Comments on: Looking for a new job? Start here

If you're a job-seeker, you probably know there are a slew of sites to help you find an employer. Here are four that cut through all the weeds and find the best jobs as efficiently as possible.

[Rafaelcosentino]

Don - Thanks so much for the great mention, we appreciate it. Just to clarify, Realmatch has already signed over a quarter million employers and recruiters which is exponentially more than most new job sites...actually more then most old job sites too. Realmatch has so many employers and jobs already because we are not just one site; Realmatch is a network of 1200 powered by sites. So jobs come in from all 1200 sites. You can see video with examples of employers that use Realmatch here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_EDPjlymTk&feature=channel_page

Again thanks so much.

Rafael Cosentino

[jennifly]

Another useful tip to landing your next job is using people search engines to find contact information of hiring managers who work at the company you want to work for. Networking and personal connections account for about 50% successful job hiring.
www.123people.com is a multimedia people search engine that finds social network profiles, email addresses and useful web links on anyone you want to know

[cjoh]

Another place you can add to the list? TransparencyJobs.com

http://www.transparencyjobs.com is a project by the Sunlight Foundation that helps people make their government more transparent and accountable.

[bbains]

Don, I think that LinkedIn should be included in your list. While not a job search site, its network and community approach has been very helpful to me in the past. I think it is especially good for senior-level employees as those jobs are rarely advertised on job boards.

[jobsearchpro]

Excellent list! I would add 2 additional sites:

1) LinkedIn.com - it's one of the primary places that recruiters use to find candidates. Anyone looking for a job who doesn't have a solid, up-to-date LinkedIn Profile (~resume) + recommendations + demonstrations of expertise and knowledge in the Groups and Answers will be handicapped in the future.

2) Job-Hunt.org - links to the recruiting pages of thousands of corporate sites, by state and by industry, so go to the page for the state and pick the industry and employers you want.

Not sure I'm with you on JobSerf. It sounds like a good idea to hire someone else (outsource) to find you a job, but no one knows what interests you like you do yourself. Not sure it's a truly "outsource-able" function.

[JobSerf]

Thanks for the compliment above. In reality a well-structured data gathering mechanism on the front end, combined with superior ability and efficiency in searching (our people are experts), followed by a process which is both iterative (continuously improving) and interactive (job seeker can guide their outsourced help) provides superior results for many versus doing it themselves. Many customers arrive at JobSerf not really understanding what they want to look for, where or how. In addition to JobSerf's major value, which is freeing up the time normally spent doing this mechanical part of a job search, an added benefit for some is forcing them to think of 'what' they are looking for. Our process is incredibly complex, and took us two full years to design and test, as well as write the 100s of pages of training materials and decision tools. Lastly, in three years of operations, we have yet to have anyone request a refund or back-charge their credit card - and hoping to continue our success and quality service.

Thanks again for the inclusion Don, and we wish everyone the best in their search in these challenging times.

[MarkFreeman_cmh]

I use SimplyHired.com. It seems to combine the virtues of Indeed (meta search of job boards) and Linkup (meta search of corporate sites) in one integrated search engine. Their user interface is streamlined to the point of making it hard to find things, but the functionality is quite good.

[career_podcast]

Although these are all excellent resources this is not where you START a job search. You start a job search with a plan and a series of targeted resumes. There are over 40,000 job boards out there. You can spend hours every day surfing them and telling yourself you're working really hard to find a new job. You're not. You're procrastinating. And please delete the following sentence from your vocabulary: "I'm looking for a job." That is the kiss of death. You are "exploring new opportunities." Try this with your friends. I promise you'll get a much more receptive and helpful response with the "opportunities" approach. If you have been laid off, here is what I believe to be a sane approach:
1. Spend quality time defining what you really want to do and what you are really good at and enjoy doing. Can this be written as an objective/job description?
2. Be realistic: In this economy it is going to take time to find a new job.
3. Once you've decided what you want to do and what you would be very good at - identify 10-15 companies you would like to work for that would be a good match for your skills and talents.
4. Once you've established your objective/job description - and this should be as clear and specific as possible, along with a list of target companies, you are ready to write your resume. Please consider using a professional resume writer. There are many talented professionals out there that can shave weeks of frustration off of a job search. They know what sells. They can be extremely helpful. Before hiring anyone, get references and check them.
5. Now that you have a job description, list of companies to target, and key words you've identified with the help of a resume expert, you can set up highly targeted job search agents on sites like indeed.com and simplyhired.com. This will be helpful in determining the market demand for your skills, geographic relevance and current salary range.
6. Now is the time to put your Linkedin network to use. Who do you know that has worked (or is working at) one of your target companies? Reach out and ask if you can talk about the company with them. Companies much prefer hiring through referrals, and chances are if you are networking into a company through your friends, professional associations, etc. you'll get to a hiring manager.
7. Spend some time on the following sites: weddles.com, vault.com, glassdoor.com, careerxroads.com.

