Job Hunters Return to Web as Summer Ends

By: Ann M. Mack (Adweek IQ) As the summer comes to a close, job hunters are returning to the Internet with renewed vigor, resulting in a spike in traffic to career Web sites.

According to Nielsen//NetRatings, more than 1 million unique visitors accessed Yahoo! HotJobs the week ending Aug. 24, up 32% from the week prior. Traffic to AOL Careers and Work rose 18% that week to 223,000 surfers, while traffic to CareerBuilder grew 4% to 697,000.

"The end of summer marks the end of vacation season. University students are heading back to school and looking for part-time jobs, while others who have been putting off the job search are refocusing their energy," said Jarvis Mak, director of analytics at New York-based Nielsen//NetRatings, a part of Adweek and E&P parent VNU.

Monster continued to dominate in the job site category, attracting more than 2.4 million visitors the week ending Aug. 24, a 12% week-over-week increase. The online job marketplace, which claims a worldwide marketing budget of $115 million, tapped Interpublic Group's Deutsch in July for its creative account following a review. The Maynard, Mass.-based client split with two-year incumbent, Havas' Arnold in Boston, which created the "Never settle" tagline, in April.