (formerly known as the Far East). Naturally, it helps if you speak Cantonese. More information: BCE Information Services Ltd., (voice line) 514/954-4386.

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