Where to look
Before going straight onto the Internet, ask around. If you have friends or relatives who are in the same profession/industry, they may be able to recommend websites.
Search engines, such as Google, can also help but you need to think about the keywords you enter into the search. Typing in the phrase "UK jobs" gives over four million entries on Google. Some organisations pay to be in a prominent position in the results with Sponsored Links, but they may not be the most relevant for you. Sometimes it is better to look at the employment listings.
On Google, the employment category is positioned beneath the Sponsored Link advertisers and before the results of your keyword search. By clicking on 'Regional, Europe, Employment, Job Search' provides a shorter and more manageable list of results.
Types of recruitment sites
There are a number of differences between the various recruitment sites.
Job boards offer a searchable database of jobs from a large number of recruitment agencies and companies. An example of a job board is www.jobserve.com and lists thousands of jobs from specialist recruiters and companies, across 16 profession-specific sites.
Many recruitment agencies have their own websites and also advertise vacancies on job boards. Their own websites will list vacancies from employers who have approached them, but they will not list competitor agency jobs. Many recruitment agencies operate in a specialised area and have gained a high level of expertise. Once the initial contact has been made on the Internet, they will encourage the job-seeker to visit their offices for a chat about their job options.
Companies are also beginning to list their job vacancies on their own websites. For job-seekers who are only interested in working for certain organisations, this may be an ideal way to look for work, however, the range and number of jobs available will be smaller and it will take longer to visit each website on a regular basis. Some organisations are better than others at updating vacancies on their website and this also needs to be taken into account.
Some recruitment agencies and companies only operate on a local or regional basis, whereas others are national or international organisations. Many online job boards, like JobServe, list jobs from all over the U.K. as well as abroad, so make sure you are on an appropriate site for your needs.
Searching for the right role
All job boards try to make it as easy as possible for job seekers to find the right vacancies by listing all the jobs in a database, which can be searched using 'keywords'.
The type of keywords you may want to enter could be related to the job title, skills and location you are interested in. For example:
Accountant
Part-qualified
South-east
Some search engines are more sophisticated than others. These 'search builder' or 'advanced search' facilities give you the opportunity to exclude those jobs you would not be interested in or to rank in importance those attributes that are essential or just desirable.
Continuing with the above example, it is possible to search for jobs in the South-east but exclude all those in London and to select those wanting ACCA qualifications as desirable but not essential.
What else is available?
Check whether the recruitment site offers other facilities such as:
• Personalised jobs by email
• Online application form
• CV storage to apply for jobs online
• CV activation service so recruitment
agencies can view candidates details online
• Instant job alerts, delivered to a mobile
phone or email address
Well established job boards, such as www.jobserve.com will offer a comprehensive range of other services to help equip job-seekers with all the tools they need to find a better job online.