The internet is a job-seeking gold mine. If you’re looking for a job, it may be your most useful tool. Here are six tips to use the internet for your job search.

1 Use the internet to search and sign up for job search sites. You’ve probably heard of the big job search sites like Monster. However, there are many smaller job search sites and probably even a few local ones that you can sign up for Online, using these search sites, you can generally search by geographic region, job title, education, and job category. For example, restaurant and hotel maybe a job category. On many services, you can also set up alerts so any new job postings that fit certain criteria are emailed to you. This makes using online job search/posting sites tremendously convenient.

2 Classified ad sites. Many newspapers are now publishing a lot of their content online. This also means that they’re publishing their classified advertisements online too. Find newspapers online that cater to your geographic region, or a region you wouldn’t mind moving to, and review their classified job postings. You may be able to subscribe to the paper so new information is sent to you. And some newspapers have large job listings on certain days of the week. Learn these days in advance and you can have instant access to all new job postings.

3 Craigslist and other local posting sites. Craigslist works much like a classified advertisement in a newspaper. You can search the new postings daily. And you can search by specific criteria including geography and keyword. Craigslist also makes it easy to job search in different cities and states. Employers love using craigslist because it’s free.

4 Social working sites. Believe it or not, social networking sites can be a great place to find a job. Some companies post jobs on sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can also let your social networking friends know you’re looking for a job and highlight your skills. You never know, the perfect job may come knocking on your virtual door.

5 Company websites. Most companies, even small ones, have websites. Many of these websites list job openings. You can use the internet to search for specific companies in your area. Review the job openings in your area and then use the internet to conduct further research on the company so you can position your cover letter and resume to fit their needs and the job opening.

6 Google alerts. If you have a Google account you can use Google Alerts to have jobs sent to you. Using Google alerts you specify the criteria to search by and then you can choose how often you’re alerted. For example once a day or once a week. A job search Google Alert may be set up for example to look for “Marketing Copywriter, St Louis.” When anyone posts anything on the internet with those keywords, it’ll be included in your alert.

The internet is a fantastic resource for many things. Use it to make finding your next job as easy and efficient as possible.