Job Search Statistics

You know what they say about statistics. They're only as good as the people creating them. Statistics are funny that way. You can pretty much skew the numbers to support any side of a debate based on how you splice the information. That's why it's usually best to cross reference any set of claims regarding statistical information with multiple sources.

Having said that however, guess what I'm about to do? That's right....post some information based on statistics. This information came from the folks at "Indeed" so if you have any conflicting info, I invite you to contact me. Please have a referenceable sources. :)

According to the folks at "Indeed", these are the most popular tools used to conduct Internet job searches ranked according to number of users / job seekers:

1. Google
2. Indeed
3. Careerbuilder
4. Hotjobs
5. Monster

I've been a recruiter fro nearly 10 years and I have to tell you this information surprises me. The glaring part initially is that Google is #1 for job searches. That threw me for a loop. I have my take on why Google shows up at the top. One of them is probably due to the preponderance of recruiter activity. That's pure speculation but I think it's valid. The other part that is a glaring conflict compared to my personal assumptions is that Hotjobs is ranked above Monster (at least in 2010 which means the study is for use from 2009 and prior). Hotjobs is affiliated with Yahoo (and as of 2010 w/ Monster) so perhaps there is some cross utilization there with people who are using Yahoo for other searches. I don't know.

Anyway, that's what they say.

PS - You should keep in mind also that these statistics have a way of changing month to month, year to year. It's unclear if this is ranking according to the past 10 years, 1 year, 1 month or 10 days. Who knows how exact and meaningful this really is but there it is anyway. :)