JOBS! JOBS! JOBS: The 10 Best Job Search Websites

It's safe to say that pretty much everyone has searched for a job at some point or another. And it's no secret that your chances of success can be helped or hurt by the current economic conditions. Depending on the job market, you could be going up against 10 other qualified job seekers or a hundred. According to the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate in the United States skyrocketed, from 5 percent in January 2008 to nearly 8 percent in January 2009, hitting a high of 10 percent in October 2009. The good news is that those numbers are slowly on the decline, meaning more companies are hiring and more people are landing jobs. As of January 2012, the United States had an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent.
But how exactly are the newly employed finding those jobs? Are they pounding the pavement? Maybe, but nowadays, it's generally easier to pound the keyboard. Job postings at Indeed.com, a site with one of the most comprehensive collection of job ads, increased 50 percent in December 2011 compared with December 2010.
There are dozens of sites designed to find you the perfect gig. From them, we've picked our 10 favorites. Though we can't guarantee you'll find your dream job right away, you'll certainly have a panoramic view of what's out there. Who knows, you may even decide to explore a new career path.
Do you use other sites in your job hunt? Let us know which sites you've had success with and which ones you could do without.

Indeed

With more than 50 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searchers per month, Indeed claims to be the top job site worldwide. The free site gives job seekers access to millions of job listings aggregated from thousands of company websites and job boards across all fields. Not sure where to start when looking for a job on such a robust site? Indeed has a list of tips to help you in your search, such as how to narrow or broaden your hunt, what abbreviations to use, and how to use complex phrases within the search field. If you don't want to search the site every day, you can set up job alerts to arrive daily in your inbox. As of February 24, Indeed posted close to 600,000 new jobs in one week.

SimplyHired

Search engine company SimplyHired says it's working on building the largest online database of jobs. SimplyHired's search engine pulls listings from thousands of sites across the Web, including job boards, company career sites, newspapers, non-profit organizations, government sites, and more. Users can create an account, which allows them to name, save, and manage searches; manage email alerts; revisit jobs they've already viewed; rate and save notes about jobs they've viewed; and block specific companies or sites from showing up in their searches. SimplyHired currently has more than 5 million jobs listed from across the Web. Users can browse by state, city, company, industry, or job category.

The site is also a great resource for finding more information about a specific location's job market. For example, enter Brooklyn, NY and find out basic information about the locale, its job market, the most popular companies offering jobs there, what jobs are the most popular, what industries are hiring, and how the job trends have changed.

LinkedIn

Started from the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002, LinkedIn is now the world's largest professional network on the Internet. There are more than 150 million members in over 200 countries and two new members join every second. Free to use, the site lets members create resume-like profiles—listing work experience, skills, interests, etc.—and then send invitations to others to join their network. Once linked up, a user can view his or her new connection's network and can quickly form valuable contacts. Users looking for a way into a specific company can search the company's name to see if they have any connections there. Even if a user doesn't know an employee directly, he or she may have a mutual contact and can request to be introduced. LinkedIn also functions as a job board where employers post openings and users can apply.

If you're new to LinkedIn or just want to make the most of the powerful social networking site, make sure to check out our 5 Tips for Polishing Your LinkedIn Account. 

CareerBuilder

If you've ever had to search for a job online, there's a good chance you've looked at one on the largest online employment websites in the United States, CareerBuilder. Started in 1995, CareerBuilder now sees more than 24 million unique visitors a month and lists more than 1.5 million jobs available. The job site works with more than 300,000 employers, including 92 percent of Fortune 1000 companies.

Users can store up to five resumes and cover letters publicly or privately, which is a plus for job seekers who would rather not have their current employer knowing they're looking elsewhere. Users can also create up to five personal search agents that will send them an email whenever a listing is posted that matches their requirements. There are daily and weekly email options for those who want to control how many messages their inbox gets.

If you're unsure about where to start in your job search or want a new career but don't know what else you're qualified to do, you can upload your resume to CareerBuilder and its proprietary technology will scan it and match jobs according to your experience. If you don't have a resume, simply search for jobs within CareerBuilder and the site will recommend jobs based on what kinds of jobs you've previously searched for—similar to how Netflix recommends movies based on ones you've watched.

Monster

Launched in 1994, Monster.com was one of the first online job boards many turned to when they realized the classified ads in the local newspaper weren't cutting it. Monster is widely known and highly regarded. It lists hourly, part-time, and full-time jobs in practically every career field. There are more than 1.1 million job listings, and more than 41 million resumes from job seekers, so the competition on Monster is steep.

The site offers tips on resumes, interviewing, salary negotiation, and has a privacy feature that blocks specific companies from seeing your resume—a lifesaver if you don't want your current employer to know you're looking for a new job. Though Monster has been a helpful resource for years, those who've used the site know they have to put up with junk posts from headhunter agencies and the occasional ad one must view before seeing search results.

Craigslist

Craigslist isn't just for apartment hunting, selling your old TV, or finding that missed connection; it's also another great resource for your job hunt. The site is a bit more bare-bones than some of the other job search websites (for instance, you can't sign up for email updates or post your resume), but it certainly has plenty of jobs to offer. Jobs are categorized by standard career areas such as "admin/office," "business/mgmt," and "writing/editing," but some of the categories are pretty broad, such as "salon/spa/fitness." Personal trainers will have to wade through the listings for nail technicians and colorists before they find a listing that pertains to them.

Glassdoor

So you found a job you're interested in applying to, but you first want to make sure it's at a befitting company. Do your research and check out Glassdoor.com, a free career community that gives users an inside look at jobs and companies. What makes the site unique is its "employee generated content," which includes salaries, company reviews, interview questions, and more—all of which are posted by employees, job seekers, and even the companies themselves. Thinking about making a career shift from copywriting to PR? Glassdoor lists average salaries for specific positions, so consider that before making a move. Also, as most of us know, it's always good to have an inside connection at the company to which you're applying. Thanks to a recently launched feature called Inside Connections, users can sign in using Facebook to see if any of their Facebook friends work at the companies of interest.

Dice

If you're a regular reader of PCMag.com, you're likely interested in technology—and possibly the jobs that go along with it. Dice.com is the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals. Dice has thousands of job listings at every level, be it entry or senior. Dice is also a great site for analyzing technology trends, getting career advice, and asking a tech question in the discussions area. Users create a free and confidential profile where they can post their resume. Some of the largest tech companies in the country, like HP, Microsoft, and Google, can be found listing positions among the 84,000 currently posted.

Mediabistro

Though it doesn't offer job listings in every career field, Mediabistro does cater to the creative crowd. Job listings are posted for editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and more in industries such as magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, online media, advertising, PR, and design. The site is free but offers a premium subscription service called AvantGuild that offers advice and invitations to industry events. Users can search by job, industry, and location. In addition to job listings, Mediabistro also hosts networking events around the country, offers online and in-class seminars, and has a number of media-related blogs that keep up with hirings and openings.

TweetMyJobs

Networking used to be something you had to do face-to-face, but nowadays, social networking has made it possible to connect with an employee or employer across the country. TweetMyJobs works to combine social networking and job hunting by seamlessly integrating the user's Facebook and Twitter profiles. The service brings recruiters and job hunters together, allowing users to receive highly targeted job matches. Users specify what kind of job they're looking for and connect their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Then, TweetMyJobs sends updates about new job recommendations by email, mobile phone, or Twitter. TweetMyJobs has over 10,000 custom job channels on Twitter that are tweeting more than 50,000 new jobs each day. The site will also suggest job channels for each user to follow after entering his or her preferences.