Smartphone apps not so smart when it comes to job-search

With all the people out of work at the moment, you’d think there’d be some decent job search apps on smartphones. At least that’s what I expected when I decided to write this article. But even on the iPhone and Android phones, app options for job-searching are pretty lackluster.

They’re all based on job-search websites. Some show links to multiple results, but a few clicks reveal the actual results are no longer in existence — the “Hire-a-Droid” app, for example. Some apps, like “High Paying Jobs”, have smooth-looking interfaces, but don’t get many results. “Jobs Search Droid” and “iJobs” are based on Indeed.com, but both display fewer results than the actual web site.

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The Beyond.com app available in the Apple AppStore and the Android Market for free, is perhaps the least innovative choice of all. It’s simply a link to the Beyond.com mobile site. And CareerBuilder Mob, an app for the Android, doesn’t open the browser, but displays exactly what you’d see if you were in the browser on the career mobile website. It’s hardly worth the download.

Other apps, such as “Job Search” by Mobileworld can’t get results in the desired city and instead list results in the surrounding region.

In most cases it seems mobile web sites are easier to navigate and use than any of these currently available apps. So until we see better offerings in the various app stores, I recommend bookmarking the following web sites on your phone for a quick look whenever you’ve got some down time. There are many job search resources out there, but I chose these five because they were easiest to navigate on a phone and deliver the most results.

1. Monster — mobile.monster.com. It’s the best job search website out there, and the mobile version is just as easy to browse.

2. Careerbuilder — mobile.careerbuilder.com. It claims to be the “global leader in human capital solutions.” It’s similar to Monster, but offers a different pool of jobs.

3. Beyond.com — beyond.com/m/. Focuses on “niche career communities.”

4. Indeed.com — indeed.com/m/. Searches multiple job sites and aggregates the results.

5. Craigslist — craigslist.org. The best online classifieds, especially if you want to focus on only a small area and not an entire city. Craigslist doesn’t have a mobile site, but the web site is fast-loading and is just as easy to browse on a mobile phone.

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[Image credit: Mochasyncsoftware]