It's no secret that I'm a fan of Craigslist. I've been a fan since 1996 when I was first told about a great little mailing list that was locally run. (I'm from the Bay Area.) You see, Craigslist didn't start as the whopper of a site that it is today. No, dear reader... the site you know today as Craigslist.org was originally just a little something thought up by Craig Newmark in an attempt to keep people in touch with local events within the techie arena in San Francisco.

It's been fun to watch the migration from mailing list to online powerhouse over the years. It's even been said that Craigslist moved from email to 'dot com' status as a result of recruiting efforts that popped up in some mailings. Rumor has it that some out of the box thinkers decided to capitalize on the audience of the geeky distribution and take a shot at filling some technical jobs. Did it work? I'd say it went well enough to start a roller coaster ride that pulls in to park at the job machine we know Craigslist to be today.

So for those of you that thought Craigslist was just an easy way to browse for items people were selling or giving away (or to dig through the sometimes hysterical personals) it's time to think again. Whether you're a recruiter or a job seeker, if you've missed the jobs category on your local Craigslist board then you're really missing out..

With hundreds of cities in over 50 countries around the world, Craigslist now houses job postings for almost any type of job you can think of. With millions of new jobs posted each month how does a visitor navigate through this banner free community? With sub-domains, of course!
Upon visiting Craigslist you can easily select a city of interest and you'll be transported to your destination with a quick click. Of course, you recruiters out there might want to take a quick look at this job boards page before surfing through the sites in order to see an interesting comparison made between the Craigslist boards and some of your favorites. As of this posting, Craigslist boasts more responses to job posts than Monster and HotJobs combined. (Y! Finance, 2006)

The job boards feel it, but do the print classifieds worry about the Craigslist wake? I'm not sure.. but Gannett, whose assets include the US newspapers USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend paper, may be feeling some heat from online alternatives like Craigslist. With ad revenue in July down 12.3% and classifieds down 25.2% (AP) online classified sites like Craigslist continue to chip away at the old-school print options.

What does this mean? If you're a recruiter then take a chance - trim back some peanuts from that print budget and post a job on Craigslist alongside that paper ad. Most Craigslist boards are free and while there are a few that you must pay for, you find any that run you more than $75. If you're a job seeker, then hit the job board that's a bit more than just a job board - apply for a few jobs and then see if you can find that perfect soul mate... or just unload that toaster you can't bring yourself to throw away.

also posted here (with a graph)...