See also, our list of Key Social Networking and Bookmarking Sites for Job-Seekers.

Before considering joining one or more Internet discussion lists, you should read: Online Discussion Group Networking Etiquette Do's and Don'ts.

Mentoring Communities:

iMantri -- an online peer-to-peer community for seeking and offering mentoring and coaching. The site facilitates connections between mentors and mentees and also provides a framework and tools for fostering mentoring relationships online. Use mentor matching engine that is based on profile characteristics, demographic details, and other criteria to find mentors or mentees. No cost to job-seekers.

Company of Friends -- Fast Company magazine's global readers' network. Founded in November 1997 and relaunched in 2007, Company of Friends claims to have been the very first business social network. Fast Company readers have self-organized local discussion groups, mentoring and networking organizations, and creative problem-solving teams.

Delphi Forums -- With more than 10 million registered members and more than a million new messages posted per week, Dephi is one of the leading networks of member-managed online communities. Delphi's services enable individuals to build, manage and grow their own online communities.

Ecademy.com -- Ecademy's aims "to build the world's largest trusted business network by connecting people to each other - enabling knowledge, contacts and opportunities to be shared for world wide wealth." Ecademy believes networking and a philosophy of "winning by sharing" are key to success. More than 20,000 members from 120 countries learn, network, and develop their careers together. Membership to Ecademy is free.

Friendster -- Friendster is an online community that connects people through networks of friends for dating, making new friends, and helping your friends meet new people. Friendster enables users to create their own personal, private community, where they interact with people connected through networks of mutual friends.

hi5 -- an online networking site for meeting new people, connecting with friends, and sharing ideas. Has 80+ million registered members in more than 200 nations. Meet new people through mutual friends or interests. Personal profile required. No cost to job-seekers.

Jigsaw -- an online business contact marketplace where marketers, recruiters, and sales people can buy, sell and trade business contact information. The Jigsaw marketplace offers members access to an online database of fresh and accurate corporate contact information and increases efficiency by shortening the time required to find valuable business contacts. Boasts 500 corporations and more than 600,000 members.

LinkedIn -- strives to make your existing network connections more powerful. LinkedIn lets you see the whole network of people you can reach through your trusted friends, and search for the contacts you need to get business done. If your 20 connections each connected with 20 more of their own, you would be able to make contact with more than 150,000 professionals. LinkedIn enables users to make deals, as well as find employees, industry experts, jobs, and contracts by making contact with the right professionals. Your friends introduce you to their friends, and they introduce you to the people you want to contact.

MediaBistro -- is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry, including editors, writers, television producers, graphic designers, book publishers, people in production, and circulation departments - in industries including magazines, television, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and graphic design. The site's mission is to provide online and offline opportunities for meeting each other, sharing resources, becoming informed of job opportunities and interesting projects, improving career skills, and showcasing work. Listed as a Forbes Best of the Web site.

Meetup -- helps people get together with a group of neighbors who share a common interest (46,315 groups and 4.7 million are part of Meetup). The site helps users self-organize global, monthly "Meetup Days" -- local group gatherings on the same day everywhere -- for almost any interest group. Meetups take place in up to 3,600+ cities at local cafés, restaurants, bookstores, and other local establishments.

MyWorkster.com -- specializes in building exclusive, professional College networks. Through these networks, members get connected to exclusive career opportunities. These networks allow members to brand themselves through professional and social content in an effort to advance their career and the careers of those around them. No cost to job-seekers.

NetParty -- According to Forbes, which lists it as a Forbes Best of the Web site, Netparty functions as the entry point for a network of parties held in 17 U.S. cities, aimed at professionals in their 20s and 30s. The events, held at stylish clubs, are designed to combine business networking with social fun.

Networking for Professionals -- an online networking group designed for professionals from numerous occupations, where you can build your business, improve your client base, and/or advance your career. Privacy is controlled by the user. First month of membership is free; each month thereafter is fee-based.

PowerMingle.com -- Based in London, Powermingle Ltd, provides services for effective, interpersonal, business networking at events and in organizations and associations.

Real Contacts -- a worldwide online employment service for permanent or temporary jobs that brings employers and job-seekers together through their extended network of contacts.

Ryze -- members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send messages to other members. They can also join special networks related to their industry, interests or location. More than 200 organizations host Networks on Ryze to help their members interact with each other and grow their organizations. Ryze has more than 500,000 members in more than 200 countries. Listed as a Forbes Best of the Web site.

Talk City -- One of the best-known chat and community sites on the Web. Offers free starter membership.

Tribe.net -- a service where friends help friends do everything from finding a job to sharing their favorite restaurant. Enables users to connect with people -- family, school friends, co-workers -- as well as join and create "Tribes" around interest areas. Users can get a friend's recommendation for anything from a great restaurant to a gentle dentist.

