by Rod Allen

Most jobs sites ó general or technical ó generate a profile to match seekers to employment. Because the profiles lack the power of a resume to reflect a personís strengths, e.g. the ability to handle several projects at the same time, you might think of them as useless. After all, resume coaches urge job seekers to highlight their strengths. However, from what Iíve read on the technical writer listserv, people do get jobs from sites such as those listed below.

The first is monster.com, the godzilla of job sites. It is a huge jobs resources site, boasting of having more than 385,340 jobs, a jobs search agent (a software program, not a person), career communities that offer you the chance to talk to professionals in various fields, employer information and a talent market auction center. I found the site visually appealing and the navigation intuitive. Resume posting was not what I expected, however. Rather than having you submit your personalized resume, which highlights your strengths the way you want them to be, the site has you complete questionnaires. One is for their job agent that matches jobs to keywords in your profile, and one is for the talent market auction center, where employers look at your profile. The result: a seemingly ubiquitous, prepackaged meal, devoid of the individual nuances of the chef.

Next on the list is careerbuilder.com. This site, like monster.com, has you complete a profile for their job agent, but has you upload your resume rather than having you complete a profile for employers to view. When creating your profile for their job agent, you may select desired locations, industries and salary ranges, as well as which other jobs sites, including monster.com, you want job offers culled from. Free certification exams in subjects, such as C/C++, Java, Active Server Pages and others, are also offered. I doubt that free certification has much currency. The value I suspect is in the free testing.

In the technical category, Incpad.com has since been replaced by BrassRing.com. The site bills itself as "the Ultimate Technology Information and Career Portal." Content in the new site seems to be the same. The site boasts of having 54,657 jobs and 490,976 articles to peruse, as well as offering job agents, company profiles, and technology and stock information. BrassRing.com also offers "career guidance" through their database of articles, which is more akin to asking your librarian for career books than talking to a real counselor. But then, we are talking about mass consumption, right? If you have hundreds of people visiting your store, you certainly cannot give everyone personal attention.

Techies.com packages its job agents with techno-geek appeal by calling them techbrokers. Complete a "techfolio" and their program finds you a job. As with most jobs sites that offer to post your resume/portfolio, what you post is a cursory version of your resume, not the piece you crafted to show potential employers that you are adept at handling various projects and duties. It must work though, since the practice is so widespread, right? In addition, the site offers career-related articles, training in myriad technical and non-technical subjects and an Internet job fair.

True to its name, Telecommutingjobs, or tjobs.com, offers the work-at-homer job opportunities, the ability to post your resume as you designed it, as well as other resources. You can buy books, software, hardware and office supplies from them. Workexchange.com posts contracting jobs in general, as well as those specifically geared for entry-level professionals. In the careers for women section, the site publishes profiles of businesswomen and other resources aimed at helping women succeed in the marketplace. The entrepreneurial careers section offers resources for entrepreneurs. Newsgroups, company research, message boards and clubs are offered to all.

Check out these online jobs sites to see which one best fits your individual needs.