About Us
We have an agreement with our visitors to list only the best job sites that we can find.
Here, you will find no "work at home and make millions" scams; we carefully screen the sites that appear here, and revisit all of them on a regular basis to ensure that our recommendation is not misplaced.
We are attempting to bring only the best advice and resources to your attention. You may find longer lists of job sites, but you won't find a better selection of job sites or sounder, more sensible advice and guidance.
When evaluating Web job sites, we look for:
- A posted Privacy Policy that explains to visitors what information is collected and how the information is used, particularly information that identifies specific individuals.
- A "sizeable" collection of job opportunities, depending on the market covered. It's easier to have thousands of jobs at a general "Employment Super Site" than at a site focused on a specific type of job (e.g. midwives, for example), so the definition of sizeable will vary.
- "Fresh" opportunities. Some "evergreen" requirements may be 90 days old, but many more need to be fewer than 10 days old.
- Privacy protection for job seekers so that a job seeker may look for a job without putting his or her identity or existing job at risk.
- Fully-functional Web site, with all pages present and working as described and expected.
- A focus on actually helping people connect with jobs. Some sites seem more interested in collecting e-mail addresses and other information to sell to advertisers.
Highly Recommended
The Internet Resume
Yes, you can make a razzle-dazzle resume Web page, but... Yellow letters on a dark navy blue background may look great to you, but your resume probably won't be very legible when printed (and it will be printed some time). The animated pooping bull or the fluttering butterflies may amuse your friends, but it probably won't impress many employers unless they are relevant to the job opportunity.
Click here for a sample ASCII text resume ››
KeyWords
What words and phrases would a recruiter use while searching for someone to fill your next job (as well as your current job)? Include those words and phrases, where appropriate, in your resume.
So, what are Key Words?
Think of keywords as the jargon or "buzzwords" used by insiders in a profession or industry. It's how insiders describe themselves and others in their profession. These are the terms they give to the people writing job descriptions as the job requirements.
Keywords are the nouns and noun phrases used by recruiters searching through applicant databases and Web job sites for resumes meeting the requirements on job descriptions. In case you've forgotten 8th great English class, nouns are the words that represent a person, place, or thing. ("Assistant" and "manager" are nouns. "Administrative assistant" and "marketing manager" are noun phrases.)
Key words are relatively new requirement. This requirement developed when employers and agencies began storing resumes in applicant databases. Then, Web job sites started appearing in 1994, and keywords became more important. In the past, we focused on "action verbs" in our resumes -- for example: "Managed a P&L..." or "Created and implemented a marketing campaign..." And, they are still very important because they explain what you did and are capable of doing for an employer.
However, now you need more than action verbs in cyberspace. You need the right words, or key words, used by someone searching a resume database for qualified applicants.
So, think of the education and experience you have had and the job you want, and brainstorm the nouns and noun phrases that would be used in the description of the requirements of that job, using the suggestions in the section below. Look through the job postings you find for the skills, experience, professional certifications or organizaitons, etc. that will tell you what keywords will be used. If you can, get a copy of the job description for the job you want, and pick out the noun and noun phrases used. As appropriate (you have the skills, education, etc.), add those words and phrases to your resume when you apply for that job.
Developing Your Keywords
When developing your list of job-related keywords, be creative, but not inaccurate. Make a list of the following (ask your friends, family, and co-workers for help):
- Standard job titles that are used for your current and previous jobs, particularly if current (or former) employer(s) used non-standard titles
- Names of job-specific, profession-specific, and industry-specific tools that you use or are qualified to use because of education and/or experience (e.g. MRI images, etc.)
- Software and hardware that you use or have been trained to use, particularly if it's unique to your job, industry, or profession (e.g. Microsoft Project, SAP, etc.)
- Names of techniques that you use or are qualified to use
- Industry and professional organizations that you have joined (include committee membership or association officer titles, as appropriate)
- Trade shows, and conferences that you have attended and/or where you have presented papers
- Professional and/or technical acronyms -- the more; the merrier, as long as they are appropriate to your experience and education
- Classes of employers who offer your services, "national specialty retailers," for example
- Applicable education that you have (degrees, majors, applicable course work, post-graduate courses and certifications, etc.)
- Other jargon (common "insider" words, terms, and acronyms specific to the profession and/or industry) that describe your work, typical products and/or services involved, and the people who do your job
Adding Keywords to Your Resume
- Include both the acronyms and the phrases that explain each of them in the body of your resume. The acronym and the phrase explaining it don't have to be in the same sentence or paragraph. Just use both versions if you can. It will increase the probability that your resume will appear in the search results whether the recruiter searches on the acronym or the phrase that it represents.
