Online Job Search and Recruitment Part I: The Classifieds Have Gone Electric!

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From Job Boards to Recruiters’ Sites, the Internet is the Place to Go For Job Opportunities

Anyone who has been searching for a job recently (in other words, a lot of us) are well aware that job searches don’t mean getting our fingers dirty with newspaper print anymore. No — today we hie ourselves to the Internet, which has become an international marketplace for jobs as well as for information, goods and services.

But what does this trend mean in terms of the job search process? How does the Internet help (or hinder) people in their job search, and how does it help (or hinder) employers looking to fill jobs?

Much that has been written on this subject is from the viewpoint of the person engaged in a job search. Other material is directed mainly to employers and recruiters looking for qualified employees. This series will attempt to take a holistic approach to the process instead, looking at it from both perspectives, and pointing out the pros and cons of various developments, Internet job search tools, and web sites for those on both the recruiting/hiring and job search sides of the process.

The Classifieds Have Gone Electric!

In the past ten years it has become impossible to avoid the Internet during a job search.

In 1999, it was reported that less than one-third of Fortune 500 companies were engaged in any form of online recruitment, including the posting of open positions on the firms’ own corporate websites. By 2003, that figure had jumped to 94%; today, it registers at 100%. Employers from professional firms to retailers like Whole Foods have turned to the Internet to wade through the resumes and qualifications of prospective employees.

In addition, job seekers are also focusing extensively — and in many cases, exclusively — on online sources while conducting job searches. In 2003, it was reported that 45% of job seekers confirmed having consulted the Internet as part of their job search. By 2006, a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management put the number of job seekers who used online resources in their job searches at a staggering 96%.

For professionals on both sides of the hiring equation, the notion of conducting a job search or candidate hunt offline is virtually inconceivable.

What Internet Tools Are Available for Your Online Job Search?

Job hunting resources on the Internet include:

• Corporate web sites
  From General Motors to Whole Foods, you can visit corporate sites to search jobs, post your resume, apply for specific jobs, and frequently also subscribe for job alerts when positions that fit your skills and experience are open.
• Federal, state, and municipal job postings
  The federal government has a site that functions in the same way as many corporate sites. You can also find jobs in specific branches of the U.S. Government, from the House and Senate to the White House. Individual states and many municipalities are also making good use of job boards and online application forms.
• Job boards and aggregators
  From Monster.com and Craigslist.org to the niche boards, there are over 40,000 job boards online that allow job seekers to look for jobs using search criteria ranging from position to location. In addition, job aggregators bring together jobs from many job boards, both general and frequently niche boards, into one searchable list. Many job aggregator sites also allow seekers to post resumes and/or set up “search agents” to alert them when jobs become available.
• Online versions of local and national newspapers
  The old-time classifieds without the dirty fingers.
• Social networking sites
  LinkedIn is the largest and best-known professional networking site, with more than 36 million members in over 200 countries. In addition, employers and job seekers alike are increasingly using sites like MySpace and Facebook to list jobs and to interact with each other. For more on using LinkedIn specifically, see this article by author and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki.
• Blogs and personal websites
  Free hosting services like Wordpress.com and Blogger.com allow online job-seekers to build blogs and professional Web sites complete with resumes, work samples, references, photos and even videos “The Internet lets you flaunt things you can’t put on a resume,” says Cynthia Shapiro, author of “What Does Somebody Have to Do to Get a Job Around Here.” “If you don’t have that kind of presence on the Web, you are losing a critical opportunity to put yourself at the top of the list.”

Evaluating Job Boards

Even though you may be conducting your online job search while you’re unemployed, you still have only so many hours in a day. With more than 40,000 job boards and other job sites out there, how do you know where to get the best return on investment for your time?

This is a very important question, because Internet job search can become a time-consuming black hole, and much job search time should be devoted to other activities such as networking, informational interviews, researching businesses of interest, making personal contacts, etc.

Perhaps the best first stop you can make is WEDDLE’s, which has been in the business of evaluating job-related Web sites since 1996.

WEDDLE’s Users’ Choice Awards lets job seekers rank job sites using criteria including:

• How long the site has been in operation
• How many jobs are posted on the site
• The salary ranges of those jobs
• Whether the site has a resume database
• Whether the resume database has a confidentiality feature
• Whether the site offers a free job agent

You can find WEDDLE’s 2009 Users’ Choice Awards here.

Another useful resource is The 20 Best Job Search Web Sites from PC Magazine

Upcoming Topics in the Online Job Search and Recruitment Series

Now that we’ve covered some of the basics, look for the following topics in upcoming installments of the Online Job Search and Recruitment series, which we’ll attempt to run biweekly:

• The Online Recruitment Industry — Booming on a Computer Near You
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Job Searches and Recruiting
• The Impact and Implications of Online Recruitment
• What to Include in Your Professional Web Site — And the Importance of Managing Your Online Image
• How to Be a Good “Passive” Job Candidate
• Researching Potential Employers and Employees on the Internet
• Stealth Job Hunting: Confidential Job Search Tips
• Making the Best Use of Your Company’s Online Recruitment Pages
• … and more …

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