You have to remember that hundreds of thousands of people who have given up their job search in the depths of the recession are all going to pile back onto the job market quicker than you can say ‘credit crunch’.

So I thought I’d share with you a tip I use when I’m looking for more blogging jobs. This tip can be applied for when you’re looking for work, a new house, great deals and other thing that are hard to come by. I simply set up iGoogle to perform how I want it to so it can become my Mission HQ.

Firstly, go to Google (if you don’t already have an account, create one). In the top right-hand corner click iGoogle. Then, from the tabs located to the left of the screen click ‘Add a tab‘ and give it an appropriate name in the box which appears.

Now that your new tab is created we have to add some gadgets which will help you in your job search. Our main tool here will be the RSS gadget so I need you to do the following.

Visit sites specific to your job search. Craigslist will cover pretty much everything from jobs to houses to items for sale. Most other jobs search websites also offer RSS feeds as a way of bringing you back to the site with the promise of alerts. Right-click on the feed’s icon and copy the address. Then go back to iGoogle.

Click on the ‘Add Stuff‘ link at the top right of the screen. Along the left-hand side in the sidebar you’ll see an Add Feed or Gadget link. Click on that and paste in the link address you copied from the RSS link on the job site and click ‘Add‘.

The RSS feed should now appear in iGoogle like my example at the bottom of this post. Keep repeating this procedure for all the job searches (or any other search) you like. Here are some popular websites which offer RSS feeds and jobs, apartments and more are frequently posted.

• Craigslist
• Twitter (perform a search and then use the RSS feed for that search)
• Indeed
• Yahoo HotJobs
• Monster

For more job search websites, click here.

Finally, click on ‘Change Theme from Classic‘ and select one of the cool themes they have there. This doesn’t really improve your iGoogle HQ but you don’t want to turn on your computer every day and see the same generic theme, do you?

Now all you have to do is check back daily and follow up on anything promising. Without a doubt you’re ahead of the competition by making iGoogle your search HQ because while you’re giving the advertisers a call they’re still rummaging through search results.

Photo Credit: Danard Vincente

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• Make Use Of Podcast #30: More Current Google Searches (8)
• Get “Real Time” Google Results With Keyboardr (11)

With the Web, information isn’t a problem…information overload is. A few clicks and you find yourself navigating away from the information you wanted. What we all want is a single window giving us career occupation descriptions on a list of different career choices.

Mindopia seeks to answer that call by cutting short the path from career research to job hunting. Mindopia calls itself a career discovery website. Positioning itself as a single point source for job seekers to get the ‘inside scoop on careers’.

Old fashioned career planning wasn’t bad, was it?

Not at all, but don’t you feel that it was a bit too toilsome? Starting with a gut feeling about what we wanted to do…getting influenced by our peers or parents…going after subjects of our interest…oops, only to find that the reality of 9 to 5 work life was a bit different from what we had conjured up. A generation back we leapt before we looked. Some of us landed on our feet and some didn’t. Those of us who didn’t, started wishing that we researched a bit more before the leap.

Is the web a better career hunting ground?

Mindopia (beta) is a new fangled Web 2.0 career discovery site to view career occupation descriptions and other details about a comprehensive list of different careers. So let me roll back my years and see how I would approach a writing career with journalism.

1. The homepage looks clean and uncluttered with a list of featured careers, a career search bar and six tiny video thumbnails which looks like video clips of old pros giving advice on their particular expertise.



2. A little My Page link on the top tells me that it would be better if I register and create a profile of my own. It’s easy because it’s free. Add and edit your profile with details to make it complete.



3. That done, let’s see what I can find for my interest in a journalism career. From My Page, I can click on the Explore careers dropdown which lists all careers currently covered by the site or I can use the top search bar.



4. My selection takes me to the career page with all of its laid out sections. The information covers the following areas –
   • Career Advice from Those in the Field.
   • Salary Potential.
   • Find Schools.
   • Top Job Skills Needed.
   • Top Companies.
   • Jobs in your area.
   • Headline News.
   • Top Websites.
   • Top Books/DVDs.
   • About (which covers the significant details about the field).
5. Three sections are of immediate interest to me as a first timer. Career Advice from Those in the Field is a bunch of video podcasts by veterans who answer the fundamentals a career seeker might ask.



