"Invaluable Websites" ??

First I'd like to say welcome back, and I hope my absence was not an inconvenience to anyone. On the plus side I have had two interviews since my last post, and will be writing about that soon. But today I wanted to share an advice piece I was pointed to recently and discuss it in depth. Over on the blog Careerealism, there was a pieces a few months back about web sites for career research: 15 Invaluable Websites for Job Research.

Don Goodman wrote the piece, and for the most part I agree with the list. He doesn't indicate if the list is ranked, but lets take a look at them:

• Quintessential Careers
• Job-Hunt.org
• LinkedIn
• ZoomInfo
• Spoke
• Jigsaw
• FTT Research
• Highbeam
• Glassdoor
• The Vault
• Wet Feet
• Internship Programs
• Airs Job Board & Recruiting Technology Directory
• AnnualReports.com
• CEO Express 

The sites I agree with the most on this list are LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Wet Feet and AnnualReports.com. Also good are CEO Express, Highbeam, Job-Hunt.org, Airs Job Boars & Recuiting Technology Directory and Quintessential Careers. In this second group are three sites that help search for article type information... so just remember that while these are good, since they are free on the web you might have better success with resources from a local library. Since the databases through a library are subscription they will contain information which someone (the author or publisher) has decided is valuable enough that they don't want to give it away from free. This does not always make it better, just that someone has deemed it valuable. For help finding library resources in your area you can start with the local public library in your home area... or check this list to see if your state offers free access via the web.

I have not used ZoomInfo, Spoke, Jigsaw or FTT Research, but here are my thoughts based on Mr. Goodman's descriptions. ZoomInfo like Highbeam and Quintessential Careers can find article level info so while it is free online just remember your other options. The other three sound like directories, so Spoke and FTT Research might work well in combination with LinkedIn, but there are others and often times libraries have on line and print resources that can do the same things.

Jigsaw may be a cool site, but between LinkedIn and other free library resources I wouldn't pay for a web service to find contact type information. Finally I would like to address The Vault. The site Mr. Goodman describes is a small piece of what this company provides. And he mentions the 'small fee'. The full resources is most likely available from college libraries and/or career service departments... so if you have an alma mater I would contact them first. If they can't give you the full access... then Glassdoor also has a section for employees to rate and describe working for a company... so I would not pay for a subscription to The Vault as an individual.

Just my thoughts, hope these helps save you money as well as time.