Need a job or looking to hire? The internet is where it’s done nowadays, and there are quite a few online job search sites for employers and job-seekers in 2022. Of course, online job listing sites are hardly anything new — they’re practically as old as the world wide web itself, and employers and job-seekers alike have been using the internet to connect to each other for decades now. Today, there are a ton of job websites out there, and it can be hard to find the best ones, especially if you’re an employer seeking some new talent. Worry not: We’re here with a roundup of all the best job search sites for connecting businesses and job-seeking professionals in the U.S.
1. ZipRecruiter
True to its name, ZipRecruiter’s aim is to make the hiring process as quick and smooth as possible. Rather than being a standalone job listings site, ZipRecruiter connects to more than 100 job boards. Employers looking to hire can create a job listing, and ZipRecruiter will instantly post it across that huge network of job listing websites to cast as wide of a net as possible. But it goes further: Using your chosen criteria, ZipRecruiter will automatically screen potential hires that are a good fit and invite them to contact you.
ZipRecruiter also makes it easy to manage your pool of candidates from the dashboard, allowing you to further sort and screen applicants and decide which ones you wish to advance to the next stage of the hiring process. Most employers find quality candidates within a day of posting their job listing with ZipRecruiter, so this job listing site definitely lives up to its name, and some even before receiving any applications using the service’s ‘Invite to Apply’ tool, which presents qualified candidates for open roles to employers even before they apply, where they can invite people to apply with one click.
ZipRecruiter works well for job-seekers, too. After signing up, you can customize your profile with your resume, education history, skills, job criteria, and other filters, and ZipRecruiter will regularly scan existing job sites across the web for any postings that are a good match. When it finds one, it will alert you so you can apply immediately. You can also receive a daily list of applicable vacancies in your inbox. Want to peruse job listings yourself? No problem — you can do that, too. ZipRecruiter takes a lot of the time and hassle out of the hiring process for both employers and job-seekers.
Learn More
2. Indeed
Indeed is the largest and most-used job search site in the world, so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise to see it at the top of our list. It’s long been one of the best job search sites for professionals seeking new employment, and many smaller third-party job search websites and newsletters will use Indeed’s job feed to aggregate their job listings. That naturally makes Indeed a great job search site for employers looking to cast a wide net for new talent.
Prospective employees can set up a custom profile complete with a CV and resume, so it’s more than just an anonymous job listings board. Indeed actually allows employers to browse resumes of professionals looking for work and get in touch with them, so unlike many job sites where the job-seeker must initiate contact, Indeed is more of a two-way deal. This is convenient because it lets businesses screen and connect with potential employees — a boon for companies who are seeking talent and want to take a more active approach. You can do virtual interviews and organize your candidate pool right on the website or mobile app.
For job-seekers, the Indeed search engine is comprehensive. When searching for jobs, you can narrow down your search criteria based on employment field, location, permanence (part-time, full-time, contract, etc.), starting pay, and more, making it relatively easy to filter out postings that aren’t a good fit for what you’re looking for. Overall, Indeed might be the best job search site for both employers and job-seekers, and since it’s the most popular, it’s a great place to start.
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn, like Indeed, is another shoo-in for any list of the best job search sites. LinkedIn works a little differently, though, in that it’s largely structured like a social media website that’s tailor-made for businesses and professionals. It’s designed to allow companies and employees to network with one another, not only for the purpose of job applications but also for connecting with other professionals in your field — a resource that has obvious uses beyond just landing a new gig.
Although its primary focus is on professional networking, LinkedIn does provide a job listing board. Here, employers can post job listings, and LinkedIn users can search and apply for vacancies. Employers can browse currently available workers as well. LinkedIn is also one of the best job search mobile apps, which is useful since it’s structured much like a social media website. You’ll be connecting and talking with prospective employers along with other professionals in your area of work, so it’s good to be able to do everything from your phone or tablet when you’re on the go.
If you’re seeking employment, LinkedIn can use your resume and job preferences to automatically scour available job listings and notify you whenever there’s a vacancy that might be a good match for your skillset. You can browse listings manually, of course, and filter postings based on pay grade, permanence, and other specifics, then apply using your personal profile — no need to attach and send out your CV and resume over and over again. Your LinkedIn profile is a great place to organize all of your credentials, education, and work experience, and even show examples from your work portfolio for prospective employers to see.
4. Monster
When it comes to name recognition, few job listing sites hold a candle to Monster.com. Monster was one of the earliest examples of online job sites and dates back to the early dot-com era. Although it’s not the top dog anymore and has some fierce competition to contend with nowadays, Monster is still one of the best job search sites in 2022 for prospective employees and employers alike.
