If you’ve been job hunting in recent years, chances are you’ve tapped into one of the many online job boards. You probably created an account, uploaded your résumé, and even connected with some of your professional contacts.
Yet if you haven’t visited these sites in a while, you might want to check back because some of their features have changed.
You can find out which companies are hiring right now, and sleuth out whom you know who might be able to help you get in the door for an interview. After all, data show that a lot of jobs are landed through referrals and relationships.
Here are some of the latest features to experiment with on the more popular career websites.
LinkedIn. You’ve probably used the site to post an online work profile, connect with other professionals, tap into industry or interest discussion groups, or follow companies where you might want to work. Recent improvements have made scoring key connections even easier.
The “How You’re Connected” tool, which LinkedIn began rolling out at the end of January, helps you find “who” in your network knows someone you would like to connect with and “how” they know each other.
When you view a profile of someone with whom you aren’t connected, a list of mutual connections pops up on your screen. And it shows how the two are connected. This insider knowledge can help you pick the best one to introduce you. For example, it might be more strategic to ask someone who’s been a work colleague with a potential contact for an introduction versus a college fraternity brother.
Another new LinkedIn feature, the “LinkedIn for Volunteers, ” can be tapped to hunt for volunteer opportunities. It culls feeds from several sources, including Taproot Foundation, BoardSource and VolunteerMatch. These are unpaid positions in fundraising, marketing or grantwritingch tools and resources, benefits and discounts
You also can add volunteer work to your LinkedIn profile in the “Volunteer and Causes” section. “Highlighting your passion and commitment to projects signals to employers that you don’t spend your time away from work on the couch but rather at charity meetings and events,” says LinkedIn’s career expert, Nicole Williams. According to LinkedIn, 42 percent of hiring managers surveyed said they view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience.
While LinkedIn is free to use online (as are most of the job sites below), you have the option to purchase an upgraded premium subscription for between $19.95 and $49.95 per month, which allows you to contact recruiters, see who’s viewed your profile and participate in webinars.
Life Reimagined for Work. This AARP site offers a trove of resources for job seekers, career switchers and anyone who has an itch to start a business. One of the features is a job-postings partnership with LinkedIn. After connecting with your LinkedIn account, you’ll be able to view openings from corporations such as Google and AT&T that have signed a pledge to “level the playing field for experienced workers.” You’ll also want to check out the 2013 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 list, whose companies and organizations value an experienced workforce.
Indeed. You can slice the postings by criteria such as geography, industry, experience or salary. Career coach Rita Carey of RCM Associates also recommends craigslist. “My 50-plus job seekers have definitely found success with it.”
Indeed (which also powers AARP’s job search) lets you track job listings, including company career pages and job boards, and newspaper classifieds. You can post your résumé after creating an account. You can also read reviews by current and former employees rating work-life balance, compensation and benefits, and job culture.
Indeed’s “find trends” button on the top of the page analyzes its millions of job postings to show what industries are hiring, job titles, top locations and top keyword searches. You can click to exact job postings, sort by salary and get new jobs sent to you by email from that search.
Job-Hunt.org. This free online guide, curated by Joyce, has links to thousands of employers and associations and focuses on providing job seekers over 50 with articles written by experts covering topics ranging from avoiding job scams to best ways to use LinkedIn and Google Plus.
CareerBuilder is among the leading job boards, providing job listings, résumé posting, and career advice and resources to job seekers. CareerBuilder pulls from career sites of more than 1,000 partners, including 140 newspapers and leading portals such as MSN and AOL.
Encore.org is the place to go for boomers attracted to second careers in the nonprofit sector. The site links to nonprofit job boards and sites, but its own job listings page is a good place to start. That’s where you’ll find the Encore Career Finder tool, now in beta, which filters through more than 5 million listings to winnow by area of interest, keywords and your ZIP code or state. There’s also a job listing page that links to search pages on sites such as Idealist, Greenbiz and others.
Glassdoor allows members to sign in via Facebook to find “Inside Connections” at a company through their Facebook network, so you can see where your friends worked or recently worked. You can browse the latest job listings, as well as view company-specific salary reports, recent interview questions, employee ratings and reviews, CEO approval ratings, interview questions and reviews, office videos and more.
New members to Glassdoor get 10 days of access to everything posted by the community. To upgrade to unlimited access, you must “give back” by posting an anonymous inside look of your own.
Monster, one of the original job boards, has expanded to include other resources. You can search for and apply for jobs online, post a résumé, review company profiles, and get salary information and career advice. “BeKnown from Monster” puts you in touch with possible “connections” via Facebook.
Salary.com and Payscale. Both sites can help research salary levels where you live and for the position you’re seeking. Payscale has a feature called Get Your Personal Salary Report and a new tool to help find your “dream job.” PayScale’s database filters jobs based on criteria such as salary, location, education and flexibility.
Sumry. This new résumé-building service officially launched in January 2014. Job hunters can get started with a weeklong free trial, then pay between $2 and $5 a month afterward. It converts a traditional résumé into a single webpage. Sumry guides users through a step-by-step process with prompts such as, “Tell Your Story Here” and “OK, Hit Them With Your Skills.” The résumés, which are available in six colors, can be viewed as a webpage, downloaded as a PDF or shared via social media. The option to include a 30-second video is also expected to roll out by the end of this month.
Kerry Hannon, AARP jobs expert, is a career transition expert and an award-winning author. Her latest book is Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy … and Pays the Bills.
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