It is hard to find the best job search websites because there are so many to choose from. Many job seekers begin and end their job searches by going to LinkedIn and Indeed, but are they actually the best sites that offer the most job postings? Yes and no. A simple Google search of how to find the best job search websites reveals some familiar names along with many not-so-familiar names.
Which ones are worth your time and effort? Based on my own experience, five job search sites stand out from the rest. In this blog post I will discuss my five preferred job search sites for copywriting and content marketing roles and offer a few additional tips to find job postings that align with what you’re actually looking for.
Update: Google has been disappointing lately. I subscribe to job search alerts from Google and the listed positions have been outdated and not linked to the actual company advertising the position. I think Google can still be useful every now and again, but I no longer recommend it as a top job search website. The Google section of this post has modified because frankly Google search isn’t as good as it used to be.
Top four job search websites
The initial part of improving your resume and reaching out to your network is over. Maybe you even set up your own LLC and created your own website to try your hand at becoming a freelance writer. You’ve had some initial success and have generally felt pretty good about your job search experience thus far. But it’s been two months and you still don’t have a job. Most job seekers get to this point in their career search journey. It’s time to start grinding.
For quality job postings, LinkedIn is the preferred site of most job seekers, including me, but there are many more out there. Here are my top five job search sites and my experience with each of them.
You don’t need me to tell you about LinkedIn. Everyone looking for a job is on LinkedIn all day, scouring the jobs section for the next hot posting. Recruiters are also on LinkedIn all day, looking for talent to fill their open positions. Many recruiters also exclusively use LinkedIn to post their open roles because it’s the biggest job search website. LinkedIn will always be my first choice when looking for job listings online, but there are a few other options to check out.
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is a popular job search website that is very easy to navigate. The results are easy to see and you can search for whatever you want, like any job search website. But what about the results? Are they real jobs that are actually on the company websites? Do the jobs listed generally align with the search query? In my case, the answer is yes.
After searching “copywriter” on ZipRecruiter I saw a listing for a job that I applied for almost two months ago. I was initially skeptical that my search results were accurate because many job search website results are for postings that were once live but have since been removed. Sure enough, after looking on the company website, the job is still posted. The algorithm was right and ZipRecruiter had given me accurate information.
Of course, that is just one example, but every time I’ve checked company websites based on the ZipRecruiter results the job posting has been legit. ZipRecruiter is on my list of preferred job search websites and it should be on yours as well.
BuiltIn
This one was a surprise to me. A friend told me about BuiltIn, which is based in Seattle. They focus on tech jobs, but copywriting jobs can be found in any industry, so I tried it out the other day. I wish I had known about it earlier because BuiltIn is great! It has lots of company and salary information and even has a remote-specific section that only lists remote-first openings.
The best part of BuiltIn is that my search yielded many openings that I hadn’t seen anywhere else. I immediately found several great openings to apply for and continue to check it every day. If you’re looking for tech or tech-adjacent positions, BuiltIn should be your first stop after LinkedIn.
Indeed
LinkedIn and Indeed are the two biggest job search sites. I could go on and on about how important LinkedIn is to job seekers, but I would only be repeating what every career counselor and wannabe job search influencer has said for years.
Tips to optimize your search on LinkedIn are everywhere online, but the same cannot be said for Indeed. Why not? It has many of the same functions. You can upload your resume for recruiters and employers to find, and millions of job listings are available on the site. In my opinion, the reason is that Indeed tries to do too much. Just look at the results when you search a simple term like “copywriter.” There is a lot of stuff on the page!
Once you get to the bottom of the first page it asks you how relevant the jobs are, whether you want to sign up for an email alert about your search query, and it even asks about your previous experiences, assuming you have uploaded your resume and created an account. Indeed wants to be all things to all job seekers, but to me it just comes across as overwhelming. The other job search websites do a better job of focusing on the actual job postings. Indeed has a lot of useful information, but it also has a lot of unrelated content that clogs up the page.
Additional job search tips
Here are three more ideas taken from my own job search strategy:
- Go to your local library and look for The Big Book of Lists published by your local Business Journal. Since I live in Washington I use the Puget Sound Business Journal Big Book of Lists, but they publish it in cities across the country. It is a tremendous resource, filled with helpful information about the biggest employers in your region, including many that you’ve probably never heard of. Just create a spreadsheet with all the companies you find in the list and head to their career pages. In just a few minutes you will have dozens of new leads for your job search.
- Do a simple Google search for job postings. I assumed job openings were mostly on sites like LinkedIn and not on Google. Wrong! I feel kind of silly after searching “copywriter jobs” on Google. In addition to a list of job search websites pre-programmed with copywriter job listings, there is an entire Google Jobs section with a huge list of jobs that fit my background and experience. The results can be inconsistent and are often outdated, but it’s worth a shot to see if anything new pops up.
- If you’re interested in working for the government, you already know to check out USAJobs.gov for federal employment opportunities. What you may not know is that governmentjobs.com is the platform that many state and local governments use to post their jobs. You can set up a profile and search for government jobs in one spot instead of having to go several different county, city, and state websites. Applying for a government job is an entirely different process than the private sector, so I highly recommend checking out LinkedIn Learning or even YouTube to find some how-to guides on creating an effective application for government positions.
Best job search websites conclusion
Looking for a job is a job in itself. It can be difficult to figure out where to start and which job search sites besides LinkedIn are worth checking out. I hope this guide helped you with your job search journey. Good luck finding your next career opportunity!
Ted F. Dahlstrom 