First, take a good look at your own website. No matter how prospective employees hear about your job opening, one of their first steps will be to check out your business online. In a tight labor market, your web presence must be competitive with other businesses looking to hire similar people. Will they get a good first impression of the quality of your business and a good understanding of what you do?

Next, post your job opportunities on your site. CommTel of Maine, for example, has a section on their site titled "Careers at CommTel" where they explain that a job with their firm offers "Challenges, Growth, Opportunity, and The Great State Of Maine." Benefits offered as well as some of the highlights of living in the state are included at www.ctel.net.

CommTel does not list specific jobs on the Internet, but rather invites resumes. "If you are an energetic, creative, and career-minded professional who relishes a high standard of living, then we need to hear from you today! Please send us a cover letter telling us about yourself along with a copy of your resume."

If you are searching for first time employees, consider a section that profiles a couple of current employees. Include their background, their advancement, and a day-in-the-life story about a typical day. One company even includes an online quiz, which tabulates the match with the job and encourages viewers to apply.

EnvisioNet, another Maine firm, posts specific job descriptions at www.envisionet.com. Not only does the explanation cover what the job entails, it also describes the ideal candidate for the position. This eliminates inquiries from unqualified people. If you do post jobs online, be sure to keep listings up-to-date and give careful instructions about how to apply and when the search closes. Include statements such as being an equal opportunity employer.

Once this information is on the Internet, you will want to advertise online and in traditional media. For example, place an ad in the local newspaper for a children's camp counselor including the camp's email and web addresses. You will appeal to a web-savvy generation, of course!

Another way to reach potential employees online is to use an e-mail list. The Bangor Theological Seminary is in the process of hiring a new head librarian because their current librarian is retiring. They posted the job to email lists for librarians, for theological schools, for colleges and universities, and for churches and invited candidates to the Seminary's web site at www.bts.edu.

Dr. Susan Davies, Dean of BTS and head of the search committee, notes, "The Internet allowed us to reach an international audience. The libraries of the Seminary at both the Bangor and the Portland Maine campuses represent the largest collection of theological materials north of Boston. We want to recruit the best talent to oversee this important resource for northern New England."

Finally, you may want to consider posting your job on a national job database. Future Step, www.futurestep.com, is a site from Korn/Ferry International, a leading executive search firm for management professionals. They claim they can locate a candidate ready to fill a position in 30 days!

A site like www.jobs.com is an affordable alternative. For about $100, you can post one job for 30 days on their website. According to the site, jobs.com "attracts monthly more than 1.5 million visitors searching job listings from nearly 7,500 companies and offers the only all-digital resume management system with free Resumail software that is standardizing delivery of resumes over the Internet."

Try finding your employee talent on the Web!