6. The About section also delivers a lot of background info I need on my profession of choice.



7. The third area of immediate interest is of course the Salary Potential section. Clicking on the graph takes me into a page with a few wizards that let me assess the financial attributes of my job.



8. The other sections add to all the inputs I will need to make an informed decision. Each detail is also a link which serves to expand on the info given. For instance, clicking on one of the resources under Top Companies takes me to a more expanded list of companies in this profession. I can click on Add to Favorites to add the resource to my profile or I can click on Find Jobs to see the kind of opportunities available near my area. Clicking on the job listings takes me to the recruitment site page where I can apply for the job.



9. Similarly, I can expand Find Schools to use the search tool for locating a training resource.



10. Each section also has the social networking angle covered through a Contribute link. Members can recommend any career worthy info by clicking the link. The Discussions section is the message board where members can chit chat and add there two bits worth. Though, I couldn’t find any ongoing thread on Editor/Journalism careers.

Trawling through the Editor/Journalism info given on Mindopia, I have got a fair idea of how to approach my choice of vocation. Mindopia succeeds to an extent in bringing me closer to my career.

Is Mindopia a one stop solution?

It can be a stepping stone but being a beta site it still suffers a few drawbacks. The first noticeable one is the still limited selection of careers. New age careers like being a radio jockey or an instructional designer are absent. Topical careers like environmental sciences should have been a default addition.

The profile page also seems a bit threadbare. A more targeted bio would have served a candidate better than generic information. I found uploading a photo particularly hard with its limitation of 104×25 maximum sizes.

The absence of a Help section or a FAQ also sometimes made me feel lost.

But the cons apart, what I really liked about this work in progress site were its comprehensive sections on the careers. Expert-speak videos arranged around questions a beginner usually asks, makes taking the first step a lot easier. Job searching is generally a local activity so it will benefit US residents directly. Of course, international students can find it worthy of a visit too.

A beta site needs all the feedback it can get. Let us know if you like what Mindopia offers in theory and fact.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• 5 Really Popular Online Job Application Forms: Burger King, Mcdonald’s, Wal Mart etc. (7)
• 4 More Somewhat Interesting Ways to Earn Money Online (18)
• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)

Having that unique “from-the-ground-up” perspective on the growth of the Internet (as most of the folks reading this have as well), I became fascinated with how the growing population of Internet users were making use of the Internet.

Today, Internet search trends can tell you some fascinating things about the world, such as Google Flu Trends, which gives you insight into where clusters of people are searching the Internet for flu symptom information. In much the same way, SEO search tools reveal major political, social and economic trends from around the world.

I would like to share one of those recent trends that I stumbled upon when I was doing my own SEO research. The trend is this: The 5 most popular online job application forms reveal where the majority of people are seeking out work in these difficult economic times.

There are many online resources for finding jobs, such as the 8 sites listed by Charnita, or the 10 job search websites I wrote about in June -  but going directly to the employer is another option people use. The following list represents the top 5 searched-for online job application forms on the Internet.

#1 - The Burger King Application Online : Make It They Way They Want It

I love the way Burger King makes it my way – but is there any conceivable reason why Burger King applications are searched for 500% more often than say, college applications or passport applications? First of all, joking aside, Burger King is much more than just flippin’ burgers. Just go to their main website and you can see that this is a giant, global company.

Once you dig down into your own country, you’ll eventually find the Burger King application online. Hint: To find the online application for any company, just find the area of the site for “Company Information” and look for “Careers”

To find the Burger King application online, you need to drill down into the job type that you’re looking for. If you have the background, you may consider Corporate opportunities. For the rest of you patty-flippers, you’re stuck applying for the “In-Restaurant” opportunities – at least until you build up a bit of experience.

On the quick online form, make sure to fill in as many available hours as you’re capable of working. And another hint if you want to land that job – take advantage of every text box where you’re allowed to provide additional information, and give them every reason why you’re the most responsible, motivated worker on the planet.

#2 – The McDonald’s Application : You’ll Be Lovin’ It

The McDonald’s application, the other burger giant, is just as sought out as Burger King’s is, with only slightly fewer search queries. People are clearly flocking to the two major global burger joints for economic relief, and according to the job search engines, there are still opportunities out there.

