Job Site Review

Starting a job search

The most thorough and up-to-date reviews of job websites are conducted by editors at PC Magazine. An article from The Wall Street Journal reports on some employers' preference for advertising on niche sites. Another piece, from Searcher magazine, discusses job search engines like SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com, which aggregate job listings from hundreds of other websites.

Some users complain about the quality of the jobs listed on mega-sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com and Yahoo! HotJobs. For instance, we found complaints about Monster (and other large job sites) that applicants received more responses from recruiters than anyone else. Unfortunately, this seems to be a catch-22 with job sites -- the larger ones have the most listings and features, but they also have a higher percentage of bogus or misleading listings. Reviews say that using most job-search sites entails some patience when it comes to weeding the good leads from the low-quality postings.

CareerBuilder.com is one of the three major job sites, along with Monster and Yahoo! HotJobs. According to Workforce Management magazine, CareerBuilder.com ranks just behind Monster.com as a source of hiring for companies that use job boards. CareerBuilder has 1.5 million job listings and 300,000 companies posting jobs. The site also has job listings in a variety of special categories, including a large supply of work-at-home opportunities, and all have brief descriptions. Many reviewers list this site as one of the best. CareerBuilder is owned by the newspaper chains Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy, and features classified listings from major newspapers. Microsoft also owns a small percentage of the company. However, on Dec. 9, 2008, the Tribune Co., which owns 30.8 percent of the company, filed for bankruptcy. Also in December, CareerBuilder laid off about 15 percent of its workforce. Only time will tell what effects these events will have on the company, if any.

Despite the huge numbers of postings at the major job sites, according to The Riley Guide, most people still find their next job by networking with friends, family or colleagues. For that reason, online networking sites -- the most prominent being LinkedIn.com -- have become increasingly important to job seekers. Geared toward professional relationships, networking websites allow their members to build a web of social and business associates and to interact person-to-person with new contacts. LinkedIn also posts ads from employers.