Peter Clayton
Total Picture Radio

[JobSerf]

Peter, we agree with what your propose for people to do, but in answer to a frequent question I/we get - "Which should I be doing - trying to network into companies, applying online, looking for jobs in my rolodex OR talking to recruiters?" The answer for this multiple choice test is E, all of the above. In this market you cannot afford, not to do everything. Focus is a necessity, but being open-minded is as well. One step I feel you missed or did not spell out was the need to 'think' who will have jobs now and in the future. I could easily pick 10-15 companies in this market, without researching them, who are in hiring freezes. Though a saying I coined seems harsh, I still feel it applies. 'If you wonder if you've expended enough time and resources on your job search, if you are still unemployed the answer is 'No". Thanks for the good advice for people and we are big Careerxroads fans.

[wizeyes721]

This is the best most concise advice I have gotten to date! I have been "exploring new opportunities" for over eighteen months now and I FINALLY feel like I have some really solid guidance. I have another suggestion to add to what to say rather than "laid off" or "looking for a new job". Start a new business and tell your friends, associates, colleagues that. Decide what it is - for example "Office System Consulting" or "Administrative Management" or "Painting Signs", print business cards, develop an elevator speech and BE ENTHUSIASTIC! This has helped me attract much more positive interaction from people.

[dreamer77dd]

This is great information for the economy right now as everybody is getting laid off. even if this was not happening now this is still a good write up and a topic that is very welcomed, thank you again.

[TheModelIsNotReality]

Indeed has a leg up on LinkUp since not only do they search across job sites, but they DO actually search company career pages as well. Indeed's interface also let's you narrow your search easier and contains fewer results outside of the language you are searching for, unless LinkUp.

That said, duplicates are a major problem on Indeed. Not so much in the search results, but in the statistics that Indeed generates. I wrote about this in more depth at http://themodelisnotreality.blogspot.com/2009/02/use-indeed-for-job-searches-not-for.html , but the gist is that Indeed has about 8-10 duplicate listing for every real listing. Which makes it difficult to identify what are the hot areas in the job market to target.

[JeffJArnold]

I really enjoyed reading this article and all of the comments. I often find the comments as interesting as the article and this post is no different. All great input for preparing and searching for new opportunities, but the one thing I see missing in an online portfolio that highlights not only your resume but all of the resources that cannot go on a resume. There are a couple of places on the web that offer free online profiles at www.brightfuse.com or for low cost you can invest in your future with a professional styled site with lots of features at www.pzhone.com. Careerbuilder and Monster both have "profile" pages as well. You can even search the web for others, I am sure they are there. I suggest that you pick one site, and work hard to make it the best picture of your assets and reasons why an employer should give you the opportunity. Use this site to promote yourself everywhere you can. I think a personal professional portfolio, coupled with the advise above creates a solid foundation for exploring your opportunities.

[SheilaShineINC]

there is a website that doesn't have job postings, but help you get a recorded bio about yourself. they have a free package to get your resume, photo, and 60 seconds recording about yourself. you get your own link, and you can submit it to employers. it's better than just a resume. the website is www.talkingbio.com/1

[wthavorn]

My opinion, this would be very much helpful if we can search for candidates by entering our preference. And the candidates are blink up