In the lightning fast World Wide Web, today’s job applicant has to do more than just look in the local newspaper for job openings. Most employers don’t list in newspapers anymore, and instead have switched to advertising their job postings online. So the job applicant’s search has become an internet search.

Job search engines like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are great because they allow you to find exactly what job you are looking for. Simply enter your application information and upload your resume. You can choose to have your resume available for public view or you can send it only to companies with openings that interest you. The sites also have detailed descriptions of the open positions so you can determine whether or not you will fit the offered job. Savvy searchers must be wary of unnamed companies, and companies that are national and do not have local branches. These often are “work from home” scams, or will require you to pay money to sell a product.

Everyone these days talks about networking for job searches.  But for those who are just starting their initial job search, they might not know exactly what networking is.  While it sounds like a computer term, networking is actually utilizing the people you know to find jobs in your field.  For example, if you have just graduated from engineering school and you have an uncle who is an engineer at a nearby firm, ask him to look into any openings at his firm.  Then perhaps he can mention you to his boss or to personnel, and it just might get you in the company.

Networking is by far the most common way of finding jobs in larger corporations. Since large companies and corporations receiver thousands of résumés for each job opening, they rely on word-of-mouth and personal recommendations from good employees of the company.  This is how many people end up with terrific jobs: they know someone else who works for the company.

Job searches are hard enough. Using the internet and job search engines can be a bog help in sorting through the massive amounts of jobs listed on the internet. But sometimes a person, particularly one with a full-time job and a family, does not have the time it takes to search on his or her own to find the right job.

One of the most helpful things a person can do in this situation is to hire a recruiter. While you do need to sign a contract with most recruiters, generally their fee will be paid by the company that hires you. Recruiters search for job openings for you according to your abilities, skills, education, and experience. This is exactly what you would do if you had the time. Most recruiters will keep searching if their first suggestion isn’t a match, but beware: some recruiters will dump you if you disagree with their first proposal.

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