Two new websites to aid employment and combat pornography
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Employment searches and pornography addiction are the subjects of two new Church websites that have been in the works for quite some time.
On April 28, the Church publicly notified local priesthood leaders about the immediate availability of ldsjobs.org and combatingpornography.org.
LDS jobs
The ldsjobs.org site has actually existed since 2003, but at the end of last year it underwent a complete overhaul and redesign. For the past six months, it's been in use during the beta stage of development.
New features on the employment website include a wider database for online job searches and the option for employers to search résumés of would-be job seekers in order to find qualified applicants.
"We are calling it a new site because the only thing the same from the original is the [address]," said Jeff Newey, manager of training for Welfare Services. "If you are looking for a job, if you are looking for better employment, if you are a small-business person struggling with employment, if you are a leader who is trying to help a person with employment, it will help you. It is where we wanted to be when we first launched [in 2003]."
Keith C. Barnett, manager of the California Fountain Valley Welfare Employment Resource Center, is enthusiastic about the new design of ldsjobs.org after several months' worth of teaching job seekers how to utilize the site's myriad features. According to Brother Barnett, ldsjobs.org places a magnitude of job-searching power previously available only at physical Welfare Employment Resource Center facilities into the hands of any motivated Church member with Internet access.
"It's just incredible," he said. "It's a wonderful tool for us to use in that it really extends our reach. It can reach a lot more people; it can serve a lot more people in need of employment, throughout the country and internationally. People [who] can't get into a center or don't have a center in their stake or a volunteer center, they'll find and access jobs."
Although Brother Barnett lauds the new website, he also cautions that searching for jobs online can never come close to replacing the need for good, old-fashioned networking.
"This is not a typical Internet search — this is more than that because this is a bit more interactive," he said. "But still, the research tells us that between 70-80 percent of jobs are filled via networking and developing contacts."
Under the "Job Search Tips" tab, ldsjobs.org offers a series of downloadable handouts covering a wide range of employment-related topics such as Surviving Unemployment and Effective Networking.
Combating pornography
The emphasis points of combatingpornography.org are multifaceted. The site not only contains information about how to prevent pornography addiction, but also offers content about recognizing and overcoming existing addictions.
"This is probably the best site in the world for helping people who have problems with a pornography addiction," Brother Newey said.
"There is support information for spouses, guidance to Church leaders and guidance for parents and youth. … The site is gospel-centered for Church members, but it will help anyone with this problem."
The combatingpornography.org home page offers PDF downloads of two Church pamphlets: "Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing," which includes a Christ-centered, 12-step recovery program; and "Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts: Avoiding and Resisting Pornography."
