What resources are today's candidates using to find jobs? In a recent survey of 1,600 tech professionals, participants rated networking -- a candidate's personal network of friends, coworkers and business associates -- the number one resource for finding a new job. Internet resources came in second in the survey results. Search Firms ranked third.

The survey, administered by Techies.com, included full-time, part-time, self-employed and unemployed tech professionals throughout the U.S., ranging from CEOs and business owners to data entry operators.

Most jobseekers used an average of 3.5 different employment resources, combining online, networking and other recruitment tools when looking for a new position. Techies polled in the survey used all of the following resources:

• Online job boards
• Corporate site job listings
• Local newspaper classifieds
• Personal networking
• Search firms and headhunters
• Live career fairs
• Online newsgroups and chat forums
• Specialized career publications
• Direct contact with desired employers
• Posting resumes on career Web sites

The ratings for job resource 'effectiveness' were also similar to the ratings for 'best overall resource,' with networking again taking first place. Online Resources followed close behind, trailing by only a tenth of a point. Jobseekers in lower-density populations or rural areas, such as the mountain and southern states, were most likely to give job boards top marks. Employed job seekers were also likely to single out job boards as the most effective employment search tool.

Salary, experience and position also seem to play a role in the effectiveness ranking. Workers making more than $100,000 in annually were, not surprisingly, more likely to rate search firms highly. Entry-level workers (those with less than one year's experience) gave all tools lower scores, on average, than more experienced workers.

More than half of the technologists polled said they obtained their last job after sending out 10 or fewer resumes. Entry-level workers, not surprisingly, needed to send out many more. Women were less likely to send out large numbers of resumes. Women also tended to rate online job boards higher in ease of use than men, and were also more likely to downgrade in-person search methods, such as personal networking, direct company contact and live job fairs.

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