Have you been spending money on countless job boards, only to find that they don't offer the types of candidates you need? If the answer is yes, don't fret any longer, you're about to learn crafty techniques to help you find free resumes on the net. There are numerous free resources online that offer resumes. These include: Free Resume Databases; Free Member Resumes on Association websites; Free College and Alumni resumes on University websites; Free Resume Newsgroups; Free Resume Blaster sites and active and passive resumes hosted on individual candidate websites. All of these resources can be found by using simple search techniques.

You will soon have hundreds of free resumes at your fingertips. The first step is to utilize multiple search engines since they will each offer different sites. The top 10 search engines suggested are: http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.altavista.com, http://www.excite.com, http://www.hotbot.com, http://www.alltheweb.com, http://www.galaxy.com, http://www.search.aol.com, http://www.msn.com, http://www.lycos.com. The search engines offer their own search features and they vary slightly. Therefore, it's important to always read the search tips and check out the advanced search tool for each search engine. The common search symbols used across most search engines are called Boolean phrases.

Using Boolean Phrases

The first step is to choose one of the search engines from the above list and type the address in your Internet browser. Then decide what key words would be effective for finding the type of resource you want. Once you have a list of key words, use the following Boolean techniques to run the most efficient search.

• If searching for a phrase on a webpage, place the statement between quotation marks. Example: "free resume database"

• If searching for multiple words use the word AND between each word. Make sure to capitalize all 3 letters. Example: free AND resumes AND java

• If interested in finding one or more words, use the term OR between your key words. Example: "free resumes" AND java OR oracle OR php

• If looking for resumes that have a specific word with multiple possible endings such as: manager, management, managed, use an asterisk at the end of the base word. Example: manage* This will pull websites with all of the words that start with that base word.

• If searching for specific titles, type the word title: and then fill in the title of choice. Example: title: free resumes. This will pull websites with the words Free Resumes in the html title.

• If looking for URLs that have the word resume in the URL address, type the command URL: resume.

• If looking for a website with specific text such as: free resume search, type the command text: free resume search.

Below you'll find suggestions of Boolean phrases and keywords to use that will help you find the free resume resources listed above. At the end of this article you will also find a suggested website that can give you access to hundreds of free resume resources instantly.

Free Resume Databases (These sites allow you to search through a database of resumes)

• "free resume database"

• "search for free" AND resumes

• "free resume search"

• text: free resumes

• free AND resume*

Association Websites offering Member Resumes (Many associations or organizations offer sections on their websites where members, who are looking for jobs, can post their resumes)

• "member resumes" AND association OR organization

• url: memberresumes

• text: search member resumes

• member AND resumes

• title: association AND resumes

Free College and Alumni resumes at University websites (Some Universities offer a section on their website where students, looking for internships, can post their resumes. Some also have pages where alumni can also post their resumes, when searching for work)

• "alumni resumes"

• url: edu AND resumes

• alumni OR student AND resumes

• text: alumni resumes

• university AND resumes OR cv

Free Resume Newsgroups (Newsgroups are email lists where people can post various things. There are several free resume newsgroups.)

• "free resumes" AND newsgroups

• newgroup* AND resumes

• url: newsgroup

• text: newsgroup

Free Resume Blaster Sites (These sites send resumes to your inbox after you fill out a form describing the types of resumes you need.)

• "resume distribution"

• "blast your resume"

Active or Passive individual candidate resumes on individual web pages. (There are thousands of personal resumes posted on the web. Some are active and some passive. Using the 4 numbers of the current year in your search can help you find more active resumes)

• url: resume AND 2005

• url: resume AND java AND oracle AND php

• resume AND experience AND education AND java OR oracle

• title: resume AND manage*

Now you're ready to begin your search for free resume resources. If you find that your busy schedule doesn't allow enough time for you to run searches to find a substantial amount of free resume resources, you should visit http://www.freeresumesites.com. They have already compiled an extensive list of hundreds of free resume databases, association websites, college resume sites, free resume newsgroups, free resume blaster sites, free job posting sites and links to pages that offer individual resumes. They charge a very minimal fee to access this list. This site can save you time and will provide you with all-of-the free resume resources mentioned in this article.

Remember, the Internet is an amazing resource for recruiters and if you don't want to spend large sums of money on useless job boards, you now have the skills it takes to find free resumes. Good luck with your recruiting efforts!

Kim Proulx is a professional Internet Researcher with 10 years of experience.