JORDI BRADSHAW | staff writer

Navigating Craigslist is a matter of discernment and common sense.

Craigslist is known far and wide as the hip new site where you can find anything from a drum set to a “masseuse.” Where else can you trade your old golf clubs for an unused iPhone? An ad offering exactly that appeared on the site just moments ago. I kid you not.

The site is also gaining prominence as a job search engine. I have heard some pretty scary reports regarding the job postings on the site and it is only fair to give you the straight scoop.

I have a friend who recently graduated from college with a degree in advertising and public relations and was pounding the pavement to find himself a real grown up job.

He saw an ad on Craigslist for an advertising agency with clients in the music, automotive, and fashion industries. He called the number listed and got an interview.

After what seemed like a legitimate initial interview, he was called back for a “walk-through.” Before he knew it, he was in a car with the boss on the way to an “event”. As it turns out, the “public relations and advertising” that the company did was cold sales in a parking lot an hour away. Apparently “fashion” advertising entails selling spa packages.

“It was really misleading and frustrating,” he said. “I was really unhappy about the whole thing and scared that they would leave me there if I did not go along.”

My friend has very good judgment and I saw the posting myself and agreed that it was worth pursuing.

This was not one of those classic Craigslist job postings screaming “$$$$$ EARN $$$100K+ FROM HOME $$$$$!!!!!!!” My point is that advertisements on Craigslist, or any job search engine, can be very misleading. There are several things that one needs to look out for.

First of all, do not even bother clicking on job postings that have a lot of capitalized words, dollar signs and exclamation marks. Overuse of any of these things is a sure sign of foul play.

Secondly, poor grammar and spelling in an ad is something to be considered (MODELS WANTID IMMEDIATLY!!!!). Even if the content of the post seems legitimate, ask yourself if you want to work for someone who may not have passed sixth grade.

If an ad promises a larger than life salary or asks if you are ready for a change, want to make big bucks working from home, or are sick and tired of your current job, it is probably a scam.

Finally, do not bother with postings that do not list a phone number, address, website or company name. The email address provided by Craigslist is not sufficient evidence that a company is real. If a company name is listed, try running a Google search to see what comes up. If you do choose to respond, be careful what information you provide.

In terms of other job search engines, many of the same rules apply. Sites such as Monster, YahooHotJobs, and CareerBuilder have their share of spam postings but to a much smaller extent.

The problem with these mainstream sites is that the massive amount of online applicants produce piles of unread resumes that are printed out by employers and placed in a large circular file (a.k.a. the trash).

Sean Salomon, a music industry professional who had plenty of difficulty finding a job out of college, agrees that online job searches are not all they are cracked up to be.

“All that online job sites are good for is getting spam mail,” Salomon said. “In the long run, they’re pretty useless.”

The best advice I can give you is to use online job listings as a way of finding out who is hiring and what jobs are available. Locate an address or fax number for the companies that catch your eye and send your resume the old-fashioned way.

When it all comes down to it, common sense, sound judgment and prayer are the things needed to secure a job online or anywhere else.