Winners and Losers in Job Search Game

Nearly by default, once a job-seeker gets their resume tuned up and cleared of embarrassing gaffes, the next place they go is to one of the big job boards to get it out there. But where do they start? Are their some boards that have a better return on investment than others?

Such statistics are all but impossible to track down, but a report released by Hitwise, an e-marketing research firm, finds that some job boards have much more traffic and market share than others. For example, while CareerBuilder.com is still in first place, with 12.96 percent of U.S. employment site visits in the last week of January, its share is down 6 percent from the year before. Considering what the company spent on SuperBowl ads (that were largely deplored,) this is not a promising sign.

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s HotJobs, in a close second place with 11.18 percent of visits, has nearly doubled its market share in the last year, up 84 percent. [Insert your best Yahoo employees looking for a better gig joke here.]

Meanwhile Monster, evidencing even more trouble for what was once the biggest name in online job boards, holds only third place in market share, at 4.32 percent, down more than half (52 percent) from the year before.

Even in the fourth and fifth place spots, there was no shortage of drama. Job.com is right on Monster’s tail at 4.11 percent of the market share, up 42 percent from last year and Indeed.com is just as close, at 4.07 percent has nearly doubled its presence in the last year, up 92 percent.