Employers expect IT professionals to be well-versed in high-tech, business and now social networking skills. And knowing how to use such tools could actually help job seekers land a better position. It may be well known that the paper resume is a thing of the past, but even some of today’s popular job search sites need an overhaul. Here we take a look at 20 sites that could bolster the search process for IT job seekers.

1. Dice – Dice serves up jobs that might be of interest to Web site visitors and members based on profile data and potential employers can also access the site to search resumes and post jobs.

2. RealMatch – RealMatch supports anonymous job searching for those IT professionals looking for work while employed, which helps keep job seekers secure in their current position.

3. SMUZ – The site allows employers to post jobs for free, and that means more jobs can be listed and searched on Smuz, which generates revenue from text ads and not site users. Smuz searches positions listed with HotJobs, Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice and Beyond.com.

4. JobFox – Provides job seekers with a ‘trackable’ version of their resume to alert them when employers view it; and matches job seekers and employers based on "10 dimensions" that include skills, experience, education as well as job seeker desires such as salary, travel and commute. Jobfox lets job seekers choose which employers they don’t want to see their resumes — even as an alias.

5. DooStang – Provides tools to find exclusive jobs, be found by leading employers and network with other professionals. Offers a community of more than one-half million professionals. Founded in 2005 by two friends — a Stanford MBA and an MIT engineer — Doostang membership can be achieved via invitation only through personal relationships and affiliations.

6. The Ladders – Provides access to a database of more than 35,000 pre-screened recruiters and allows job seekers to search based on location, job function or job level. The Ladders boasts more than 70,000 jobs listed on the site and updates a weekly tally of new jobs. (For instance, more than 7,500 new jobs were listed as of July 10, 2008.)

7. Job in Pods – Podcasts recorded with employers let job seekers hear about open positions, company culture and desired skills or candidates. Site creators encourage employers to have both hiring managers and front-line employees take part in the podcasts to give job seekers more insight into the company.

8. Thingamajob – Provides a free secure account with which users can post their resumes, search jobs and give a slew of recruiters access to their job-seeking information. Thingamajob, wholly owned and operated by Allegis Group, searches for jobs for account members using thousands of employees in nearly 300 offices.

9. ComputerWork – Offers resume matching and filtering technology for those IT professionals seeking work and employers seeking with skills in the IT industry. The company runs a primary national site as well as more than 70 city, regional and skill-set specific sites. Computerwork was selected for inclusion in WEDDLE’s 2007/8 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet, an annual guide to the top recruitment sites online.

10. CareerOneStop – Enables job seekers to compare salary, search for a job, find high growth industries or research knowledge, skills and abilities and other occupational information. CareerOneStop is a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses and workforce professionals.

11. Glassdoor – Requests visitors share a review or salary information to then gain access to data on jobs and salaries from all other members, information that can help job seekers learn more about potential employers. Site members can see details on salary, bonuses, commissions and more for titles within well-known, recognizable companies.

12. Vault – Offers features to search for jobs, provides career advice and allows member to research companies, industries and salaries based on data in its tech job board. Vault’s three co-founders developed a library of company and industry profiles that reveal information and major corporations and law firms, including current company activities, work environments, and secrets on curveball interview questions and tactics.

13. Job.com – Allows searches based on career, location, salary and date posted. Provides links to partner sites that help job seekers with resume writing and distribution. According to comScore/Media Metrix, Job.com ranked as the 4th most visited career destination on the Internet for 24 consecutive months from April 2006 through April 2008. The site has more than five million unique visitors on a monthly basis.

14. JobSniper – Enables searches by location and keyword across millions of jobs in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and employs search confidentiality practices without requiring visitors to register. Automated JobSniper Search Agents will send job information directly to job seekers’ e-mail accounts.

15. Blue Chip Expert – Using a software-as-a-service business model Blue Chip works to make recruiters more effective by automating the agency search process through a combination of social networks, people search technology and targeted job referrals.

16. Jobwarehouse.com – Links to news and information about the job market in various regions and provides job seekers the ability to research top companies with open positions.

17. CareerJet.com – Uses "smart agents" technology running on a cluster of networked computers to scan more than 58,000 Web sites daily to identify listings on the Internet and populate Careerjet’s job index.

18. Indeed – The site launched a new feature this year that lets job seekers search for specific positions based on salary. For instance, a search for network manager $60,000 would yield results for available positions paying that salary.

19. Simply Hired – Offers job searchers access to jobs listings pulled from job boards, company pages, online classifieds and other data sources, which populate the site’s database of positions.

20. Beyond.com – Offers job posting and resume searching capabilities, career portals for Web sites and online communities, resume-writing assistance, and access to industry resources such as magazines, videos, articles and blogs.