How to Find a New Job (page 2 of 2)

Images from this article

Thinkstock Images/Jupiterimages

javascript:void(0);

First Stop: The ClearningHouses
These umbrella sites gather valuable information, statistics, advice, and links to even more resources under one URL. They're the place to bone up before plunging in.

• job-hunt.org—Don't let the tiny type turn you off. This free employment portal is vacuum-packed with solid advice (including a great list of tips for self-promotion without self-puffery) and links to 11,000 employers and job search resources.
• careerjournal.com—Even those without "executive vice president" on their business cards will find useful content at this offering from the Wall Street Journal, including articles from the paper itself and more than 125,000 listings, most for senior executives.
• quintcareers.com—A staggering 3,500 pages of content can be viewed at this award-winning site, including "best of" job site compilations and links, tutorials, and advice aimed at everyone from students to career switchers.
  
  Supersite Me: The Big Job Boards
• monster.com—Like Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock: slick, hefty, powerful, and often annoying. The best-known of the supersites, with at least 200 million postings, has a tedious registration process and more pop-ups than a toaster. But the sheer volume of listings (which you can search quickly or by using more specific criteria), plus an easy résumé-upload feature, makes it worth a look.
• careerbuilder.com—Owned jointly by three major newspaper chains, this meat-and-potatoes site posts not only paid listings but also classifieds from 200 papers across the country. Consequently, there are more clerical and blue-collar positions than at other sites.
• hotjobs.yahoo.com—Less spam (though plenty of ads), a pleasant interface, and seemingly fewer bogus listings distinguish this Internet portal's megaboard, where you can save searches, see the number of times your résumé is viewed, and sign up for e-mail alerts.


Aggregator Sites: The Major Job Search Engines

• indeed.com—The home page couldn't be simpler: What/Where/Find Jobs. You can drill down deep at this banner-ad-free search engine, zeroing in on relevant jobs among the one million plus in the index by salary, location within five miles, and more.
• simplyhired.com—It's easy to use the intuitive interface to search everything that's out there (the good, the bad, and the Ponzi) at this site—which indexes more than three million jobs—and then tailor the results, filtering by job type, education, work experience, company name, revenue, size, or other characteristics. The site is linked to the networking site LinkedIn.
• jobster.com—Half job board, half search engine, this site makes you register to create a résumé but not to search listings by keyword and location or to sign up for alerts. It's uncluttered and not clunky, but you won't find tons of resources or information here.


The Little Guys

• jobfox.com—It's called the eHarmony of job search sites because it uses a five-point method to match up employers and job hunters in over 300 professions and at over 3,000 companies. Genius idea, but what you gain in relevance, you lose in immediate gratification, which can be frustrating. So can the very long registration process.
• craigslist.org—The place where people go to swap their used power tools now draws a fair share of local employers and has become a good source for freelance types. There are no ads on this no-frills site, just a simple search tool and a flagging system that tends to weed out scammers.
• oodle.com—Much smaller but craftier than classifieds king Craigslist, this combination classifieds board and aggregator indexes mostly non- corporate, nontechnical jobs and organizes them by area.

From Reader's Digest - March 2009

• • Work & Career
• • Get Out of Debt

• 9 Recession-Proof Careers
• Despite the economic downturn, these careers are still growing.
• 
• What To Do When You Lose Your Job
• How to make a layoff pay off, recharge your resume, and use the hardest-working websites.
• 
• Career Experts Offer Advice to 6 People Out of Work
• Reader's Digest asked this panel of job pros to share their best advice in the tip boxes that follow.
•