The McDonalds application is simple, but first make sure you’re on the right country website. The link here is for the U.S., but McDonald’s has a site for all locations, just check the country map. To get to the online application, just click the job type that you want (and that you’re qualified for, obviously), and the drill down to your state and city. Trust me – almost every major area has job openings at McDonalds, even in some of the more rural areas that you wouldn’t expect.

As you can see, it’s not all just about flipping burgers. For folks with motivation and drive, it’s certainly possible to get into a “Manager Trainee” position and then work your way up the career path into corporate levels. People may joke – but there’s money in beef.

#3 – The Wal Mart Employment Application Form

You knew it was coming. Sure enough, the third most sought after job form is the Wal Mart employment application form. It’s the store that you may love to hate, but when push comes to shove, you shop there because the prices are just so good – you can’t resist.

Rumor has it that the pay isn’t all that great, but that’s not stopping folks from seeking out the retail king as an employer. Everyone can easily track down WalMart.com, but the Wal-Mart employment application form is buried down a few levels in the “Careers” section.

The Wal-Mart career section is huge, incorporating careers in pharmacy, Sam’s club, optometry, logistics, corporate and more. Clicking on any one of those options, you are sent to a career page (for pharmacy for example) where you can access the Wal-Mart employment application form.

Use the search form to locate an opening near you, and when you click on it you’ll find that the Wal-Mart employment application form is actually a resume submission form – so have your resume updated and ready!

#4 – The Toys R Us Application For The Kid at Heart

Why do almost 2,300 people a day look for the Toys R Us application for employment? Probably because it’s a store that folks picture when they imagine a fun place to work. I mean, it’s a toy store right? What could be more fun? For the kid at heart, it’s like a dream job. I imagine getting a job in the video games department and messing around on the demo gaming systems all day – how cool!

Well, the career section of the Toys R Us website certainly puts a damper on those dreams. Apparently you can find yourself a legitimate corporate career working behind a desk for the baby and toy retail chain.

The Toys R Us application online is a process of several steps. First you upload your resume, and then you fill out your details as well such as your education, work experience, etc… Before, while you had to drive around for miles just to collect these forms to fill out – now you can do it all online from the comfort of your home. Isn’t technology grand?

#5 - Submitting Old Navy Applications : Can I Wear the Cool Headset?

Maybe it’s the witty commercials, or maybe it’s just those really cool walkie-talkie headsets the workers get to wear to talk to each other across the store, but apparently Old Navy is a very sought after place of employment, making #5 on the list with search trends reflecting over 2,000 people a day looking for Old Navy applications.

When you go to the career section of the Old Navy site, you’ll find yourself on the GAP career site, as GAP is the mothership company for Old Navy.

After you conduct a job search and locate a job opening, you can click “apply online.” Apparently GAP uses the same online application submission platform as Toys R Us, because the process for submitting Old Navy applications is almost identical.  First, submit your resume, fill out additional forms with your experience and qualifications, and you’re good to go.

Times are tough, and folks are realizing that you have to do whatever it takes to put food on the table for your family. While some of these service or retail jobs have had a social stigma attached to them, the truth is that motivated and driven people can succeed no matter where they work – there’s always a potential for a fantastic career for people like that.

In case you’re wondering, the runner’s up include: Target, Taco Bell, Home Depot, Menards, Wendy’s, GameStop and Kmart.

Have you ever applied for a job online? Was your experience a good one? Share your experiences in the comments section below!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• 4 More Somewhat Interesting Ways to Earn Money Online (18)
• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)

So, you can use all the help you can get. I am going to show you a few sites where you can grab free downloadable resume templates. Some of the templates are in PDF format and some of them are in Word format.

The first thing you should do is grab an old copy of your resumé or a list of your past jobs and accomplishments.

That will help you immensely when you need to replace the generic information with your own.

The first site I found has very generic templates that will allow you to totally customize the resumé. This is just for the formatting, there is little to no content that you will be able to use.

