How to Find a Job Online

With the unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, its highest level since 1993, many people have given up even looking for work. But whether you’ve recently been the victim of a lay-off or have been searching for awhile, there are plenty of websites and online resources that can help.

Decide where you fall and then use this handy resource guide to find a job.

“I’ll take whatever I can find”

CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com and Yahoo!’s hotjobs are massive search engines that list jobs in pretty much every field. If you’re well established in your career, you may have to get a bit more creative in order to find a suitable position, but if you’re open to anything, one of these sites may be a good place to start. You can create a profile, which allows you to save jobs you’re interested in and recommends postings based on your searches, but again, they may not be all that specific to your field. These sites also offer plenty of advice and reasonably priced resume-writing services. With all of the job resource sites cropping up online, there’s no reason not to cast as wide a net as possible. Check out Indeed.com a no-frills site seemingly modeled on Google, that also offers listings in almost every field, and Craigslist, which, with its web-based version of old-school newspaper classifieds, is a great place to find everything from full-time to freelance and contract work. Make sure to check out the job board for the city you live in — or the one you are looking to relocate to. Craigslist is available in major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

“I’m not looking for a career change”

In times of recession it’s sometimes a good idea to adapt basic job skills to a new profession. But the good news is, no matter what you do, you can find a job-seeker site that focuses on it. MediaBistro is a long-standing resource for media professionals and public relations specialists, and you can post your resume for employers to search through; idealist.org is perfect for do-gooders who want nonprofit work; TreeHugger is the place for green jobs (the Obama administration has given a particular priority to this sector and it’s expected to continue to grow); Coroflot allows designers to post portfolios and resumes, as well as search for jobs; HealthJobs.com was U.S. News’ No. 1 site for healthcare positions; and despite the shaky financial markets (or maybe even because of them) there are still some financial jobs to be found on eFinancial Careers. Many companies will also allow you to fill out an online application, which they can match with any openings they might have. You may even be able to work for the president at Change.gov.

“I just want to see what’s out there”

Job experts all agree, the best time to look for a job is when you already have one. If you’re uncertain where your company is headed or just plain old unhappy in your job, there are plenty of sites that let you see what’s going on elsewhere without launching a proper job search. Networking is so much easier when done from the comfort of your computer.Glassdoor.com is a great site where employees can list their salaries and give comprehensive research about their employees anonymously. LinkedIn lets you reach out to professionals in your field. They can see your resume and you can chat about their experiences. And LinkedIn can notify you of job openings that match what you’re looking to do. Jobster.com is definitely a job-search site, but their model is to help you network in order to find a job, so you can put out some feelers and get to know people in your field.

Many readers will be in the last category-just seeing what’s out there-but if you are searching, there are jobs out there, as long as you know where to look. If you want an extra leg up, try Vault.com, a full-service career-coaching website, and there are freelance opportunities to be had at All Freelance Directory, so hang in there. You’ve got the tools to get the job.