For employers, Monster has its own job listings board, but also distributes your postings to hundreds of local news sites across the country. This casts a pretty wide net, and there’s no limit on how many people can apply to your listings. You get full access to Monster’s extensive catalog of job descriptions and listing templates to streamline the search process even further, and can search for available job applicants yourself.
As with most other big job search sites, professionals looking for work can upload their resumes to Monster and search the job board for vacancies based on criteria like starting pay, hours, field, and other specifics. Monster offers some advice and tips for finding employment, negotiating salaries, and acing job interviews as well. Monster also features a very nice mobile app that lets you “swipe” through job cards to quickly apply or pass on vacancies that pop up in your feed.
5. Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a bit unique in the landscape of job search sites. Although it does feature job listings, it’s also something of a review site, similar to Yelp. Employees can share their experiences and insights related to work they’ve done for companies, providing a more in-depth research experience for job-seekers. When searching jobs on Glassdoor, you won’t just see things like base pay, permanence, location, and so on — you’ll see leadership ratings, employee recommendations, and overall satisfaction ratings from people who work or have worked at these companies.
For businesses, Glassdoor provides some unique opportunities to build their reputation, promote their brand, and attract top talent. This is different from many other job search sites in that the onus is on the employers to appeal to professionals. If you want to draw the best people in your field, Glassdoor could give you the edge you need to stand out in a market where competition for employees has been fierce as of late.
With Glassdoor, you can do more than just post a job listing. You tell prospective employees why they should work at your company and can also learn more about how to improve your employee experience (which will, of course, make it easier to attract the best people for the job). If other job search sites aren’t helping you find the talent you require, or if you’re a job-seeker but want to see more information about who you might be working for than you usually get from simple job listing boards, Glassdoor is for you.
6. Getwork
Job listing sites are convenient to be sure, but they can just as easily become overwhelming for both employers and job-seekers alike. When you’re dealing with literally millions of job listings and applicants, it can be a Sisyphean task to sort through it all, even if search filters let you narrow things down. You can still end up with hundreds or thousands of potential leads to deal with, to say nothing of duplicate listings or outdated postings that haven’t been updated. It can lead to a lot of wasted time and mental energy.
Getwork aims to streamline things a bit. Instead of being a standalone job search site or aggregating listings from other sites, Getwork pulls available job listings directly from company websites. This means that only up-to-date and currently available vacancies are posted — no duplicates, expired listings, or other time-wasters. Getwork also handles applications directly through company websites, which is convenient and efficient for both employers and employees.
For businesses looking to build or improve their flow of incoming talent, Getwork offers customized advertising and recruitment solutions. These include email recruitment campaigns, pay-per-click campaigns, and targeted marketing campaigns that help you zero in on the candidates you want from a pool of more than 100 million professionals. Getwork provides some novel ways to find the best prospects for your business, as well as methods that might be a good option if the shotgun approach of posting job listings all over the place isn’t getting the results you’re looking for.
7. FlexJobs
Freelancers, contractors, and remote professionals know all too well that perusing traditional job search sites can be a chore, as most of the listings are for full-time and/or on-location employment. FlexJobs, as its name suggests, is a little different. It’s a job search site built specifically for remote and freelance workers — in other words, those who are flexible with their work hours and locale, as well as businesses looking for such talent.
FlexJobs has been around since 2007, so even if the age of remote work has only come fully into its own relatively recently, this site has been doing its thing for a while. It’s far and away the best platform for employers looking for freelance, remote, part-time, and hybrid workers, as well as job-seekers who fall into those categories. This may limit the range of available professional fields you’ll see on FlexJobs — we’re talking about jobs that are mostly done online, after all (things like writing, web development, programming, etc.) — but that’s to be expected given the nature of this type of work.
Another benefit of FlexJobs is that it lets employers tap into a pool of professionals that might be hard to reach because they may not bother at all with traditional job search sites like Indeed or Monster (due in no small part to the aforementioned difficulty that remote and freelance workers often have with these massive job listing boards). Online work isn’t going anywhere, either, and is in fact only going to grow, so even if you’re still getting some use out of the other best job search sites we’ve listed, FlexJobs is one that might be worth adding to your toolbox if you could also use some remote or freelance help for certain projects.
8. AngelList
AngelList is a relative newcomer to the job search website scene, and it’s one that’s aimed almost entirely at smaller startup companies and those looking to work for one. Its pool of professionals includes more than 8 million candidates from around the globe, making it undeniably the best job search site in the startup community. Peloton, Plaid, NerdWallet, DoorDash, and Roblox are just a few successful startups that have used AngelList, establishing it as the No. 1 place to find talent in the dynamic and fast-paced startup space.