These are called Blank Resumé Templates and can be found here: http://www.professional-resume-example.com/free-blank-resume-template.html

They offer three types of resumé templates and they are Chronological format, Functional Format and Combination. We will show you each of them here with a link to their respective PDFs

This is the plain Jane old school format. Still expected by older companies and should not exceed one page. The next up is a variation on the classic resumé and called the Functional resumé seen below:

And then there is the combination of the both of them:

And next up, we have http://www.collegegrad.com/ with their resumé section located at http://www.collegegrad.com/resumes/quickstart. The difference between these two sites is that Collegegrad breaks up their resumés by major. So, you can find a more specific resumé geared towards you to customize. I choose computer science and got this: http://www.collegegrad.com/resumes/quickstart/compsci.doc

And last but not least, http://www.easyjob.net has free downloadable resumé templates broken down in 3 categories:

And best of all – all this information is FREE! Between this site and browsing other people’s resumés on Monster.com, Hotjobs.com or any of the other popular job seeking sites you can customize your resumé and make it pop! Remember a direct cover letter is just as important as a great resume!

Do you have a favorite free resume template website? Maybe you have some other job seeking tips? Well, if you do, leave them in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• 3 Less-Known Free Online Resume Builders (11)
• Using CSS to Create Document Templates (6)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)

Looking for Work? Spread Around Your Efforts

The most important thing that any job seeker can do to improve their chances of landing a job is using multiple resources in their job hunting efforts. This means posting your resume online, as Mahendra described in Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites, or using social networks as Charnita described in 8 Sites For Beating The Job Hunting Blues. However, the core of your efforts should be focused on websites that bring all of the world’s jobs to your doorstep.

1. Monster.com – The Monster of Online Job Hunting

Whenever anyone needs access to job markets across the world, Monster is an obvious place to start. Monster has grown into the largest job search site on the Internet, and serves just about every community across the world.

What makes the Monster of job search sites so useful is that the "International Search" will net you a pretty nice catch of job opportunities all across the globe. Of course, Monster also offers a free "home page", a place for you to post your resume, and an entire section of some pretty cool "career tools" to help you research every step of the job hunting process.

2. Job.com - An Obvious Choice Among Job Search Websites 

I guess when it comes to finding a job, visiting a website like Job.com makes sense. Like Monster, it is one of the few job search websites that offers the ability to search Internationally.

Under "Additional Search Options", you can search from general areas of the globe, such as Middle East, United Kingdom or Pacific Rim. The site boasts over 700,000 listings, and they all seem fairly current. It also has the ability to publish your resume so that employers can view it.

3. HotJobs - When You Can’t Get Enough of Job Hunting 

Yahoo! Hotjobs is definitely Monster’s greatest competition. One of the things that Yahoo is very good at is providing content, and job seekers who visit Hotjobs are going to get exactly that.

The site itself has the same "look and feel" of other Yahoo pages, and it has lots of articles and widgets from tools like Yahoo Answers. Aside from all that bonus content, it offers a powerful job search engine that includes many thousands of listings from all throughout the world.

4. Net Temps - Full or Part Time Jobs

Net-Temps is primarily a website devoted to temporary workers who were looking for the "next gig.". However, it is not a whole lot difference than the rest of the job search websites, except for the fact that it allows job hunters to filter search results by temp or full-time work.

For most folks looking for a job, the difference is irrelevant – they need a job to pay the bills. But for freelancers who work for themselves, temp jobs give them the flexibility of a short term client contract, so that afterwards the freelancer can move on to the next job in their schedule. 

5. Indeed  - Simple and Effective

This site is quite a job search engine indeed! Sick of sifting through dozens of individual job search sites? Indeed is a job meta-search engine which means that employers don’t actually have to list jobs with Indeed. Much like how Dogpile provides results from multiple search engines like Google and Yahoo, Indeed offers you job listings from not only sites like Hotjobs and CareerBuilder, but even the individual employer websites – now that’s cool. 

6. CareerBuilder – The Name Says It All

There’s little question that CareerBuilder is one of the "big boys" of the job search websites. Like Monster and Hotjobs, you’ll find a resume posting section, the ability to find jobs by company or industry, and a very cool "job alerts" feature. What sets CareerBuilder apart from the others? Not a lot. But if you need another source that may have job listings the others don’t – it’s best to check it out, as there are quite a library of job listings stored there.

