Hunting for jobs on the web is an increasingly popular way of making a fresh start, or ditching that dead-end job in favour of something with prospects.

It's convenient and quick - putting hundreds of jobs at your fingertips and allowing you to narrow your search down to specific job titles, locations and salary.

There's now a wealth of job sites online and, judging by the amount of TV advertising some of the bigger sites can afford to pay for, there are a lot of job hunters out there using them.

All of them feature a searchable database allowing you to select the area of work and the location you want.

Around these basic features are extras that vary from site to site.

One example is the psychometric testing section to be found at Fish4Jobs.

The site has a psychometric profile service - the first 1,200 site users per month can fill out the online questionnaire for free and gain some valuable insights into their personality strengths and weaknesses - knowledge that can help you with job hunting, whatever level of the career ladder you're at.

To learn more about psychometric tests take a look at netjobs.co.uk, too.

If you have yet to decide on a career, or you're new to the career hunting process, Stepstone.co.uk has some handy features.

The Career Advice section, as well as having tips on job hunting and interviews, also has some handy, straightforward advice on balancing work and personal life, dealing with the dreaded presentation, and a stress test.

With its Europe-wide search, the site is certainly comprehensive.

Dissatisfied in your current career? As well as a job database, Workthing.com has a skills area where you can search for courses, training and advice, helping you find a new direction.

It lets you search for jobs by sector, and select a minimum wage.

Again, it's clean and uncomplicated.

If you're well established in your career go to Monster.co.uk.

Beyond the cartoony presentation there's some seriously useful stuff here.

The Career Centre features a variety of articles on useful topics like redundancy, discrimination, salaries and benefits.

It's very detailed and you can post a question to an expert in a specialist field.

For those committed to remaining in Cumbria, Northwestworkplace.com is the one.

You can limit your search to the county and extra features include a CV Store for local employers to view, information about graduate employers and a daily update on childcare facilities.

Good design rounds off this easy-to-navigate website.

You could also check out the new Thisisthelakedistrict Career Choice section for profiles of top jobs with a local twist.

Whatever stage in your career you're at, there' s a job site with information relevant to you.

Shop around and your future could soon be looking brighter.

Thisis site of the week:

The best of the crop of job websites is Fish4Jobs.

Its clean, clear design is backed up by some interesting extras and it does exactly what it should - deliver consistently successful job search results.

You can set up a personal folder allowing you to create and save searches for jobs to run whenever it's convenient.

You'll also receive emails every day to notify you of the latest jobs matching your requirements.

You can find Fish4Jobs at www.thisisthelakedistrict.co.uk