Best Job Search Engines

Below is a list of the best job search engines, from my experience. One thing you will want to note, is that the more automated searches you set-up for across multiple search engines you’ll start to see a lot of the same jobs. So be carefull with your diminishing returns (Always remember, limit your time online!).




This site has a powerful search engine that does not grab near as much junk as the big 3 (careerbuilder, hotjobs, monster). This is a great site to set-up daily or weekly job alerts from. Take some time to play with search to make sure you are getting back exactly what you are looking for. Be as specific as possible.




If you are looking for a job in non-profit. Idealist is by far the best site. It is nicely categorized, and the search provides accurate results. Look for a new improved site coming soon.



Great search engine with lots of options to do different types of searches, attach your resume, etc… Very easy to use and delivers good results.



Yahoo powered Hotjobs made it to number 3 because of its ease of use and it search results in New York and Los Angeles. There seems to be limited results in other cities, and a lot of junk.



This is THE site for government jobs. Most government agency websites will redirect you here to begin you application. The search engine is very good, but the application process for most of these jobs is not job seeker friendly. It can be a bit overwhelming.



Dice is the leader in IT job search engines. The thing with Dice is that most of the jobs posted here are done so by staffing agencies which also use other engines. But if you are only interested in IT, this might help narrow the results for you.



Ladders is a paid search engine for jobs over $100k. It delivers good results, but is fairly pricey if you are unemployed. I recommend this if you are qualified for jobs that pay 100k+ and you aren’t having any luck with your personal network.




The site engine on this one supposedly customizes the results as it “learns” what you are looking for. It has a similar look and feel as Indeed (clean and easy).




This probably used to be the leader in job search engines; however it has taken a back seat. There is a lot of junk on this site and a lot of duplication to what you will find on Monster.



I’m not very familiar with this service, but from what I understand it is similar to Careershift (a paid service), focusing primarily on searching company job boards. This can be helpful when you keep getting the same junk from recruiters who dominate the job boards.



I’ve never been a fan of LinkedIn’s job board. The idea is that you can apply for jobs and see who you know in your network that is connected somehow to the job or company that you are applying for. The application process is just not smooth on the site, I don’t want HR departments solely looking at my LinkedIn profile for their initial assessment (which in most cases gives away your age, sex, and race), and who says I can’t just look at another job board and go back to LinkedIn to check my network?
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