Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Nancy Miller is learning basic computer skills at a "Meet the Mouse" class held at the Main Roanoke Library. The course helps those with little or no computer skills. Many job seekers find that they need to acquire those skills simply to search and apply for work.

The "Meet the Mouse" course offered by Roanoke Public Libraries helps those with little or no computer skills gain basic knowledge.

During a recent job fair in Roanoke, a man asked a company recruiter whether he could fill out an application on the spot.

Marianne Koperniak, a human resources professional for ITT Night Vision, replied, "No. I'm sorry, but you have to apply online."

Today, a growing number of businesses send job seekers to the Internet to apply. Many require applicants to submit resumes online and to provide an e-mail address.

Enter the "digital divide" -- the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, as well as a basic grasp of computer skills, and those who do not.

For Roanoke resident Angie Lewis, 43, and many other residents of Southwest Virginia, that gulf looms as a significant barrier during a time when competition for jobs is increasingly fierce.

"I don't know anything about computers and everyone is wanting resumes and applications filled out online and I don't know how to do it," she said. "It's frustrating."

U.S. Census Bureau data suggest that other residents of the region and the state share the feeling.

A report by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, based on 2007 census surveys, found that about 35 percent of rural households surveyed in Virginia report having no Internet access at home.

By comparison, about 22 percent of urban households lack access, according to the survey.

Other data suggest that the Roanoke Valley and Alleghany Highlands lag the state and, in some categories, the nation, in measures of educational attainment.

Some Southwest Virginia households simply cannot afford a computer. In others, many, like Lewis, have little understanding of how they operate.

And that can be a problem in the modern job market, acknowledged Jerry Barnett, assistant manager of the Virginia Employment Commission's Roanoke Workforce Center near Valley View Mall.

"My experience in working with customers in the VEC resource room confirms that many employers are using online applications and submission of resumes as the primary, and in some instances, the only way to apply for employment," Barnett said.

"In most cases, an e-mail address is a requirement," he said.

Barnett said he has helped job searchers create an e-mail account and navigate online applications that are not always user-friendly. He said many people who come to VEC "do not have computers at home and the only way they will be able to check their e-mail will be from a location like a library or a VEC resource room that have computers for the public to use."

'Meet the Mouse'

Lewis said she remains a licensed practical nurse but has been out of the work force for about 10 years.

Now, back in the hunt, Lewis discovered that her quest requires a new skill set.

"I decided, 'I've got to try to figure out how to do it,' " she said.

First, Lewis enrolled in a free, 90-minute class offered by Roanoke Public Libraries. Titled "Meet the Mouse" and taught by community technology center librarian Nathan Flinchum, the class begins with basics. As in, this is the mouse and this is the monitor and this is the tower. Flinchum, 29, then introduces students to the computer desktop, to icons and cursors, to double-clicking and opening files and programs.

Seven people attended. All were middle-aged or older.

Flinchum, who seems uncannily patient, said introducing people to computers not only helps them look for work, but also helps them find and keep it.

"It's not just for the application process," he said. "You need basic computer skills now for nearly every job."

Later, Lewis enrolled in another of Flinchum's classes: "Entering (or Re-Entering) the Workforce," which introduced her and one other student to Internet job searching, preparing and writing resumes and techniques for filling out applications online.

Sheila Umberger, director of Roanoke Public Libraries, said, "We're seeing a huge demand for job help. People are really desperate right now and offering computer classes fits right into our mission."

Employer mandates for online applications and e-mail accounts "can be a big barrier" for some, she said.

"A lot of people feel afraid of the computer," Umberger said.

Chuck Terrell is vice president of work force services for Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.

"You and I sit at our computer and we think the rest of the world knows what we know about how to use them," Terrell said.

Stress squared

Alison Doyle is a job search expert and author of "Internet Your Way to a New Job."

"Not having access to a computer and the Internet is definitely a challenge for the unemployed," Doyle wrote in an e-mail. "When a job seeker is already stressed by being out of work and having to get by on unemployment, having to seek solutions to find a new job just compounds the problem."

Robert Trumble is a professor of management at Virginia Commonwealth University and director of the Virginia Labor Studies Center.

Trumble said he does not understand why company representatives at job fairs do not accept written applications or ask a few simple screening questions during the event.

Online submissions of applications and resumes by people who are computer savvy can overwhelm a company, he said.

"You end up with a lot of chaff in the wheat," he said.

Many job seekers on the Internet will apply for anything and everything, Trumble said, even if they know little about a company or have few qualifications for the position advertised.

And the digital divide affecting job searches is not limited to socioeconomic status or educational attainment, Trumble said.

"It's a divide not just by income. It's a divide by age," he said.

Trumble said many people who have decades of work experience remember when employers made direct, human connections with applicants instead of referring them to a Web site.

"It's got to be tremendously discouraging. You see a person representing the company and they send you away. You really do feel like a number."