Riding the Net to Your Next Job

There are over 40,000 employment-related sites now operating on the Internet, and new sites launch every week. They include well known national job boards as well as smaller, specialty sites that focus on a specific career field, industry or geographic location. There are sites operated by:

commercial enterprises;
professional societies and associations;
college, university and technical school alumni organizations;
newspapers, magazines and other publications;
affinity groups (e.g., veterans, women’s groups); and
federal, state and local government agencies.

Whatever your background or level of experience, there is almost certainly a number of sites that can help you achieve your employment objective. In fact, there are so many options offering so many different features and services that it's easy to overlook some of the sites that might be most helpful to you. To avoid this pitfall, use the simple 4-step process below. It'll help you to make smart choices among the various sites and get the most out of those sites that you elect to use.

Step 1.

Decide what job board services and features would be most helpful to you. There is a wide range of possibilities, including:

Listings of full time, part time, contract and consulting jobs from employers, staffing agencies and/or executive search firms:
Databases where you can store your resume or profile for employers and recruiters to see;
Assistance in planning a job search campaign, writing a resume, negotiating a compensation package, investigating relocation costs, and accomplishing a host of other important activities;
Salary surveys for your field, level of experience, and location;
Information about various employers, collected from third party research firms, the organizations themselves, and/or their current or former employees; and
Job agents, which are software programs that automatically compare the jobs posted on a site to your employment objective and notify you privately whenever a match is found.

Not every site has all of these resources, but many offer several of them. The key is knowing what to look for.

Step 2.

Identify 6-8 sites that might be useful to you. Look for sites that specialize in your career field, industry and/or location as well as those that provide most or all of the services and features you selected in Step 1. The easiest and fastest way to acquire such information is to use one or more of the following print publications:

WEDDLE’s Guide to Employment Websites. This annual publication is the “consumer’s report” of job boards.
The Guide to Internet Job Searching by Margaret Riley Dikel. This book is particularly helpful for recent college graduates.
What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. This acclaimed reference will help you use job boards effectively as a part of a larger job search campaign.
WEDDLE’s WIZNotes. These mini-guides are the “CliffsNotes” of job search success online.

All of these publications can be found in major book stores. In addition, the two WEDDLE’s titles are available through the catalog at the WEDDLE’s Website.

Step 3.

Visit each site and see how well it measures up to your expectations and needs. Carefully evaluate the services and features you identified in Step 1 and also consider the following:

Is the site well designed and visually appealing?
Is the site well maintained (e.g., do all of its pages open, are any of its links broken)?
Is the site easy to use (e.g., can you get around quickly and find your way back to your starting point easily)?
Are the instructions on the site clear and helpful?
Are all of the advertised services and features actually available?
Do the services and features provide the caliber of assistance you expected?

Keep track of what you find in each of these areas for each of the sites.

Step 4.

Compare the sites using your findings from Step 3. Select those that provide the best combination of helpful services and a pleasant user experience. For best results, use at least five sites regularly:

two general purpose employment Websites, and
one that focuses on your career field,
one that specializes in your industry, and
a third that serves the geographic area where you want to live and/or work.

Visit these sites regularly and take full advantage of their resources. When you do, you'll be well on your way to riding the Net to your next job.