I am not normally a fan of job boards because I gravitate towards networking and relationship building to find opportunities of any kind. My tool of choice is LinkedIn. However, the fact remains that there are times when you may need to use a job board in your search. Not all companies, recruiters or hiring managers are in the same place or posting opportunities on the same sites all the time.

Niche Job Boards Can be Nice

I suspect you are familiar with the major job sites such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Simply Hired and Indeed. Sometimes it makes sense to really focus in one specific area and that’s where a niche job board comes in for you. Ask professionals in your industry what sites and career communities they use for viable leads. You might focus on a website that is tied to your functional expertise or a specific industry. Look for a website with a focused community experience.

Here are just a few examples of well regarded niche job sites. Many of these are much more than just a website or job board because of their community of mentors and advice blogs. All of these sites advertise internship positions also.

• Dice (dice.com) is a tech focused site with talent communities that focus on specific skills such as Java or C++ as well as providing listings for technology jobs.

• Sales Gravy (Salesgravy.com) has a talent community and job board for sales people.

• The Levo League  (levo.com) is a community and job board for Gen Y women. The League also provides mentors who dispense advise to members.

• Media Bistro (mediabistro.com) is focused on media jobs, development and job opportunities. The site has an education section including courses and online conferences; a job board and a freelance marketplace.

• LinkUp (linkup.com) lists jobs that are pulled from verified company websites. This site is interesting because you may find jobs here that are not readily found on other sites or on social media.

• CoolWorks  (coolworks.com) lists summer and seasonal positions. Many of these positions are with national parks and resorts.

Two of the best places to zero in on for internship positions specifically are:

• InternMatch (internmatch.com) offers advice, mentorship, community and a job board for students seeking internships.

• YouTern (youtern.com) offers advice through The Savvy Intern blog and community as well as advertised job opportunities.

These job sites can be an additional tool to help you with your internship or job search. Find the best resources for you based on your own interests and passions. Ask your mentors, professors, college Career Services, and industry contacts for tips on what sites they recommend for your career path. Sometimes the niche approach is really nice.

What other sites do you recommend?

© Copyright 2013. Sandra Long. All rights reserved