Years ago, it was common for people searching for jobs, residences, cars and relationships to leaf through the classifieds section of their local newspaper. The process was tedious and rewards were hard to come by.

These days, classified Web sites like craigslist.org ease the drawn-out search process by using search engines and the ability to search by city. Craigslist hosts ads from hundreds of cities, as well as worldwide job listings, apartments and personal ads.

“I used it (craigslist) to find an apartment in New York in the summer of 2005,” said senior communications major Amy Mathews. “I needed the apartment for an internship I received from the Fuse network.”

Craigslist allows users to refine their search options, which made finding an apartment much easier, Mathews said.

“You were able to put in a financial bracket,” she said. “You could search for apartments by their rent, location and current tenants. Most of the posts had pictures, and that’s where I focused my search.”

Mathews said much of her success in finding an apartment was on the honesty of the person who listed the ad.

“I got lucky,” she said. “Even though there wasn’t a picture of the apartment in the post, my person was very descriptive and very honest. I wanted someone who was involved in the arts, and it said in the post that she was an opera singer.”

Mathews said the site helped her find an apartment on very short notice, something that may not have happened before Web sites such as craigslist were available.

“It just so happened that she needed to give away the apartment at the last minute, and I needed it at the last minute,” Mathews said. “It was very convenient for someone out of state that couldn’t just pick up a classified. There’d be new postings each day, so I’d just check in all the time.”

The site also assists users in finding employment on short notice. Dave Jagielski, an education graduate from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, said craigslist assisted him several times finding a job outside his area.

“Basically, I went on craigslist and clicked on New York City, then jobs, then education jobs,” Jagielski said. “Then I scrolled through and found which job I liked. You can do keywords, but I didn’t do that. It’s a pretty simple site to operate.”

Craigslist also allows users to move from job to job much quicker, due to the wealth of new postings and search procedure.

“My first job didn’t work out so well for me,” Jagielski said, “but I found another job through the site and got it immediately.”

Jagielski said he thinks that the jobs feature is craigslist’s strongest attribute, and it is the most effective in finding what one is looking for.

“I think craigslist, in terms of jobs, is a lot more effective,” he said, “because they need people to fill these jobs, and the ads go out to a lot of people. If you’re looking at a job from a company, you can research the company right away, because you’re online.”

Jagielski said he would not hesitate to use the site for future job searches.

“I would definitely use it to search for another job,” he said. “It’s really effective in searching for jobs in other cities, when you’re looking to relocate. Personally, I live in Pittsburgh, and it made it a lot easier looking for jobs in other cities.”

Contact features reporter Ryan deBiase at [email protected].