New Job-Search Options

Craigslist.org and networking sites

Although Monster, CareerBuilder and Yahoo! HotJobs remain the largest job sites, there's evidence that job seekers and employers are finding more targeted ways to look for a potential position or candidate. While it didn't specifically start out as a job-hunt site, the online classifieds website Craigslist.org has been growing in usefulness as a job-search resource. Indeed, Craigslist boasts that its job boards have millions more daily page views than either Monster or CareerBuilder.

Employers are able to post ads to Craigslist.org for free or at a nominal cost, in contrast to the hundreds of dollars the major job boards charge per ad. This makes Craigslist.org attractive to smaller employers and to those posting more esoteric jobs. The site is organized by city and state, and the listings represent a good cross-section of locally available opportunities. Jobs are categorized by industry, with the most recent postings listed first. There is also a keyword search engine with a few filtering options. Part-time and temporary jobs are listed separately under "gigs." Other career sites are blocked from gathering ads from Craigslist.org, so its postings generally won't show up on aggregator sites like SimplyHired.com or Indeed.com.

Job seekers may post resumes on Craigslist.org, but it's important to take privacy precautions since anyone can view what you post. Likewise, take precautions with responses, since anyone may pose as a representative from a company. Take the time to do your own follow-up work to make sure the offer is legitimate. All personal information other than an e-mail address should be removed from your resume. Job-Hunt.org offers detailed guidelines on "Your Cyber-Safe Resume," tailored to sites like Craigslist.org.

Another trend is the increasing recognition of networking sites as an effective alternative to the major job sites. The professional networking service LinkedIn is cited by PC Magazine as "by far the most developed" of these. Users can create a LinkedIn account and post personal profiles detailing their skills and experience. Headhunters browsing the site for employees with relevant experience may contact individuals after seeing their profiles. Each profile includes an option to add contacts and references from past and current colleagues, and enlarging your network increases the chances of a recruiter (or even just a colleague that knows about an open position) noticing your profile. According to About.com's Alison Doyle, "LinkedIn members comprise 130 different industries, and include 130,000 recruiters." Mega-sites CareerBuilder and Monster are following this trend and now give users the option to create a business networking profile.

LinkedIn.com's members can invite others to join their list of connections and thus build a network. In addition, your contacts may provide referrals to people they list on their profiles, increasing your ability to make personal connections with those you otherwise would never meet. Members may search the site for those with the same background, university or experience, potentially leading to fresh opportunities. LinkedIn's primary function is social networking rather than job searching, but the site does have job listings and a search function. A tool called JobInsider allows users to open any job ad on Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, Craigslist, SimplyHired, Dice or Vault, and then find out who in their network is employed by the hiring company. JobInsider also gives users tools to request an introduction with the hiring manager and mention the employees the user already knows. This gives LinkedIn job seekers an advantage over others who just anonymously respond to an ad, since LinkedIn users already have an "in" with the hiring manager. Creating a profile at LinkedIn.com is free.

Jobster.com is a site that combines advertising and recruiting services for companies with social-networking and job-search features. User profiles and employee reviews of corporations appear on the site along with resume posts and searchable job listings. In addition, Jobster's interface with the social-networking site Facebook.com allows users to create a "talent network" listing the user's professional connections. CareerBuilder.com, Dice.com, SimplyHired.com and HotJobs.com have also developed applications linking their postings to Facebook.