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Finding your perfect job has become an art in itself with online job hunting featuring more prominently than ever before. More than half the people interviewed for a job they found on the internet have been successful, according to a poll of 37,000 online job seekers by The National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS).

The survey of 27 leading job boards, including fish4jobs, JobServe and Monster.co.uk, confirms that the number of people getting jobs online continues to rise.

It found that emailing a CV is the most popular way to apply for a job (38%), followed by completing an online application form (31%).

The poll found that 62% of online jobseekers are looking for full-time permanent work, 18% for full-time, contract or interim positions, and 13% part-time permanent.

The UK online recruitment market continues to grow. It was £103m for the first half of 2006 compared with the 2005 total of £200m and £120m in 2004. With employers also becoming more adept at knowing where to place their vacancies online this figure should continue to rise.

The most popular time for online job hunting by UK workers appears to be the lunchtime period with job sites receiving more hits between 1pm and 2pm than any other time of the day. The middle of the week was also highlighted as a prime time for job-hunting, when attacks of the mid-week blues force the number of site visitors to notable highs on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
 
Jobseekers are researching and finding the sites that best suit their skills and let’s face it there are plenty to choose from. Many sites now offer that little bit extra in the form of recruitment information, tips, assessments, advice and support which many online job hunters are finding very useful in their quest for career advancement.

TIPS FOR ONLINE JOB HUNTING SUCCESS

Research job sites and employer sites and find those that offer you vacancies that best match your skill base.

When looking for current vacancies online initially carry out a broad category search (the less is more approach) and then refine your search further from the initial results. Use AND and OR to increase that range of categories in your search. Use NOT to rule out the things that you definitely don’t want to appear. Try to match your search terms to the phrases that your prospective employers/recruiters are likely to use. Each job site has its own quirks and you need to get up to speed on how to use the search criteria to your best advantage. Many sites have a help area that will guide you through this with hints and tips.

Identify the companies that you want to work for and see where they advertise their vacancies online, they may have their own websites but a lot of larger companies are now using agencies to filter response from online applications.

If you are looking to get headhunted then upload your CV to a select number of sites and put yourself in the shop window. Prospective employers and recruiters carry out thousands of searches every week looking at candidate profiles, so don’t miss the opportunity to sell yourself.

Make sure that you enter the correct criteria for the type of position that you are looking for, there’s no point saying that you will relocate when you have no intention of doing so that you will travel when you won’t. This can be really annoying for recruiters and prospective employers and they may feel that your application is a waste of time. So be strict and only select the criteria that closely match what you want from a position, by taking this approach you will only receive quality calls and real job opportunities.

Some sites will offer you the facility to receive jobs via e-mail and will mail through vacancies that match your criteria straight to your inbox. For this to stand a chance of being effective for you rather than an unwanted distraction make sure that the criteria you enter is as correct as possible – don’t be vague.

However tempting it may be, don’t post your CV anywhere and everywhere, be selective – in some instances saturating the marketplace with your CV can come across as being desperate. Quality is definitely better than quantity in this case.

Never post a standard covering letter with your CV, your covering letter is the first impression the prospective employer/recruiter is going to get of you. If the letter is not relevant to his/her vacancy and does not outline the skills he/she are looking for, chances are your CV won’t even get a look in. A standard covering letter may be less hassle but in the long run the time spent on tailoring it to show the relevance of your skills to the vacancy that you are applying for will pay dividends.

Always follow up online applications with a telephone call; never just assume that your application or CV has reached the recipient. Ensure that your details have been received and see if any further information is required by those reviewing your application.

When you apply for vacancies make sure that the contact details you give are your own personal ones and not those belonging to work; many job hunters have been suitably embarrassed when confidential e-mails have been read by colleagues or calls have been taken and their job hunting activities have been exposed. If your own ISP offers a web mail facility you will still be able to log onto your own personal e-mail account from work and keep tabs on progress.

If you are using job boards make sure that you update your details regularly so that recruiters and prospective employers know that you are available and still looking for work.

Keep track of all of the sites where you have applied to vacancies, when you made the application and the details of the position. This will come in handy when prospective employers or recruiters call you; you will be able to recall the vacancy and sound professional and in control giving a good first impression.

Most jobsites are constantly being updated so make sure that you regularly and consistently check for updates. You don’t want to miss the opportunity of your dream job!

When you have secured a new position remember all those employers/recruiters trawling the job sites and be kind to them, remove your details and show them that you are now off the market.

Happy job hunting!!

Kerry Gibson

Bounce Career Coach

www.lifebounce.co.uk

*Research and statistics taken from RecruiterMagazine.co.uk, 29th January 2007 and 22nd February 2007.