7. All Job Search – It Really Does Search Them All

AllJobSearch’s claim to fame is it’s ability, like Indeed, to search through multiple sources. The service covers the U.S., Canada and the UK. It boasts the ability to search over 200 websites, over 500 newspapers and over 300 newsgroups. Impressive.

Unfortunately, you’re provided a list of links to outside sources like an online newspaper or Monster, and if you click the link, AllJobSearch will automatically search that engine with your job search terms. While it probably saves time searching for the many job sources around the Net, it doesn’t exactly provide the search results as you’d normally expect.

8. Simply Hired – You’re Hired!

I have to say, of all of the job listings sites that you’ll find on the web, SimplyHired takes the cake simply for the sites "tools" section, where you’ll find some of the coolest widgets, like email alerts, trend research and salary information broken down by location and occupation. If you haven’t yet decided what you want to be when you grow up – this is the first site you should visit.

9. USA.gov – It’s Good Enough for Gov’ment Work

One of the world’s wealthiest countries in the world is also one of the world’s largest employers. The U.S. Federal government has its own giant online job database that you can search under whatever industry or discipline you’re interested in.

These jobs are worldwide, and the U.S. government isn’t shy about listing the actual salary ranges right there in the listing. Some of those salaries aren’t too shabby either.

10. College Recruiter – Not Only for Students

Over the years, employers got into the habit of going to college career centers to advertise their entry level positions. In fact, sometimes those are the only places they’ll advertise those openings. The CollegeRecruiter search engine is networked with 11,000 career sites around the country including college, university and military offices. Yes, these are entry level positions, but when you want to get your foot in the door, taking an entry level position is often the best way to go.

Have you ever found a job through an online job search site? Do you have other job hunting resources that you prefer? Share them in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)
• 5 Really Popular Online Job Application Forms: Burger King, Mcdonald’s, Wal Mart etc. (7)
• 4 More Somewhat Interesting Ways to Earn Money Online (18)

The best thing about making money online is that it is fun. You can do what you really enjoy and get paid for that!

So besides obvious making-money-from-your-website thing, what are other reliable ways to earn some extra cash?

(1) Get Paid for Reviewing Software

What kind of a geek are you if you don’t love playing with new software? I am sure you do. Have you ever considered getting paid for that?

Software Judge is the most popular site that allows to be paid (up to $50 per review) for software reviews. The rules are as follows:

• Review it as it is: the review shouldn’t be positive; it should be constructive and honest;
• Pick the software listed on the site;
• No more than 3 reviews per day.

You get paid the following ways:

• Digital freebies (e.g. free reg keys and free games);
• Cash via Western Union (if you have at least $200 in your account);
• Software exchange (if you have at least $20 you can exchange your money for any downloadable software listed on site).

(2) Get Paid for Bargain Hunting

Bargain hunting is fun and can save you a bunch of money. The key is to know how and when to track. It’s nice that active bargain hunters can now be rewarded with cash (because many people can be grateful to them for a timely spotted deal).

Buxr is a user-generated coupon code and deal directory that rewards most active and active users with daily and monthly cash.

The rules are pretty simple: the deal that gets most votes from other users wins the contest. The daily prize is $10 and monthly prizes vary from $100 to $200. If you refer friends to join the site, you’ll also get a prize:

The top 3 memberswho refer at least 5 ‘Good Members’ will be awarded. The first, the second and the the third place prize is $50.

(3) Get Paid for Consulting Others

Do you consider yourself an expert in anything? Do you think your advice may be useful? Let people pay you for it!

Ether.com offers you to get paid for your expert advice. I can’t say the site is too active and you will get hundreds of phone calls but you can try it.

Here’s how it works:

• Get your free Ether phone number;
• Set your rate per hour;
• Get pre-paid phone calls.

The site also offers "Call me" buttons for your website or blog as well as some advice on how to market yourself to get more calls. It also enables you to sell digital products via email and "Buy" button on the website.

(4) Get Paid for Reviewing Products and Completing Offers

Getting paid for reviews has double benefit: cash and the product itself you are reviewing. Here are some well-trusted sites that allow you to earn money by reviewing products (there are more of course, so if you personally tried and liked another one, please share):

• Cash Crate: Make sure to also check their Contests page for more fun;
• Gangster Greed pays money for completing (free trial) offers. Payout threshold is $10; Payouts on demand;
• Treasure Trooper: monthly payouts with $20 threshold;
• Instant Profitz.

