There's a future online for job seekers.

Two years ago, when all the 13-year-old Silicon Valley computer geniuses were scratching their heads and thinking up ideas for their first IPOs, Internet employment sites started coming out of the woodwork.

The Dot-Commers, as they are called in Bay area lingo, came up with sites that explored virtually every avenue in the online job listing world. In the last year, particularly the last few months, a few major sites (funded with major venture capital) remained.

As job listing services have evolved, programmers have started to learn sites that will find success in this arena will offer local, relevant job searches with a component designed to simply connect employers with prospective employees.

Here are a few that fit the bill.

Monster.com: Enormous in size, Monster.com is probably one of the more aptly named sites on the Web. The site offers comprehensive searches for jobs both local and in cities across the country.

Once logged on, the user enters parameters for the search such as city, region and employment category. When the user hits return, Monster searches through extensive archives, organizes results in order of relevance and provides links to employers.

A more sophisticated user has the ability to e-mail copies of his or her resume to the employer. For no cost, the site will store an electronic resume for this use. Monster profits by charging advertisers for ad placement.

The drawback to this site, as with most of the sites reviewed in this column, is that non-professional and very specialized jobs are not very well represented - a surprising condition considering how many new households (especially middle- and lower-income) are connecting every day.

Typing in the word reporter would reveal few sites because of the rare nature of the job. A better representation would come from the American Journalism Review's job link at ajr.com. Whatever your profession, there is likely one or more sites out there that cater to it.

Hotjobs.com: Of the sites that touch on jobs below middle management, Hotjobs is the best bet. Temporary office staffing and abundant e-mail links to employers will help a future employer find his or her future boss with ease.

Of the sites that I reviewed, I also found that Hotjobs is the simplest to navigate and the most esthetically pleasing. In the age of info-overload, some site designers think they can jam too many words and too many graphics into too small a space. Often simpler is better in the digital era.

Like Monster.com, Hotjobs breaks the job into categories based on geography and type of job. A visitor can see all the jobs listed in Carson City, or search for an accounting listing in Carson City. Hotjobs may not list tons of jobs in your field, but there will probably be at least a few.

Tahoe.com: Local all the way, Tahoe.com is as good a site as there is for job listings in the Carson City and Lake Tahoe areas. Although an improved, more searchable site is under construction, users can currently access classifieds listings from the Nevada Appeal, The Record Courier and any of the Lake Tahoe papers in the Reno-based Swift Newspapers chain.

Future additions to the site include a larger number of search categories and access to a national network of classified listings. Almost all job openings in the area will eventually be accessible through this one-stop service.

Easy links back to the Nevada Appeal editorial and other Tahoe.com services make it a fairly comprehensive package without a bunch of Internet junk.

For additional job listing services check your favorite Web search engine. Many offer their own version of employer/job listings.

Featured chats of the week:

-- Monday, Feb. 21: Musician Beck at barnesandnoble.com

Chat with the Grammy award winner from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

-- Tuesday, Feb. 22: Canine actor "Moose" at Aol.com

Talk with the dog that plays Eddie on the television show Frasier from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (But can he spell?)

-- Tuesday, Feb. 22: Nanotechnology at scifi.com

Talk with experts in the field of molecule-sized machinery from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

-- Sunday, Feb. 27: Poet-turned-director Maya Angelou at SHO.com

Angelou directed the movie "Down in the Delta." From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

http://www.monster.com

http://www.hotjobs.com

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

http://www.aol.com

http://www.scifi.com

http://www.sho.com