We are creatures of habit – we get comfortable with certain TV channels, websites, and magazines, and we tend to stick with them. When it comes to looking for a job, we tend to take the same approach, and most of us go with what we know and stick to it. You can increase your chances of finding a great job if you expand your horizons and use more and different tools.
General Job Boards
We’re all familiar with the big ones – Monster and Careerbuilder, and you should check these often but there are other general job boards out there that are worth checking. Indeed.com is the largest job search site that aggregates jobs from all over the web, displaying jobs from both Monster and Careerbuilder, but also niche sites and corporate careers pages. SimplyHired is another job search aggregator and good resource to check out. Craigslist is popular for all sorts of classifieds, and jobs are no different. It’s cheap or free for employers to post. America’s Job Exchange replaced the Department of Labor’s America’s Job Bank a few years back and has become a popular site for non executive positions. Snagajob.com specializes in hourly jobs. There are also many regional/geographical job boards – many can be found through your local newspaper’s website or through Jobing.com.
Social Media
LinkedIn’s focus on one’s professional network made it a natural place to start a job board – and LinkedIn did just that several years ago. It was on LinkedIn that I found my current job! Even better – you can usually see who posted the job and check to see if you have any connections in common. Twitter has also become a popular way to look for jobs. You can use hashtags like #hiring #jobs, etc to find open jobs. Many companies are tweeting out there jobs!
Niche Sites
Chances are you may be looking for a job in a particular field. Dice.com specializes in IT and tech jobs. FINS.com specializes in finance and is owned by the Wall Street Journal. Idealist.org focuses on jobs in not-for-profit organizations. Ecoemploy.com looks like a hokey website – but is a great resource for environmental jobs. Biospace lists jobs in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life sciences fields. If you’re in a niche – chances are there is a job board out there that specifically focuses on you!
Professional Associations
Many professional associations also have a job board component to their website. If there is a leading organization within your field – you should definitely be checking out their job board. The American Marketing Association posts jobs on their Marketing Power website. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has a job board, and so does the New England HR Association (NEHRA) both chock full of HR jobs right up my alley! Don’t just look at national association websites – but also regional, state, and local!
Diversity
Many companies are working to make their work force more diverse and are doing so through targeted job posting using websites that are marketed towards specific groups. Latpro.com and HispanicDiversity.com target Latino/a job seekers. AMightyRiver.com and BlackPerspective.com focus on helping African Americans find work. LGBTCareerLink.com is Out & Equal’s job board for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered job seekers.
Recruiters have just as many choices as job seekers do. Some companies have large budgets with the ability to plaster their openings all over the place. Other companies may have very limited budgets and will only post on websites that they hope will bring the highest number of viable candidates possible. The tough thing is that you never know where you will find your perfect job – so it’s important that you look everywhere you can and leave no stone unturned.