AngelList’s database of startup-ready professionals spans the globe, so you’re not just limited to the U.S. or North America. It’s also a good option for businesses looking for remote or freelance workers, as well as for job-seekers who fall into those categories. You can search for specific skills and job types, and you can even sort and filter candidates based on time zone if you want. Employers can organize, manage, and communicate directly with their candidate pools right through the website.
“Startup” is almost synonymous with “tech” nowadays, and you can be sure that AngelList is a great place for employers and job-seekers in tech-related fields. Programmers, software engineers, website devs and administrators, sales and marketing professionals — if it’s the type of job you’d find at a startup, AngelList caters to it. Just bear in mind that AngelList is focused on startups and won’t likely be a good fit for employers or job-seekers who are not active in (or looking for entry into) this space.
9. Scouted
Even the best job search sites tend to rely on resumes and job experience to help connect businesses and job-seekers, but this can leave some talent out of the loop. If you don’t have extensive job experience yet, or if you’re an employer looking to tap into some fresh talent that might get otherwise overlooked, then Scouted is worth a look. Instead of relying solely on a resume, Scouted takes a more holistic approach to the hiring and job-seeking process, with the aim to match people and companies based not only on their skills and experience but also on their personalities and potential.
Through this method, Scouted proposes to increase compatibility between employers and employees. If that sounds like a gimmick or a little too much like a dating website, let the numbers speak for themselves: Scouted boasts a 95% retention rate thanks to its AI software that matches companies with entry- and mid-level talent. When signing up and setting up a profile, job-seekers will answer a series of questionnaires. Scouted uses this more comprehensive approach to create a curated list of pre-qualified applications for employers to choose from.
Employers can even create an interview template, which applicants can use to record an interview video to further narrow down the choices. Scouted’s database of job listings isn’t the biggest, but its “quality over quantity” approach to hiring makes Scouted stand out from the crowd of job search sites and adds a more human touch to the whole hiring process (which we all know can be stressful and time-consuming at the best of times).
What’s the best job search site in the U.S.?
It’s hard to pick which of these is the best job search site, but a few do stand out. Indeed is the largest job listings database by far, while LinkedIn is ubiquitous among professionals looking to network with businesses and each other. Either of these two would make a good candidate for the best job search site: Indeed is the top pick for straightforward job listings in our estimation, and LinkedIn is the best choice for companies and job-seekers looking to make connections.
However, a “one size fits all” site like Indeed might not be the best for your situation, even if it could be considered the best overall. If you’re running a startup or looking to get hired by one, for example, then AngelList is your best bet. On the other hand, if standard job search sites are too impersonal for you and you’re looking for a more curated approach to finding talent or a job, then Glassdoor and Scouted might be a better fit.
Remote and freelance workers seeking more flexible employment terms will be better served by FlexJobs, to name another instance where a site like Indeed or Monster might overwhelm. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourself which one of the best job search sites is the best fit for your business or professional career goals.
What is the most used job website in the U.S.?
Indeed is by far the most-trafficked job website in the U.S., which is why it’s at the top of our list. It covers pretty much every field of employment, and with more than 130 million aspiring applicants, it has the largest hiring pool by a large margin. Another thing to consider with Indeed is that its parent company owns other job search sites, including Glassdoor. Not only is Indeed the most used job site in the U.S. but your listings are going to end up on other websites and will reach prospects who aren’t even using Indeed at all.
Indeed’s on-site listings are impressive enough, but when you consider how many job listing sites aggregate their feeds from Indeed, it’s obvious that this one takes the cake when it comes to sheer numbers. One of its main draws continues to be its simplicity; while other job search sites boast bells and whistles like personality questionnaires and AI-enhanced compatibility screening, Indeed’s interface has remained pretty much the same since its inception. That ease of use and low barrier to entry is a large part of what makes Indeed so popular for employers and job-hunters alike, and that’s not likely to change in the foreseeable future.
Where’s the best place to post job openings in the U.S.?
For employers who are looking to cast the widest net possible when recruiting talent, the obvious choice is Indeed. It’s the most-used job search site in the U.S. as we’ve already mentioned, and it caters to just about every type of business under the sun. If you insist on only using a single job listing site, you really can’t go wrong with Indeed, although if you’re not limiting yourself to just one (and there’s no reason you should, really), then you should add LinkedIn to the mix. These could easily be considered the “big two” when it comes to job search websites.
Again, though, this might depend on your own needs and preferences. ZipRecruiter is another great option for not only searching far and wide for talent but doing it quickly while automatic much of the pre-interview process. Time is money, after all, and this is definitely true for businesses. As we’ve mentioned, AngelList is the best job site for startup companies and professionals looking for jobs at one, while FlexJobs is the go-to place for employers looking for remote and freelance talent. All of the best job search sites have their own features and strengths that cater to certain crowds.
Editors’ Recommendations