The Virtual Handshake aims to be the leading resource guide for users of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, social network sites, virtual communities, and relationship capital management software. The site's book, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online is the manifesto; the site is the living guide to the industry. A great resource for learning more about building relationships online -- for job-hunting or freelancers searching for new clients. Includes detailed reviews of online networking resources, as well as other networking tools. No cost to job-seekers.

XING -- committed to powering relationships based on trust for all professional people. Based on the theory that "No two people are more than six degrees apart", XING enables members to grow their trusted network by making their contacts' contacts visible to them. Boasts 6 million members worldwide.

Ziggs -- offers a search platform for professionals for finding people in business online. By providing an index dedicated to up-to-date businesspeople profiles, Ziggs lets you search across more than 2.6 million public profiles from more than 66,000 companies, and find the accurate information on the people you seek. With Ziggs, you can create your own profile.

ZoomInfo.com -- business-information search engine, with profiles on more than 45 million people and 5 million companies. ZoomInfo delivers a single site for quick and easy access to in-depth information on industries, companies, people, products, services and jobs. Job-seekers can post/edit your free profile, which can include your professional career details, bio, education, affiliations, contact information and Web references.

Online Discussion Groups/Boards:

CataList -- the online catalog of groups that operate using LISTSERV software. Browse more than 52,850 public lists on the Internet. A bonus: each list is shown with current number of subscribers.

Google Groups -- enables you to search for discussion groups in your career field by entering a keyword. (Powered by the best search engine on the Web: Google.)

listTool.com -- a free tool that makes the process of subscribing, unsubscribing and sending commands to 878 mailing and discussion lists (in categories such as law, art, music, computers, news, business, humor and more) easy. Search for lists by keyword(s).

Tile.net -- a comprehensive list of Internet-based resources, including discussion and information lists, Usenet groups, and more. Browse by name, description, and domain.

Yahoo Groups -- where you can join or start a group on just about any topic.

Yuku -- (formerly ezboard) offers profiles, image sharing, blogs, and discussion boards all in one place. You can have up to five Yuku profiles.

Employment-Issue Discussion Groups:

Monster's Career Advice Community -- offers a wide variety of interesting forums that enable you to network on topics of interest to job-seekers.

Ask the Headhunter Discussion Boards -- registration required to participate.

School Alumni Networking Groups:

Alumni.NET -- offers links to high schools and colleges located around the U.S. and the world.

Classmates -- really four databases -- high schools, colleges, military, and workplace. Claims to have more than 40 million registered accounts, including 3.5 million paid accounts. Easily locate old friends, coworkers, and more.

Reunion.com -- includes more than 33,000 high schools throughout the United States. Alumni of any American high school can visit this site and register, update information, or search for an old classmate. This database can be used to locate a lost friend/acquaintance/business associate at a high school in any region of the country. Boasts 51 million members (growing by more than 1 million a month) and 700 million+ profiles.

Employer Alumni Networking Groups:

Workplace version of Classmates.com.

Corporate Alumni Inc. -- builds, manages and hosts online alumni communities where former business colleagues can renew relationships and network. Job postings and newsletter and site sponsorships support the expenses of running the group.

Chat/ICQ/Instant Messaging:

These are not venues in themselves but rather providers of tools to facilitate online networking Numerous chat tools exist on the Internet. The best way to find out everything you need to know about chatting and download the software you need for it is to go to CNET.com.

You can also get free downloads of the three most popular instant-messaging applications:

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and ICQ

MSN Messenger

Yahoo Messenger

Finding People on the Internet:

There may be times when you'd like to network -- or just reconnect -- with someone who doesn't fit into the usual categories of former co-worker, classmate, or military buddy. Maybe you'd like to find someone you went to summer camp with or a long-lost cousin. Sites that have been cited among the best people search engines include:
Pipl
Google
Facebook
spock
123people
PeopleSpot

Free Hosting for Web Sites:

A Web page of your own can be a helpful networking tool because it provides a way for prospective contacts to find you. A number of portal sites on the Internet, such as Geocities, will host Web pages. For a search engine that enables you to find Web sites with free Web space hosting, go to FreeWebspace.Net.

Web Logs/Blogs:

NetLingo, The Internet Dictionary, defines a Weblog or Blog a "frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people." Like a personal Web site, a blog can facilitate online networking by enabling people to find you. In addition, these online journals often enable networking by inviting readers to comment through e-mail or a discussion board.

Find out more about blogging and access blogging resources at these sites:

Blogger
Live Journal
WeBlogALot (Blog Directory)
Xanga blogging community

Be sure to take advantage of all the career networking tools, articles, and resources found in our The Art of Career Networking section of Quintessential Careers.