MSNBC;

Some high-profile bloggers are beginning to include job listings on their web sites to draw readers in and generate extra cash in a further sign that the handful of blogs that attract the biggest online audiences are starting to behave more like mainstream media outlets.

While employers have long sought out job candidates on sites such as Monster.com or in the online classifieds in newspapers, they have only recently begun to turn to blogs as a recruiting tool.

Many blogs attract readers focused on a specific industry niche, such as technology or finance. That makes them appealing to employers who want to better target their help wanted ads, says Eric Yoon, chief executive of JobThread, an online job listing service.

“Industry blogs and niche sites tend to take up a disproportionate amount of [job seekers’] time,” says Mr Yoon, who ran a job board at the New York Times before he left to start JobThread.

JobThread is one of several companies that have developed ways for bloggers to display job listings on their web sites. Its clients include Slashdot, the popular technology blog; Valleywag, a Silicon Valley gossip blog; and Seeking Alpha, a blog focused on Wall Street.

Simply Hired, a rival job service, says more than 2,000 bloggers have signed up to host its jobs on their sites. The company also powers job listings for social networks such a LinkedIn and MySpace.

JobThread and Simply Hired offer bloggers a cut of the listing fees for job ads that are taken out directly via their blog sites. They also offer bloggers access to online job networks that pay a smaller amount each time a potential job seeker clicks a listing displayed on their blog.

VentureBeat, which attracts an audience of venture capitalists, computer programmers, and other tech-savvy readers, charges $200 to post a 30-day ad directly on its job board through Simply Hired.

Paul Kedrosky, a venture capitalist and author of Infectious Greed, a popular business blog, says it is too soon to tell whether many bloggers will be able to make real money via job listings.

“There are maybe five jobs listings that are direct through me on the board for which I get paid,” he says. “The rest are part of the overall network and I get pennies.”