You need to be a savvy consumer of job sites to have the shortest, safest, most successful job search. Choose the job sites you use very carefully! Not every site is a legitimate job site, or a good site, even if it's listed in Job-Hunt (we are very careful of the sites we list, but the site or the domain can be sold and the site may degrade as a result). In December of 2006, we picked Job-Hunt's "Best Job Sites of 2006" based on our evaluation and feedback from our visitors.

Note: We recently found a completely bogus "job site" - no jobs at all, just resume collection. If there's one bogus site, there are bound to be more, so BE CAREFUL!!!

15 Critical Criteria for Choosing the Best Job Site for You

The "Safety" Criteria -

1. Have you heard of the site?
   
   If a site is completely unknown to you, particularly if they send you an e-mail (spam) announcing their wonderfulness, be very cautious. Do you have friends or know other people who have used the site safely and successfully?
   
   As mentioned above, I have found a completely fake job site - one that looked very real. It had a privacy policy, terms of use, contact us page. But it was a complete fake. They attracted visitors by sending out spam announcing that they were a "new and improved" version of a well-known site. Not true. None of it.
   
   If you haven't heard of a site you're tempted to use, see what Google has to tell you about it. If there is no information in Google about it, be extremely cautious. It could be a brand new site (and thus have few or low quality jobs), or it could be bogus. Does Google show news about it? What do the news articles say? Which sites does Google show linking to it? Sites from the same organization (look for "member of the [whatever] network" or "powered by [whatever]") aren't enough - look for a link from a site like Yahoo or the RileyGuide, JobHuntersBible, or Job-Hunt.
   
   Look for contact information on the site. Not just a form for visitors to complete to ask a question, but a name, address, and phone numbers. Google the address and phone numbers. Are they real? Call one of the phone numbers to see if someone answers from the organization running the site. Be very cautious if there is no contact information and/or it is not "real."
   

2. Do you have to "register" before you can search through the jobs?
   
   Be suspicious of a site that won't let you perform a job search before you register your profile or resume. You need to evaluate the site, first, to determine if it has the jobs you want before you register. This should be a BIG red flag that the site is not seriously interested in helping you find a job, particularly if the site does not have a Privacy Policy posted telling you what they do with your registration information.

   Find another site -- thousands of Web job sites are available that allow you to try before you join.
   

3. Does the site have a comprehensive Privacy Policy?
   
   Look for a Privacy Policy, and READ IT before your register at a job site!! The privacy policy should disclose to you the information that the site collects and what they do with it (i.e., sell or rent your e-mail address, etc.). Pay particular attention to what happens to your resume!

   Some alleged job sites seem to exist only to collect your contact information (e-mail address, home address, phone number, etc.) so that they can sell the information to companies that will bombard you with advertising or worse. You provide a lot of very personal information to job sites, and you need to know how it will be used.

   Do not assume that a TRUSTe, BBBonline, or other "privacy seal" program ensures that your privacy is protected!! Those seals only indicate that the site has agreed to be audited in their compliance with their posted policy (are they doing what they said that they would do, even if they said that they would sell your e-mail address to anyone with the money to buy it)!

   The privacy seals are not a measure of the "quality" of that policy! At most, they are a measure of the compliance with the policy! When you click on a seal, you should see a page that is specific to the site your are visiting. If the page is just the TRUSTe or BBBonline homepages, then the site does NOT have the seal they are claiming, and you should NOT trust them.
   
   (See the Cyber-Safe Resume section for tips on transforming your standard resume into a Cyber-Safe Resume for protection.)
   

4. Who has access to the database of resumes?
   
   The Privacy Policy should tell you who has access to the resumes. In addition, you can check out the "employer" side of the job site to see how easy it is to gain access to the resumes. If resume access is free, or only a nominal fee is charged for access to the resumes, find another job site.

   Easily accessible resume databases may well at the center of the increase in junk e-mail and/or the increase in identity theft fraud.
   

5. Can you limit access to your personal contact information?
   
   The best sites provide you with options to protect your contact information (name, e-mail address, street address, phone numbers, etc.). Options range from blocking access only to the contact information to keeping your resume completely out of the resume database searched by employers. Choose the option that works best for you. If you are currently employed, limiting access can help you protect your existing job.
   
   (See the Cyber-Safe Resume section for tips on transforming your standard resume into a Cyber-Safe Resume for protection.)
   

   Yes, blocking access to your contact information may make it more difficult for an employer to reach you quickly, but it can also add to your market value in the eyes of an employer. You may be viewed as someone with a good job to protect and/or someone who is a knowledgeable Web user.
   

The "Effectiveness" Criteria -

6. Does the site charge you for access to job opportunities ?
   
   Very rarely should a job seeker pay for access to open jobs, online or offline. In general, if there is a charge to the job seeker, find another site.

   Some job sites for "executives" do charge a fee, but look for some written guarantees of the quality (and, maybe, the exclusivity) of the opportunities plus recent references from satisfied clients before you pay their fee.
   
