Make Your Online Job Search More Effective

Some Recommended Sites, Plus Strategies to Find the Best Site for Your Search

Recommended Job Search Sites

Tufts Career Connect: 

As a Tufts Alum, you can use this site to:

• Search for job opportunities posted specifically for Tufts alumni

• Upload and manage multiple resumes, cover letters, and other employment-related documents

To get started, just go to Tufts Career Connect and register as an alum. 

Monster.com 

Monster is huge...many employers list jobs directly on Monster.com, so this very large database is worth checking out.  It’s one of the tools that can tell you who is hiring in your industry, quickly – even if the positions listed are not at the right level for you.  The site also includes lots of articles with good information and solid job search advice.   

SimplyHired.com 

This job posting site searches online job boards, company websites, and other sources to give you access to many job listing sources in one place.   When Simply Hired has good job listings for you, it can save you time. 

Indeed.com 

Somewhat similar to Simply Hired, in that it searches many sources to find the jobs that match your criteria.  Try them both and see which one gets the best results for you.

 Craigslist  

Available in many major cities; you can search Craigslist adding your city to the keyword search.  Craigslist is very popular, and includes many other types of classified ads as well. Some employers use it exclusively for its local focus.   

Your Local Newspaper’s Online Site for Job Ads 

In addition to the large city, metro area papers like the Boston Globe and the Washington Post, don’t forget the smaller local papers for your town or area.  Check them out; for some jobs, they may be an excellent resource.   

Idealist.com   (Non Profit Jobs) 

Idealist lists jobs at non-profit employers, plus has a nice searchable directory of non-profit organizations.   

The job listing sites above are not the only online resources… and they may not be the best tools for your specific search.  To identify additional job listings for your search, you’ll need to focus on your target industry.  There are a number of strategies and tools to help you do this. 

A-Z Listing of Industries

This Tufts Career Services resource has links organized by industry, which will often include industry-specific job boards.     

OTHER RESOURCES FOR MORE TARGETED JOB LISTINGS

Professional and trade associations are another great strategy for honing in on industry or job function-specific resources.  These next links will help you locate the associations connected to your target industry or job function. 

For example, if you are interested in human resources in health care, you could search for associations of human resources professionals, AND for association or trade organizations that focus on the health care sector.   As you can imagine, the job boards you turn up on these “niche” web sites are terrific resources, and may be much more efficiently focused on your search goals.   In addition, some employers never use the larger job boards such as Monster, but only list jobs on the relevant professional association web site.   

 Job-hunt.org 

This site has a wealth of information related to the job search, including job listing sites that are specific to locations and industries.   

 Riley Guide 

This guide to online career search information has well-organized links; you can click on Professional Associations (link) in the A-Z index.

Jobstar  has some additional excellent resources and links to help you locate professional associations.  Jobstar, like the Riley Guide, also has a wide range of information and links on a wide variety of other job search topics.

 Online Directories of Associations:  

Weddles http://www.weddles.com/associations/index.cfm

 American Society of Association Executives                                                                  http://www.asaecenter.org/Directories/AssociationSearch.cfm

 When you locate the association web site related to your job target, they may offer other helpful resources in addition to job listings, including trade journals, conferences and trade shows. 

 Try using some of these resources and suggestions for your search.  In addition, new sites pop up all the time; please let us know  at alumni.careerservices@tufts.edu if you find a great job search resource, either general or industry-specific, which isn’t listed here or on the Tufts A-Z web page described above.

This article has been focused primarily on online job listings – but be sure to budget plenty of your job search time for other job search methods, especially networking.  As Richard Bolles (What Color is Your Parachute) says, the internet can be the job seekers greatest boon… or the best way to waste time and put off networking!  

No one is as invested in your future as you are, and no one else knows what you want as well as you do. Use the job listing sites and job search methods that can help you and your search be effective.