CareerOwl Featured Career Article

If you've posted your resume online recently, you have competition. Lots of it.

To cite one example, the recent acquisition of HotJobs.com by TMP Worldwide, parent of Monster.com, means these two sites now hold a combined 14 million resumes, according to one report.

While you shouldn't ignore the major job sites, don't pin all your hopes on them when posting your resume online.

Instead, try posting to smaller, more specialized job sites. With fewer resumes to compete with, the odds may favor you...and shorten your job search.

Here are two strategies to help you succeed.

1) Get local
a) Most big city newspapers have a Web site with job openings and a place where you can submit your resume. Example: the WorkAvenue section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is an excellent, local resource, available from www.startribune.com.

Want to relocate to another city? Same thing -- if that city has a newspaper, they probably have a Web site with employment sections for you.

b) Apart from newspapers, most cities have other sites for local job seekers. Here's how to find them ...

Go to www.google.com and type in these search terms: "CITY job site" where CITY is replaced by the city you want to work in. This rarely fails to return a list of local job sites. Try it!

2) Get specific
a) No matter what industry you work in, there's probably an employment Web site dedicated to it.

Again, visit www.google.com. Type in the following: "CAREER job site" where CAREER is replaced by what you do, such as "computer programming" or "teaching." Experiment until you find a job site that suits you.

b) Another option is to apply directly to the firm you want to work for. Today, almost every company with more than one employee has a Web site. Just do a search at Yahoo or Google to find your target companies.

If you find no job openings on a target site, find an email link and submit your resume to someone in authority. But be sure to follow up by email AND by phone to make sure your resume was received.

Armed with some basic research skills and determination, you can find a job faster online by getting local and getting specific.

Best of luck to you!

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Kevin Donlin is Managing Editor of 1 Day Resumes. The 1DR writers provide same-day, one-on-one resume writing assistance. He is also author of "Resume and Cover Letter Secrets Revealed," a do-it-yourself manual that will help you find a job in 30 days ... or your money back. For more information, click here.

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