The University StudentEmployer U.S.E. Network

1
The University Student/Employer (U.S.E.)
Network Bryan Sullivan1, Steve Martens1, Rob
Davis1, Dan Gallaher1, Dr. Sergiu Dascalu1 and
Dr. Ara Nefian2 1Department of Computer Science,
University of Nevada, Reno 2Intel Corporation,
Santa Clara, CA
The User Interface
Abstract The University Student/Employer
(U.S.E.) Network is an interactive, web-based
application which serves to assist university
students and employers in making that all
important first connection. It is an exclusive,
web environment in which a university student can
post a resume and portfolio, or search for a job.
An employer can post job listings or search
student resumes for possible employees.
Currently, there are many web applications that
provide similar services. However, our system
differs in that it is tailored toward what a
university student has to offer to the job
market.

• Main Specifications
• The U.S.E. network uses PHP (server-side
  scripting language) for database interaction, SQL
  (Structured Query Language) for queries to our
  relational database, JavaScript (client-side
  scripting language) to aid in some aspects of web
  development and HTML for the underlying structure
  of our pages.
• The U.S.E. network runs on an Apache Web server.
• The U.S.E. network has the ability to be accessed
  24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• The U.S.E. network allows for the creation of
  unique user accounts in two different categories
  student and employer.
• The U.S.E. network requires that common contact
  and certain demographic information be entered
  upon initial user registration. Users choose
  their own login name and password.
• The U.S.E. network acknowledges successfully
  created accounts with a screen displaying
  confirmation information.
• The U.S.E. network allows registered users in the
  student category to add plain-text resumes as
  well as highlight courses they believe might make
  them stand out in their field of study.
  Additionally, registration information can be
  updated as needed.
• The U.S.E. network permits registered users in
  the employer category to add plain-text job
  postings as well as highlight specific aspects of
  a job they deem vital. All initial registration
  information can be updated as needed.
• The U.S.E. network allows students to search
  through registered employers job postings and
  their associated demographic information.
  Students may perform keyword-based searches or
  searches on predetermined criteria such as
  company/job location, field, majors sought, or a
  combination of these.
• The U.S.E. network allows employers to search
  though registered students resumes and their
  related demographic information. Employers may
  choose to perform keyword-based searches or
  searches by major, minor, G.P.A., etc., or a
  combination of these.

Figure 1 U.S.E. Net Home Page
Figure 2 U.S.E. Net Login Page
Figure 3 Student/My Info Page
Figure 4 U.S.E. Portfolio Page
General Description The U.S.E. network has two
major web environments student and employer. The
student environment allows the user to edit their
personal information, post a plain-text resume
and search the job postings. It also provides a
U.S.E. Portfolio, which allows the user to upload
files to a file container, in order to highlight
the students academic achievements. The student
user can also add class listings and descriptions
to the database to better convey their specific
areas of study to possible employers. The
employer environment provides a medium for
posting job descriptions and editing personal or
company information. Employers can also search
the student database for employees, using a
number of different criteria, including keywords,
student major/minor, college, and so forth. Both
these environments are protected with a login
name and password for each user that registers
into the system.
Figure 5 Student/Resume Page
High-Level Design
Special Features The U.S.E. Portfolio This file
container allows students to digitally display
their academic pursuits and achievements. The
U.S.E. portfolio makes simple work of uploading
pictures, programs, papers, and articles.
Searching employers have access to these
containers, and can even save them on their own
computers (Figure 4). Class Highlighting The
addition of this feature helps to illustrate a
students specific academic pursuits. Most
employers do not know exactly what a student has
learned by looking at his or her degree. This
feature breaks down this information barrier by
providing class descriptions and comments to
searching employers.
Goals The major goal of this project is to
provide university students with a better means
of getting a job. A students resume lacks work
experience. Current career oriented sites focus
on resumes, causing the less experienced students
to miss job opportunities. By making use of
features such as the U.S.E. portfolio and class
highlighting the students can more easily convey
their academic achievements and describe more
precisely their areas of study. This type of
environment can also aid employers in finding
highly specialized, less expensive student
employees. The site is intended to act as a
full-time job fair for students and employers.
This project was developed as part of the Senior
Projects course CS426, Instructor Dr. Sergiu
Dascalu, Spring 2003