Job Search Overview
The best way to find jobs in the United States is through referrals and leads from personal acquaintances. Most Americans—more than 60 percent by some estimates—find their jobs through networking, the process of seeking employment recommendations through friends, current and former colleagues, professional associates and industry contacts. Other networking sources include family members, neighbors, schoolmates and other contemporaries. Trade associations and business organizations are good places to meet new networking contacts. Other job-search resources include recruiters, temporary staffing firms, advertisements on Internet websites, classified advertisements in newspapers and other publications, job fairs and other career-related events, and government employment services.
Online Job Sites
Many websites post job announcements from employers and recruiters, and these are increasingly effective places to find job leads. Four in ten jobseekers who used the Internet to post their résumé/CV or search for job listings received interviews as a result. Most job websites are free of charge and offer job listings in multiple fields, industries and occupations. They permit job seekers to enter résumés/CVs in their databases and search their listings for appropriate job opportunities by job title, occupation or geographic location. Most also offer Job Alert services, in which job seekers instruct a search agent to email them job postings based on specified criteria. The following is a sampling of the most popular free US job search sites.
Monster
Monster (http://www.monster.com) is the leading employment website in the United States. The job-seeker can post a résumé/CV in the database and search the job bank by keyword, company name, location, discipline, industry, job title or a combination of these criteria. In addition, the job-seeker can arrange a Job Alert service, but must return to this website to get contact information. Monster also offers profiles of employers, including products and services and employee benefits. This website allows specialized searches in technology, healthcare, human resources, college, executive, administrative support, finance, sales, management, public service and work abroad. Each of these areas has plenty of job postings, message boards, chat rooms and advice for the job seeker. This website also has tips for contract and temporary workers on self-marketing and managing a business. Users can buy "premium services" to boost their job searches. Résumé/CV writing starts at $179 ($119 for an entry-level resume).