The CareerXRoads Annex has a post from Gerry Crispin commending corporate sites he believes actively engage potential job search candidates and build a positive experience. The winners are...Agilent, Bank of America, Bell South, C. H. Robinson, Capital One, Federated, Ford, GE, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, HCA, Intel, Kodak, Lilly, Merck, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Proctor & Gamble, Sherwin Williams, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Target, Texas Instruments, Whirlpool, and Xerox.

Gerry bestows accolades on these firms because they successfully touch on four dimensions of the candidate's experience:

Target
Winning firms use their websites as a vehicle for recruiting the employees that best match their strategic goals and corporate vision. Companies with sites that don’t portray gender, ethnic, and age-related diversity may turn off many visitors.

Engage
Employers must communicate a clear message and engage the job-seeker. They must explain why a candidate should work with and stay with the employer.

Inform
It is critical that companies use their sites to inform visitors with strong content and show potential applicants how they fit in with the human capital of their organization. For example, a woman should be able to find out how many women are in the organization and what percentage of these women are in leadership positions.

Respond
Employers should manage expectations that affect choice. They should respect candidates’ rights and give them information regarding the status of their applications.

Let's face it...Networking is a lot of work. The key to successfully networking is to leverage opportunities to be in the right place at the right time as frequently as possible. With the rapid proliferation of job posting and social networking sites, the lines between the two have been somewhat blurred as these sites strive to build comprehensive communities that help visitors find connections, get referrals from employers, unearth job leads, and discover what it's like to work for a particular company. Jobster Inc. just launched a revamped job-search site that includes people's posts on what it's like to work for their employers and includes a contact link. Facebook.com, a popular site among college students, now allows users to log in with their work email addresses to connect with fellow employees. LinkedIn.com and MySpace.com also offer ways to search for members of the network that are affiliated with certain companies and job leads. So make time during your search to visit the virtual water cooler and get the inside scoop on the companies you are targeting. Your sleuthing may just lead to more confidence during your interviews and possibly a better fit between you and your future employer.

A successful job search campaign requires exceptional organizational and follow-up skills. A new tool called Jibber Jobber provides an easy to use interface that takes the drudgery out of the job search process while improving efficiencies and accelerating search activity. Whether you are tracking networking or recruiter leads, job postings, job-related expenses or delving into the site's library for job search resources and tips, Jibber Jobber keeps you on track, focused, and enthusiastic about your search.

Check out Zoom Info's article on networking. It's full of great tips for staying visible and connected to your network during a job search. Over 70% of job seekers find their jobs through people they know so it pays to keep your network alive and vibrant. Consider joining on line networking groups like Linked In, Ecademy, or Ryze to boost your contact portfolio or look into networking opportunities through professional organizations in your field.

Simply Hired

Want to make your on line posting campaign more efficient? Simply Hired is a job aggregate board that pulls listings from multiple boards so you don't have to spend valuable search time combing numerous posting sites. In addition, Simply Hired has an interface with LinkedIn, a virtual business networking tool, that allows you to search the LinkedIn network to see if you have a connection to anyone who works for the company you are considering applying to. You can even search for salary information through Simpy Hired's partnership with PayScale.com to determine the market value of positions related to the one you are posting for.

Posting on line should by no means be your primary method of search and statistically, less than 10% of job seekers find their positions through the boards. But posting still remains a method of search that should be incorporated into your search campaign strategically. Try an aggregate job board such as Simply Hired so you can minimize the amount of time you spend on line and focus most of your energy cultivating warm leads and building relationships with key business decision makers who can help you secure your next position.