It’s a far cry from the late nineties, when just showing up with a pulse earned you a signing bonus. I’m told by top IT employment specialists that these days even highly qualified tech professionals can’t always find positions, at least not easily.
Employers know they can afford to be picky. Their desks are stacked high with resumes – many from skilled and experienced IT staffers.
So IT job hunters need to pursue every available avenue. The best, of course, is person-to-person networking. Working the phone, pressing the flesh at trade meetings, touching base with old colleagues.
IT job sites are another invaluable resource. Yet it’s not enough to simply troll through them and hope. It’s best to choose specific sites and set up automatic notifications — to jump on an opening the moment it comes out.
But what IT job sites to choose? For this you need a formula for maximum advantage. One such formula: 2 general-mega sites + 3 niche sites. (Thanks for this formula goes to Peter Weddle, editor of the well-respected Guide to Employment Web Sites.)
For the mega-general picks, choose among the deep portals like Yahoo Tech Jobs, Monster.com IT Jobs and Indeed’s Computer/Internet Jobs, an IT job aggregator.
For the niche sites, pick a couple of ultra-focused listings like
PHP Jobs or JobsInLogistics.
Okay, so what are some niche IT job sites worth considering? Explore the following list – or suggest your favorites in the Comments box below this article.
IT Job Sites
1) Dice
Considered by IT professionals to be one of the leading job boards. Naturally its listings have fallen since the boom years, yet it remains a top destination.
2) JustTechJobs
Targeted, even micro-targeted, this portal offers a plethora of sub sites like JustJavaJobs, JustSAPJobs, JustWebJobs and JustNetworkingJobs.
3) Graduating Engineer
Help, I just graduated! Hey, at least you didn’t get a degree in History. For fresh grads, it offers a list of starting salaries (churned out by Salary.com), along with job interview tips.
4)
USAJobs
The U.S. government’s job search portal includes plenty of IT jobs. Oddly, it’s possible that the government is one of the best employers in this protracted downturn.
5) DevBistro
Since 2003, offering listings for programmers and Web developers, along with fresh openings for SEO, software architect, Q/A testing and others.
6) IT Manager Jobs
Hosted by Salary.com, IT Manager Jobs ranges from help desk manager to network operations manager. And yes, the managers tend to earn the most (and deal with the most headaches!)
7) Craigslist: Search by City or State
Actually one of the mega-sites, but you can use it as a narrow-caster by drilling down by city or state. A ton of employers use it, though some employers complain that they get scores of not-so-hot applicants from this vast site. Yet it continues to be used by IT job seekers.
8)
37Signals Job Board
Provides IT job listings from plenty of other sites — programming and design jobs and many other tech jobs, from project manager to digital user analyst.
9) JavaJobs.net
Java is hot. Here you’ll find a full boat of jobs requiring skill in this popular programming language. JavJava DB, Java Studio, Java ME…
10)
PHP-Freelancers
The freelance market can be brutal. Check out the fees that pros are getting for contract-based PHP coding. Are you scoring the best rate?
11) Google Job Search
Great resource. Not an IT job site but a directory of job sites where you can filter the jobs by category. Plus this page offers lists of headhunters and resume advice services.
12) iCrunchData
Kind of like a LinkedIn for IT professionals. Post your photo and resume, scan the jobs, interact with your fellow tech staffers. Social networking meets IT job hunting.
13) IT Jobs at CW Jobs
This UK-based site offers nearly 10,000 IT jobs, from hundreds of firms, with a lot of contract gigs.
14) The Ladders: Technology Jobs
Yes, IT pays well, as long as you can stay employed. Ladders lists IT (and also non-IT) jobs that pay $100k or more a year. Encouraging fact: after management jobs, the largest category at the site is technology jobs.
15)Jobs for Programmers
Visual Basic, Java, C++, .NET – jobs for all these specialties. Plus, explore the sister site,
Programming from Home. What, no “programming in your pajamas” site?
16) ComputerJobs
Been around a long time, and one year this site even won a “Weddle” award for User’s Choice. Owned by JobServe.com, which also owns ComputerWork.
17)
PHP Jobs
Like all popular programming languages, PHP is international, so these listings span the country and the globe.
18) Vault: Technology Jobs
No, not an IT job site, but a source of information about your potential IT employer. Vault offers reams of information on companies and educational programs.
19) IEEE Job Site
As the times have changed, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) has expanded its purview far beyond electric engineers, hence the IT jobs on this site.
20)
oDesk
Popular among programmers and tech support staff from developing countries, oDesk focuses on freelance tech work.
21) Information Technology Crossing
You have to pay to join. The site claims that charging users instead of employers (the usual method) enables them to list more IT job openings.
22) JobsInLogistics
Don’t be discouraged by the Logistics label: Take a look at this site’s Systems/ IT section. And remember that companies involved with logistics are some of the largest IT employers.
23) Net Temps: Info Tech
Yes, you want a full-time gig, but in the meantime you can pick up some contract work. Some companies hire contract workers part-time as an audition for a full-time gig.
24) RoadTechs: Computer and Telecom
Have skills, will travel. Focusing on short term (or “indefinite term”) jobs, RoadTechs bills itself as “the interactive site for the traveling contractor.”
25) TheITJobBoard
Both temp and full-time IT jobs, emphasizing the UK and European market. On a recent visit it claimed some 26,000 jobs.
Also See: How Not to Get an IT Job: 10 Tips
AND: IT Salary