04/01/2010

Top Web Tools for America's Job Seekers

By Janet E. Wall

The US Department of Labor, as part of the "Tools for America's Job Seekers" Challenge, put forth a request to employers, businesses, agencies and workforce development professionals to nominate the best online tools and resources. The tools were organized by category and voting was opened to identify the best of the best. During a two-week period, more than 16,000 members of the public registered to vote for tools and leave comments.

The job tools postings are the culmination of an effort to offer members of the public an opportunity to weigh in on their favorite career sites and to raise awareness of new sites. Government agencies, private companies, nonprofit organizations and many other entities came together to make the project a success.

Based on voter input, the top-rated sites were identified in each of six categories: general job boards, niche job boards, career planning tools, career exploration tools, social media job search, and ‘other' tools.

As a note of caution: before depending on one of these tools, evaluate it fully to be sure it is right for your students, customers, and clients. One size does not fit all and voted "most popular" does not necessarily mean it's the best tool for your clientele.

All participating tools are available at www.careeronestop.org/JobSeekerTools. Here is a list of the top rated and most recommended tools in each category:

General Job Boards

America's Virtual OneStop - (http://www.americasvos.com/)  

CareerBuilder.com - (http://www.careerbuilder.com)  

CareerStallion - (http://www.careerstallion.com) 

Indeed.com - (http://www.indeed.com)

JobSearchUsa.org - (http://www.jobsearchusa.org)

LinkUp.com - (http://www.linkup.com)

Monster Newspaper Partnerships - (http://media.monster.com/a/i/infomons/pdf/npp_partnerlist_2009.pdf) 

Monster.com - (http://www.monster.com) 

Simplyhired.com - (http://www.simplyhired.com/) 

USAjobs.gov - (http://www.usajobs.com/) 

 

Niche Job Boards

Tools Targeting Specific Occupations

Excelle - (http://excelle.monster.com/)

HR Guru - (http://hrguru.monster.com/)

Inside Tech - (http://insidetech.monster.com/)

Media Buzz - (http://mediabuzz.monster.com/) 

Sales HQ - (http://saleshq.monster.com/ ) 

 

Military/State/Local Government

FireLink - (http://firelink.monster.com/) 

Military.com - (http://www.military.com/)

Police Link - (http://policelink.monster.com/)

Transition Assistance Online - (http://www.taonline.com) 

VetJobs - Leading military job board, sponsored by VFW - (http://www.vetjobs.com) 

 

State/Local Job Tools

Employ Florida Marketplace - Florida's Online Career Resource - (http://www.employflorida.com) 

IHaveAPlanIowa - Everyone Needs a Plan To Succeed - (http://www.ihaveaplaniowa.gov) 

Illinois workNet - (http://www.illinoisworknet.com/vos_portal/) 

WECAN- Wisconsin Education Career Access Network - (http://services.education.wisc.edu/wecan)

Workforce Central Florida - (http://www.workforcecentralflorida.com/)

 

40+/Older Worker/Senior

AARP Job Board - (http://jobs.aarp.org/job.search/) 

OurExperienceCounts - (http://www.ourexperiencecounts.com) 

Retired Brains - (http://www.retiredbrains.com) 

 

Students

AfterCollege - (http://www.aftercollege.com/)

Monster College, a Monster Community - (http://college.monster.com/)

OSU-OKC Job Postings - (http://www.collegecentral.com/osuokc) 

 

Diverse Populations

Diversity & Inclusion Networks - (http://www.ihispano.com) 

MarylandDiversity.com - (http://marylanddiversity.com/)

TexasDiversity.com - (http://texasdiversity.com/)

 

ExOffenders

Good Will Services for Ex-Offenders - (http://www.goodwill.org/goodwill-for-you/specialized-services/people-with-criminal-backgrounds/?gclid=cmvnlu7y4j4cfvw55qodnteakg) 

HIRE Network - (http://www.hirenetwork.org) 

The NextStep/WOTC Solutions - (http://www.thenextstep99.com/) 

 

Career Planning Tools

50+ Career Coach - (http://www.50pluscareercoach.com) 

Career Ready 101 - (http://www.keytrain.com) 

CareerScribe - (http://www.careerscribe.com)

GadBall.com - (http://www.gadball.com) 

Monster's Making It Count Program - (http://www.makingitcount.com/students/start/default.asp) 

National Career Readiness Certificate - (http://www.act.org/certificate/index.html) 

Optimal Resume - (http://www.optimalresume.com)

ResuWe - (http://www.resuwe.com/) 

Susan Ireland's Resume Site - (http://susanireland.com) 

The Riley Guide - (http://rileyguide.com/)

 

Career Exploration Tools

ASVAB Career Exploration Program - (http://www.asvabprogram.com)

Career Coach - (http://www.womenemployed.org/index.php?id=38)

CareerNoodle - (http://www.careernoodle.com) 

CareerOneStop - (http://www.careeronestop.org/)

FastWeb - (http://www.fastweb.com/) 

Great Job! - (http://www.greatjobus.com/secure/login/register_dol.aspx) 

JobTitled - (http://jobtitled.com) 

Kuder Journey - (http://kuderjourney.com/) 

Monster Career Advice - (http://career-advice.monster.com/)

Monster Career Benchmarking - (http://my.monster.com/career-assessment/dashboard.aspx)

 

Social Media Job Search

Door64.com - (http://door64.com) 

GreenJOBS.pro - (http://greenjobs.pro) 

JibberJobber.com - (http://www.jibberjobber.com) 

JobHunt.org Twitter - (http://twitter.com/jobhuntorg) 

Jobs-Assistant - (http://www.jobs-assistant.net) 

LinkedIn - (http://www.linkedin.com/)  

inkedin Jobs Group - (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1976445)

Susan Ireland's YouTube Playlists - (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=326ccae042d03e86)

Susan P. Joyce's Linkedin Group - (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1713867)  

TweetMyJOBS.com - (http://www.tweetmyjobs.com)

Other Tools

Alison.com - (http://www.alison.com)  

Career Directors International - (http://www.careerdirectors.com/) 

Department of Education- Training Grants - (http://www.ed.gov/programs/landing.jhtml)

Human Capital Institute - (http://www.hci.org) 

Monster Evolutions - (http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/strategic-workforce-planning/monster-evolutions.aspx) 

Monster Real-Time Labor Intelligence - (http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best practices/market-intelligence.aspx) 

Monster's Keep America Working Tour - (http://resources.monster.com/job-fairs/?wt.srch=1&wt.mc_n=olmsrchsk)

SkillUP - (http://skillup.metrixlearning.com

Step 9: Apply for a Job Using Shortcuts - (http://fastest-jobs-search.com/2009/10/step-9-apply-for-a-job-using-shortcuts/) 

WaggleForce - (http://www.waggleforce.com) 

 

 

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Janet E. Wall, EdD, CDFI, is founder of Sage Solutions, a consulting organization focused on career development, assessment, program evaluation, use of technology, training, and teaching. She is an officer in the Maryland Career Development Association, and has held leadership positions in other organizations. Her book Job Seekers Online Goldmine (jist.com) provides access and directions to several online, free interactive web tools. Janet has created three online professional development courses which are supported by MCDA and NCDA with CEU clock hours. She will present on several technology tools at NCDA's San Francisco conference. You can reach her at careerfacilitator@earthlink.net.