Website Of The Month: LocalAccountingJobs.Com

LocalAccounting Jobs.com was created by Cleveland-based Local Jobs, Inc., as part of its expansion to major metropolitan areas around the United States. The website is organized in a discipline- and geographic-specific format with a goal of streamlining and targeting the potential opportunities for job seekers and employers. The website currently includes positions in 11 major metropolitan areas, with more planned. An excellent, but hidden, feature of the website is a very detailed finance and accounting salary survey, which can be accessed via “press releases.”

Job seekers have free access to the employment search available on LocalAccountingJobs.com. First-time applicants register by selecting their city from the drop-down index on the homepage. The next page brings up the job seeker and employer log-in for that city. First-time users can register, and repeat users can log in from this screen. Job seekers can also click on “view all local listings” for that city without being logged in or registered.

New users need to complete job preference and personal profile checklists. The job preference checklist covers the desired location in the chosen city, specific position, industry, salary preference, and travel preference. The position category allows users to choose six specific job titles. The industry category also allows a maximum of six choices. The personal profile checklist is provided for the job seeker to complete personal information and choose whether to receive e-mail alerts of new job postings.

The website presents a textbox for the user to enter a resume and cover letter. Copying this information from another program is time-consuming and requires substantial editing. Addit-ionally, only one version of the resume at a time can be stored.

The website creates a “home page” for the job seeker from which the user can edit the job preference, profile, and resume information at any time. The website will match the job seeker to postings that match her specific data. To conduct a more general or wide-ranging search, the user can make repeated changes to the preferences. This search approach is different from the general job-search websites, but it is easy to use.

A job seeker who wants to search more than one city can do so, through a series of links, one city at a time. When job posting hits are found, the website will display them with links to more information about the specific position. The job seeker can print out the position information, link to the company’s website or e-mail, or apply through LocalAccountingJobs.com.

Employers interested in the Local AccountingJobs.com services can access fee information from the home page and the log-in. Employers register for the service in the same manner as job seekers: by selecting the city of their choice. First-time users can register and repeat users can log in from the secondary screen. New users complete a company profile and contact information.

Once logged in, employers can post a new job listing and renew or edit previously posted listings from their own home page. Prices range from a one-time 30-day posting for $250 to a 12-month unlimited package for $2,500. After choosing the pricing and payment options, the employer enters the position information in a manner similar to job seekers’ preferences. Employers can specify the job title, travel, location, experience, salary, certification, and experience sought. The employer can enter or copy and paste longer job descriptions in a text-box format and select multiple job functions from a listing.

Employers can also view a list of interested applicants, access applicants’ resumes, and view other companies’ postings. The applicants should be specifically targeted to the requirements that the employer chose in the job posting. The website indicates that a resume search option is available, but this is not part of the usual service.

LocalAccountingJobs.com offers a targeted approach to the job search function. Rather than sorting through long lists of positions and candidates, job seekers and employers are provided with only those matches that specifically fit their profiles. In this regard, the website is quite different from other job search sites and requires some adjustment. Overall, it is easy to navigate the site and edit information, although the text-box format is somewhat cumbersome.

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