There are a few websites (and forums) where you can find job postings. I am looking at a few postings on craigslist and kijiji. How do i distinguish the good from the bad? So far all i have been doing ignoring short post and be wary of postings that do not specify technologies.
What else can i do? and what should i look for or do after the initial response before i set an interview.
The first step would be to avoid craigslist. My experience is that it's worse than useless for seeking programming jobs and crammed full of bottom-feeders, undercutters, and misleading come-ons. I've never heard of anyone getting a programming job they were happy with on Craig's List.
On a site like Dice.com, which is built for programmers and IT professionals, you'll find a much higher basic quality, some attempt at filtering out con artists and a much clearer writing style.
Well, I've certainly looked at a lot of craigslist postings. I do think there are some reasonable things there, but a few things make me wary-
There are a few companies that seem to post constantly. If you check back in a few months they're still posting. My initial guess with these companies is that their turnover rate is astronomical, therefore they're probably not good places to work (update - a recruiter I trusted actually knew someone at one of these places, and her sense was that it was the HR guy who was (inappropriately) acting as a gatekeeper). Either way, it represents something dysfunctional.
I don't think a reputable, professional company should be afraid to let people know they're hiring. Responding to "12346@craigslist" is not likely to connect you to IBM (that being said, it might be fine for 2 guys doing a startup, if that's what you want to get involved in)
People looking for bargains or jobs including some office work.
Super A**hole indicators:
Anyone who talks about how "cool" they are or how they only hire "ninjas", unless they're recruiting for an assault on Dr. Claw's fortress.
Anyone who wants people from "top" universities.
Good signs for me are indicators of quality - (e.g. people who want you to be familiar with testing, or XP methods).
I also think posting that ask for people who know multiple things are a farce. WE NEED A GURU WEB DESIGNER/DEVELOPER/LINUX/APACHE guy who can write in C++ as well as in FORTRAN because we need good web applications!
I dunno... I guess when I see that it makes me think they really don't know what they need or want.
Something else to note is whether the company is merely a recruiting firm or the actual company wanting to hire, e.g. some companies like Robert Half place people at other companies and such may hire more frequently than others that just have direct hires and don't do contract positions, and which do you want?
What requirements for the job do you have, e.g. does the place have to use certain technologies or methodologies? This is just something to note as places like Monster.com, Dice.com, or Workopolis can be useful if you have good filter criteria.