Number of Job Listings on the Net Rising

A new survey shows a virtual overnight explosion of online job services, with up to 95% of all major newspapers’ classified job listings now available on the Internet.

The survey, by the outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, says most of the newspaper classified ads have appeared online in the last few months. And federal and state governments, among others, also have set up computer-based job listings.

For the job seeker, these databases provide an instant means of doing customized searches by region, industry, job title or company.

Challenger advises workers to be wary if the job posting doesn’t indicate the origin of the listing. Job seekers also should look for databases that provide frequent updates and include the date the opening was first posted.

Another bit of advice: Be careful when sending resumes electronically. Depending on the e-mail software, it could come out looking quite different on the other end.

Don Lee covers workplace issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at don.lee@latimes.com