The majority of job seekers stick to one of the top 10 job boards to learn about openings, rather than searching multiple sites, according to a survey of job seekers.

About 76% of the 13.5 million visitors to the top 10 career Web sites, which include Monster.com, HotJobs, and JobsOnline, searched for jobs exclusively on one site, according to a recent Jupiter Media Metrix survey of more than 20,000 job seekers. Only 15% of online job seekers used two of the top 10 competing sites to find openings, and 7% visited three or more.

The data confirms that people usually go to their favorite Web site or the one they are most familiar with in terms of online features and tools to look for jobs, says Mainak Mazumdar, head of product and research at Jupiter. It's no coincidence that the job sites with the most loyal visitors were the largest sites that post new jobs regularly. "Loyalty comes from seeing more new jobs," Mazumdar says. "If you see new jobs are posted every day, you go back to that site." The data also revealed that job seekers in technical industries such as IT, transportation, and consulting are 55%, 62%, and 41%, respectively, more apt to search for jobs online than the online population as a whole. "The best way to reach tech people is through the Internet because that's where they spend their time," he says.

When Leslie Lang was looking for a new job she spent most of her time searching for openings on Craigslist.com, a San Francisco area job- and classified-listings site. She says she also used HotJobs but was more loyal to Craigslist because it was easier to maneuver and let her search for jobs under specific skill sets and categories. Lang used Craigslist to land her current position as IT and accounting support coordinator for Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, a nonprofit company that provides affordable living for seniors in retirement communities.