Are you aware of more fun legit ways to earn money online? Share them in the comments!

Oh and those of you who are still in college should also check out our Ryan’s article om best websites for teens to earn money online.

Note: Internet is full of scams. If you come across any site that offers to pay you in cash, make sure to do at least some research: check scam forum and just Google it.

Disclaimer: I didn’t personally try all the sites listed above but I took time to research reviews by others before listing them here.

image credit: AMagil

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• 5 Really Popular Online Job Application Forms: Burger King, Mcdonald’s, Wal Mart etc. (7)
• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)

There are dozens of resume building websites offering a combination of free and paid services. Many sites have excellent resume building tools, a wide variety of templates and formatting options,  but do not allow you to host your resume with a personalized URL for free. From this crowd, we have distilled those sites that allow you to host your online resumes for free.

EMurse

This site allows you to create your resume in sections, and choose a design from many different templates. The resumes are suited for more conventional formats. The exclusive feature of this site is that you can publicize one URL for your resume from where employers can download your resume in various formats such as DOC, PDF, RTF, etc. Read more about EMurse in our previous coverage here.

Visual CV

Visual CV allows you to create multiple online resumes easily, with a variety of different templates. You can directly import your LinkedIn profile to jump-start resume creation, and easily incorporate multimedia elements in your portfolio. Read more about Visual CV in our previous coverage here.

Lead You

This site is geared towards artists and other creative professionals looking for a snazzy online resume. It has a wide variety of templates, and allows you to attach documents, presentations, video and audio clips to your portfolio.

How To Write A Resume.Net

This is a clean site with simple resume building tools. The unique feature of this site is the ‘Headline Helper’, which allows you to tweak the Objective/Summary sections of your resume.

If you are stuck for words, this is a great tool. The free option allows only the basic template and HTML/text download, other options require a membership.

My Resume Online

For those looking for a minimalist Google-like interface, My Resume Online offers a barebones but fully functional and free solution. You can attach your photo, MS Office documents (including Access databases), PDF, and GIF/JPG images to your resume.

The site also gives you monthly visitor stats, and your resume is accessible via multiple URLs like www.myresumeonline.org/yourname and www.mycvonline.org/yourname. Unfortunately, there are no templates to choose from, though the built-in template looks clean.

Are there any sites we have missed? Let us know your favorite resume hosting sites in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• 3 Useful Websites for Free Downloadable Resume Templates (11)
• 3 Less-Known Free Online Resume Builders (11)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)

Use these sites to warn prospective employees against joining the company. Or just share your experience with others and let them help you solve your problems.

Telonu is a new website that invites anyone to “Rave, Rant, and Rate” about their business thus informing prospective employees as well as providing co-workers a place to gossip anonymously.

WorkRant is a site that invites users to “release your job stress and have a workrant”. The site interface is dead simple. What’s really great about the site is that you do not need to register: just provide your name, location, job title and rant! Beware: the site is full of obscene words.

BossBitching is similar to the above one. You can post your sad workplace stories with no registration required. It remains unclear to me how to rate the stories though (each story has some ratings but I couldn’t find where to put them).

JobVent invites people to post negative (and positive) experiences on their job allowing thus for the stress release and also warning people who are going to start a new job. Company reviews are submitted along with ratings that are used to calculate the rank for each company submitted.

The site participants are asked to keep in mind that:

• no company deserves the lowest ratings in every category;
• negative ratings should be adequately grounded;
• profanity is not allowed;
• do not post names or initials, just the company name;
• each company can be reviewed only once by one individual.

Axelist invites people to share negative experiences with any kind of possible contacts with bosses being obviously the most popular of them.

Apart from the detailed complaint, the website provides some of the offenders’ details: their age and location. The site explains its benefits the following way:

File your complaint and watch Axelist expose and put your villain on the spot. We will post and promote your story and even go beyond the Internet to help you make your case.

HateMyJob category at a social voting site allows you to share stories about you getting fired or read other people’s negative experiences and thus release your job stress.

RateMyEmployer is a Canadian site offering users to rate their job places based on a number of criteria: values and corporate culture, work space (layout), teamwork and cooperation, schedule, work load and holidays. To rate or add an employer you even won’t have to register.