   The only other online exceptions that seem legitimate are the Web sites of associations and societies. These sites may provide job opportunities (or resume posting) only for members. In that case, you may want to join the association, if you are interested in the association anyway.
   

7. Is the site easy to use?
   
   You should be able to easily find a way to search for the jobs you want - specifying the location and the type of job (by keyword or some other method of choosing). When you've found a job you like, it should be easy for you to apply for it. If you want to post your resume, that should be an easy process, too. And there should be easy-to-follow directions in case you get lost or confused.

   If you feel inept or uncomfortable using a site, don't use it, no matter how "famous" or highly recommended it is. You and the site may just not have "good chemistry," and you won't go be able to leverage its capabilities. So, don't waste your time. Move on to one that is easy for you to use.
   

8. Does the site work properly (e.g., search capability, resume editing, etc.)?
   
   If you search for jobs located in Chicago, Illinois, the job site should show you jobs in the Chicago area, if it has any. Some large employers have jobs open in many locations, so you may get a few jobs in your search results that don't appear, at first glance, to be specifically in the geography you want. But most of them should fit your search criteria.

   If the results don't match what you have requested, check for hints or help, and read them before you try again. Typically, on a search engine or other search site, your first few searches just help you understand better how to use the search capability so that you can get what you want. If you still don't get what you want after 4 or 5 tries, then either the site does not have the jobs you want, or the search function doesn't work properly (yes, that happens!). So, time to move on.
   

9. Does the site have the jobs you want -- the "right" industry, profession, employer, and location for you?
   
   If you are looking for an electrical engineering job in Florida with a company working on NASA projects, a site for construction jobs in Oregon won't do you much good. The name of the site may give you a clue about its relevance to your job search (e.g., BostonJobs.com), but you might not really know for sure until you poke around in the site. Try searching for the job you want, and see what you find. The job search capability should enable you to fine tune your search so that the results are appropriate and useful.

   If they don't have the jobs you want, move on. Don't waste your time and risk your privacy by posting your resume and hoping some appropriate jobs appear at some later date.
   

10. Are the jobs "fresh" or old?
    
    Do a search, or browse through the listings if you can. Do the jobs have posting dates associated with them? Have jobs been posted recently? Be a little suspicious if the jobs are undated or if all the jobs were posted "today." Certainly, a job posted last week, last month, or even last quarter, may still be open, and may be just the right job for you. However, in general, you should see jobs with a wide range of dates, and, depending on the size of the site, several jobs opened each week day.

    If posting dates aren't obvious, check the "Employers" section of the site. Frequently, the pricing section will explain how long a job posting will remain active. Job postings are usually purchased for 30 or 60 days, sometimes longer, so that's usually the oldest age of any job posting you may see.
    
    Sometimes small niche sites (e.g. a site for PHP programmers in western Massachusetts) or failing sites have trouble getting enough jobs to post. Then, you may find VERY old jobs posted. You should probably avoid those sites, too, unless that niche is exactly what you are seeking.
    

11. Are most of the jobs posted by employers or agencies acting on behalf of employers?
    
    In general, jobs posted directly by an employer are preferable because you will be dealing directly with the people who can hire you. Additionally, if an agency sends your resume to an employer, you may be at a competitive disadvantage in comparison with a direct applicant. An applicant provided by an agency will cost the employer more to hire (because of the fee paid to the agency to find the applicant) than an applicant who comes to the employer directly, even if the salary is exactly the same for both. So, all things being equal, the direct applicant will more likely be hired than the agency applicant.

    Of course, it's not always possible to work directly with the employer because some employers want anonymity for competitive reasons and other employers don't have the staff available. Usually, employer postings are preferably to agency postings.
    

12. Can you set up one or more "e-mail agents" that will send matching jobs to you when you are not at the site?
    
    E-mail agent functions typically compare your requirements with new employer job postings and send you the results via e-mail if they find a match. So, you don't need to revisit the site yourself and run your search. Your "agents" will do the searching for you, and send you the results. You may need to return to the site to get the details about the job and to apply for it through the job site, but the search process is on automatic pilot.
    
    
13. Can you store more than one version of your resume (so that you can customize your resume for specific kinds of jobs)?
    
    Many sites offer you the ability to store several different resumes and apply for a job using the version of your resume you have developed for that specific kind of opportunity. This capability can save you time and effort.
    
    
14. Will you be able to edit your resume once you have posted it?
    
    You shouldn't run into this very often anymore, but check to see if there is an "edit/update" option for you to access your resume. You can always find ways to improve your resume, and they should allow you to do it.
    
    
15. Will you be able to delete your resume after you have found a job?
    
    You don't want that old resume still available for view. If your new employer finds it, they may be concerned that you are getting ready to leave. If someone else finds it, they will see all of your personal professional information as well as your address and phone number.

    Good job sites provide you with the capability to delete your resume and account or to put your resume in an "inactive" mode until you are ready for your next job search.

Remember: MANY employment sites want to have your resume in their database; you should be choosy about which sites you use.

Check out Protecting Your Privacy and the Cyber-Safe Resume sections for additional information.

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