Commentary: The hidden online job market

Flashy, big-name job boards would have job seekers believe that they are the definitive online job sources.

While there is no question that these sources offer many jobs, job seekers should not point and click all their time away on mega job boards when there are other more important online resources that make up the hidden job market.

Peter Weddle, author of Weddle's Guide to Employment Websites 2004, reports that employers are using smaller employment-related sites that many job seekers don't use.

According to Weddle, who recently surveyed employers to learn how they are finding candidates online, recruiters' top sites include niche job boards, as well as association and college alumni sites. Recruiters choose these sites because they say that they can find higher quality candidates there.

These sites often provide the same resources - job listings and resume databases - found on mega job boards. While people might wonder if sites exist for their particular areas of interest, most can indeed be found.

There are 40,000-plus employment-related sites including obscure titles like JobsInLogistics.com and the Soap & Detergent Association.

Networking has always been one of the most effective job search methods. While networking has historically been an in-person activity, it can now also be done electronically through instant messaging, discussion boards and listservs.

Information about job openings, often not advertised elsewhere, is passed around in these forums. I participate in several list serves related to my profession and they are one of the best resources I have found for identifying openings in my field.

People often wonder about the value of applying for a position through a company's Web site. While Weddle's survey found that recruiters do look at resumes that are received via the Internet, it is important for job searchers to realize that employers are inundated with resumes submitted online and that resumes can get lost.

The real value of company Web sites is their potential to help job seekers learn about companies and locate contacts.

Case in point: A recent client, Melodye, submitted her resume to a prospective employer through the company's Web site. At the same time, she used the same Web site to find the e-mail address of the director of the department in which she hoped to work, and she e- mailed him her resume.

On the same day that she got a rejection letter from the human resources office claiming that no jobs matching her qualifications were available, she got a job offer from the event-planning director.

While mega job boards and company Web sites should be part of any online job search, job seekers should be sure to reserve time to locate more and perhaps better jobs by registering with smaller employment-related sites, e-networking and using the Internet for researching companies and contacts.

Remember, jobs do not always go to the most qualified candidates; they go to those that have the best job-search strategies.

Caprice Lantz is the assistant director of The Career Center at the University of Baltimore.

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