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Career Basics Lesson #9 Using the internet as a job search tool
The internet is one of the most useful tools at your disposal when it comes to job hunting, but like all tools it only works well if it's used properly. If you're struggling with a seemingly endless list of sites all claiming to be the answer to your career woes, we have compiled a list of quick tips to help you make the most of the World Wide Web.
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1. Where do you start?
With an almost constant stream of new job boards appearing all over the internet, the question of where to start can actually be quite a bewildering one.
Search engines can be a useful way to get started, armed with a few choice search phrases at the ready. An online job board with tens of thousands of vacancies might sound like an obvious starting point, but if none of these represent the type of role, company, or sector that you wish to work in then it's useless. So entering specific job titles, companies or even sectors followed by "...vacancies" into your search engine of choice should help create an immediate shortlist.
2. Niche vs generalist job boards
Basically, "niche" or sector-specific job boards are set up in a way that is tailored to the needs of professionals who work in the relevant sector. For example, the job search will take the sector as a whole and divide vacancies into the various job categories that define the sector.
A good retail job board, for example, will offer quite distinct categories for store management, buying, merchandising etc. and quite possibly divide these key skills into sub-categories. This level of detail ensures time wastage on trawling through thousands of jobs that aren't right for you is kept to an absolute minimum.
This level of detail is also highly attractive to key employers in your sector, which should result in a good niche job board having a wealth of highly relevant jobs from some the industry's top names. Also, the additional content available on a niche job board should also be finely tuned and highly relevant to you a professional in the sector.
So why bother with generalist job boards at all? Well, they could be useful for anyone who is looking tentatively into a change in industry or whose skills could be applied in a number of different sectors. (IT, finance, marketing, etc.) And overall you're likely to find many more jobs in total on a generic board than on a niche site. As a rule of thumb; as long you're able to find roles that are specifically relevant to what you're seeking quickly and easily, then there's every reason to keep using a job board, whether it be a generalist one or a niche site.
3. How many job sites should you sign up to?
In order to be sure to hear about as many opportunities from as many different employers as possible, most job seekers feel more comfortable spreading their bets and registering with more than one site. There's no "perfect" number, as each job seeker's situation will be different. To begin with, try signing up to a couple of niche job boards and perhaps the generic site that seems to offer the most relevant opportunities for you and see how you get on. Gauge how relevant the content that you receive is.
4. Don't underestimate the importance of online application forms!
Employers spend a lot of time and money creating online application forms, with the purpose of generating a standardised list of criteria by which they can compare and judge all applicants.
For this reason, many will only accept applications in this format and others may accept speculative CV's but then require candidates to complete the application form for a specific job when it becomes available.
It can be tempting to fill these in as quickly possible in an attempt to apply for tens, even hundreds of jobs in order to "increase your chances".
However, it's important to keep in mind that rushing through a mass of applications in a whirlwind of bad grammar and typos will only result in each and every one of these employers comparing your poorly thought out, standard answers with a choice few applicants who had the genuine desire, care and attention to research the company thoroughly, give carefully thought out answers, and who have all the same skills and abilities you do (maybe even more!)
5. Things to be wary of...
This isn't to scare you, but just once in a while you may encounter these rare situations and it's best to be prepared...For a start, beware of anyone that asks you for money - one or two credible job boards do have a subscription fee for candidates but when there are plenty of vacancies out there on job boards that don't, why pay?
The vast majority of job boards and recruitment consultancies make their money from placement fees or advertising fees generated from employers and so have no need to charge you as a job seeker.
Be particularly wary of anyone that offers guaranteed work in exchange for a fee from you, however cleverly disguised (guaranteed work after paid for training for example).
It may sound worth it and indeed it may be if the offer were genuine, but all too often these guaranteed offers never materialise.
