https://goo.gl/images/CvV9Hd. Are you sitting at home in front of your computer searching for jobs to fit your current career goals? Are you like one of my mentees who just told me that she cannot find a job where she is located? Or are you like another mentee who is networking and has lined up potentially two jobs while finishing his graduate degree?

I ask my mentees to remain strategic in their job searches. I offer a bunch of other job hunting tips that are rapidly forgotten. Layely, I am sensing a collective, heightened anxiety haze coming over some folk who are going around in circles to locate job possibilities, fix their resumes, start or improve personal websites and prep for the first round of interviews. Today, I am focusing on helping the almost discouraged job seeker in my career fields.

Here’s my top FREE and proven effective job sites for communications (digital media, PR, education) folk:

First pick is Careers.journalists.org, the free job site of the Online News Association. This free offering is my favorite source for entry-level to career professional quality jobs in digital media, public relations and affairs, higher education and other related communications areas. I recommend joining this association. It is best to join if you are still a student because your $25 annual fee is “Open to high school, college and university students, including undergraduate, graduate and associate degree students, with an interest in journalism produced for digital distribution. (Graduate students who are employed full time and students in certificate programs are not eligible to be Student Members.)”- ONA.

Next pick: careers.poynter.org. It is the free site of the journalism industry’s career prep and training. When I taught a course for senior students in college, I listed several free or low cost poynter.org courses for them to utilize to sharpen their skills. What’s also great about this site are the categories of jobs to aid the career seekers:
Marketing
PR & Advertising
Graphic Design
Journalism
Online Marketing
Sales – General
Media & Broadcasting
Web, Graphics & UI
Application Development
Hospitality
Media Technology

Final pick: Your college or university’s career website that pertains to your major. For instance, as a graduate of the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, I have a free career source for life. I have never used the career site because my graduate 🎓 degree from Medill has been more than enough to open doors and opportunities during my blessed career journey. If your school does not have a current and relevant job site for you, then seek help from other universities and colleges. Some are open to getting every graduate or career professional gainfully employed.

Also, there are many professional association conferences that boast of on-site job fairs. You usually have to 💰 to attend the conferences, this the free search is not in play. Ceck those associations’ sites for potential hints at which employers are attending the conference and then check those websites.

The point is to find free job sites that are also linked to your current career choice(s). There is no excuse for anyone to remain at home and grumble or express panic because you cannot find your best job. You may have to relocate to the new job. Yet, first things first: Locate your top 10 job possibilities. My next post will provide you with tips on how to effectively read job postings so that your resume and experience lines up with to get you noticed by your future employer.

Ann L. Wead Kimbrough is an accomplished educator, award-winning financial journalist, author, special events leader, mentor and prolific contributor to select global and domestic non-profit causes. Her blog topics include travel, history, humor, education, career, family, journalism and ‘thought you should know’ subjects. https://www.linkedin.com/in/annlineve/