Criticat offers to “rate your company and share your workplace experiences”. Unlike others similar sites, it seems to promote a bit of a different concept that appeals to me: it offers not just to aimlessly rant but to try to improve the situation:

Do you feel you have a great solution to a problem in your company but not sure if everyone else will agree with you? Come to Criticat, create a poll anonymously, build consensus and cause the change.

JobBite allows you to post job reviews and rate your overall work experience and your salary. You are also invited to describe the workplace culture. The site requires no registration, so a job review won’t take you more than a few seconds.

HowsThatJob claims to provide “job reviews from real people”. The site allows you to post anonymous reviews with no registration required.

Note: I am not 100% advocative of the above services. My main concern is that they are completely anonymous and so easy to use that a company or an employer is in no way protected from unfair accusations. I am also not sure of the legal side of the issue: are these sites allowed to publish unconfirmed rants?

I am also surprised at the number of these sites that pop up. None of them have really risen to become a well-known leader so far. But they all seem to be fairly popular!

Would you use these sites? Please share your thoughts!

Post image credit: steynian.wordpress.com

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 5: Addictive and Challenging Web Games (15)
• The Best Online Flash Games (29)
• MUO Games – The Best Websites to Play Flash Games (24)
• makeuseof extra #8 (0)
• How To Quickly Hide Your Web Surfing From The Boss! (19)

1. Your online resume should be indexed by Google (and get ranked on the first page when a search for your name is performed). A good recruiter or a potential employer is likely to search for your full name in Google before even interviewing you;

2. Your online resume should have your full name (and probably occupation) in the page title – this makes your resume listing stand out within Google search results;

3. (well, an obvious one but not all online resume builders allow for that) Your online resume should be properly organized and look neat.

While #1 seems the most important to me (as all other features are pointless unless your online resume can be found at all), I have found three free online makers that have good indexing and ranking abilities:

PeopleJar

This social media startup allows for plenty of self-promotional options (resume and portfolio hosting, samples of work showcasing, networking, etc).

How well are resumes ranked in Google?

• the site architecture (members spotlight, networks, etc) allows for deep Google indexing, so all resumes are very well indexed and ranked;
• each resume page title consists of the full name and the area of expertise (pattern: Your Name’s Makeup Artist Profile);
• search-friendly URLs (a profile URL contains the member’s full name) also contribute to better rankings.

How well are resumes organized?

• Each profile is broken into several sections (”General”, “Education”, “Career”, “Traits”, etc) that makes a resume concise and easily read and well-structured;
• Members are also allowed to upload videos and photos (for example, a makeup artist resume can be enhanced by showcasing the artist’s previous work photos).

Emurse

This online resume creator (reviewed previously at MakeUseOf) allows you to create very detailed and well-organized (and more traditional-looking) resumes.

How well are resumes ranked in Google?

• resumes are mainly indexed from the home page (which links to recent and popular resumes) – so unless linked from other sites, your resume can perform rather poorly in Google;
• the resume page title consists only of the full name (the format: Full Name’s Resume);
• each resume is hosted on a sub domain (http://fullname.emurse.com).

How well are resumes organized?

Like I said, Emurse builds more traditionally-looking resumes: more text and less design. Each resume contains plenty of information all displayed on one page – however HTML editing is allowed to make it look more attractive and eye-catching.

JukeDuke

While this resume maker does allow for a few pretty fun options (for instance, availability schedule), its features could have been organized better, I guess.

How well are resumes ranked in Google?

• Profiles are indexed via links in the sidebar (that contains too many links to allow for good indexing);
• Each resume title contains the member’s full name and location.

How well are resumes organized?

All information is performed on one page in blocks – which looks a bit fuzzy. You can try to change the look and feel of your resume – but even best resumes look a bit overwhelming to my mind.

Are you aware of more good resume hosting services? Please share!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites (30)
• 3 Useful Websites for Free Downloadable Resume Templates (11)
• Top 10 Most Effective Job Search Websites (24)
• Mindopia – Check out Occupation Descriptions for a List of Different Careers (4)
• How To Use iGoogle To Get Ahead In Your Job Searches (2)