- Be inconsistent. If you were being judged on your writing skills, this wouldn't be an advantage. In the resume search-ability game, however, it is an advantage. So, without destroying the meaning of the words on your resume, be as creatively inconsistent as you can -- "M.B.A," "MBA," "Master of Business Administration," "Masters in Bus. Admin," etc. so your resume will pop up in the results regardless of the exact term used by the recruiter in their search
- Add a section near the top of your resume named "skills" or, even, "keywords," where you concentrate as many of your key words as possible.
Formats for Your Internet Resume
There are 2 basic file formats for your Internet Resume. In the absence of any opportunity-specific direction by an interested employer/recruiter, use these 2 methods in your on-line job search:
ASCII text format is very plain text, used to:
* Cut-and-paste into the body of an e-mail message to send your resume to potential employers, etc. and
* Cut-and-paste into the resume/profile forms on Web job sites and employer Web sites.
HTML format turns your resume into a Web page, allowing you to add bolding, color, and special formatting for:
* Your personal resume Web page (be sure that it's a Cyber-Safe Resume!)
* Cut-and-paste into the resume/profile forms on the Web job sites and employer Web sites that allow use of HTML.
Both of these file formats are very common on the Internet, and, consequently, are usually also very reliable. Use them unless an employer/recruiter has requested a different format from you.
The Final Touches
When your Personal Resume Web Page looks the way you want it to look, and the spelling and grammar are correct, it's time to add the final touches that will make you popular with the search engines and potential employers.
Be sure that your resume is Cyber-Safe before you put your Personal Resume Web Page out there for the whole world to see!
Employer-Friendly Personal Resume Web Pages:
* Preferred geography and willingness to relocate. This information should help recruiters and potential employers determine your probable level of interest in their job opportunites.
* Effective date of your Internet resume may help establish your availability and also indicate when more information (i.e., an update) should be requested.
* Availability. If you are, or are not, actively job hunting, an availability statement at the top of your Internet resume/Web page is a very good idea. It will keep you from being contacted by recruiters and/or potential employers when you are not "in the market" for a new job. And it will give them a green light when you are.
These instructions have helped you to create a basic Personal Resume Web Page. If you want a fancier one with graphics and links to other pages and information, get a book, some software, and/or some help. It is not difficult to do if you use the skills learnt here.
Your Cyber-Safe Resume
Put the "Safe" in your Cyber-SAFE Resume by modifying the content of your resume! You can create your own privacy protection this way, without depending on the Web job site to do it for you.
The content is developed to protect your identity and your current job, if you have one. As your resume circulates in cyberspace over time, your Cyber-Safe Resume will protect your identity and, possibly, your future employment many years from now.
In some recruitment circles, job seekers who protect their identity are more desirable than those who don't. The assumption is, frequently, that you are employed (probably at a senior level) and have an existing job that you are protecting.
However, in many cases, the Cyber-Safe Resume may make it more difficult for the recruiter or potential employer to reach you, at least initially, because of the limited contact information. So, it is a trade-off -- privacy for security -- and your choice, obviously.
To Make Your Resume "Cyber-Safe"
Minimal contact information makes it harder for your identity to be stolen or for your employer to discover your job search.
Remove your standard "contact information" --
* Your name
* Your address
* Your phone numbers
* Your business e-mail address (big NO-NO!)
* Your personal e-mail address if it is associated with a detailed profile on you (as in AOL, etc.)
* Replace it with an e-mail address that is harder to trace to you personally, like one of the Web-based e-mail addresses (hotmail.com, etc.).
If you want to be taken seriously, use a serious e-mail name. "JustLooking@Yahoo.com" or "DumbBlond@HotMail.com," etc. may entertain your friends and family, but they are not good names for serious job seekers. Use something more appropriate, like "MEngineer@Excite.com," for example, or whatever else is available and easy for you to remember.
Modified employment history, particularly for the current job, minimizes potential risk to existing employment.
* Remove your current employer's name; replace it with an accurate, but generic, description
* "Nuts n' Bolts Distributors, Inc." changes into "small construction supplies distribution company"
* "IBM" becomes "multinational information technology company"
* If your job title is unique, replace your title with, again, an accurate, but generic" title
* "New England Regional Gadget Marketing Director" becomes "multi-state marketing manager of gadget-class products"
