Use the Internet to find a job minus the fuss and frustration.

If I left you in a room full of all the newspapers with job adverts, all the company recruitment brochures I could find and a sizeable helping of UK employment agency listings, would that help you find the job you wanted? Perhaps you would get lucky, pick one up at random and find just what you were looking for. But the chances are you would come away with nothing more than a feeling of immense frustration.

Knowing that what you want is there somewhere but being unable to find it is a common experience amongst job hunters using the Internet. Many have given up in despair after spending time on sites that promise thousands of vacancies but are unable to come up with one that suits.

There’s no doubt, however, that using the web for recruitment is growing in popularity with both job seekers and employers, offering huge advantages to both. It’s a cheap, fast and effective way of getting relevant information to the people who need it.

Surveys show that around half of all UK employers now use the Internet for recruitment and in some areas such as graduate recruitment the figure is higher. Two thirds of companies recruiting graduates now accept online applications according to this year’s employment trends study from The Association of Graduate Recruiters. They also found that more than three quarters of all final year students had used the Internet for job search. In the UK this is the fourth most popular use of the Internet after email, shopping and booking holidays.

Where to look
So how do you harness the potential of this immense resource? The simple answer is to use your common sense and be selective about which sites you use when looking for a job. There are two main types that advertise vacancies – online newspapers or journals and employment agencies. The third and best resource is something many job seekers overlook – cutting out the middle-man and going straight to the employer.

Most companies now have websites, many advertise their current vacancies – those that don’t, provide enough information to help you make a stunning speculative application. Check out facilities on your dream employer’s site for submitting your CV as a way of being considered for future opportunities. This can be safer and more worthwhile than posting on a general site and hoping someone unearths it.

If you do post your CV to an agency or any other site, check their levels of confidentiality. Take care that the whole world – including your present employer –doesn’t get to know you’re looking for a new job. Only post your CV to sites where your identity is withheld until you give permission for personal details to be revealed to a third party.

Be choosy
When looking for work on the web, be selective. Target those sites that will give you what you want with the least effort. Resist the temptation to register with lots, concentrating on a small number of resources that focus on jobs or locations that suit you best.

• Each newspaper offers different types of jobs. Are the jobs that interest you more likely to be in The Financial Times or The Stage?
  
  
• Don’t overlook professional and trade publications, from The British Medical Journal to Housing Today, most have online versions with vacancy listings.
  
  
• Register for mail alerts from sites that advertise jobs. It’s an easy way of keeping an eye on vacancies. Keep details of how to unsubscribe to avoid an overflowing mailbox once you no longer need this information.
  
  
• Look out for job sites that allow you to search by location. This will help narrow down your search.
  
  
• Many local authorities advertise public sector jobs on their sites, if you want to work in Cumbria for example, take a look at the County and District Council sites as well as local newspapers that cover the region.

Get focused

Employment agencies can be general, specialise in a specific area of work or just advertise jobs in a particular city or region. Before spending time registering with an agency check that:

• They have the type of work you’re looking for
  
  
• Vacancies are regularly refreshed
  
  
• Their privacy policy is acceptable to you.

General agencies can be good for browsing through to see where all the jobs are, but you may find they’re not covering occupations you are looking for. If that’s the case search for more focused ones – there’s everything you would ever want. Examples include agencies specialising in recruiting butlers, staff for airlines, jobs that pay over £100,000 a year, jobs on cruise ships.

All you need is your imagination, some good search techniques or a book that shows you what to do and where to look. Now what could I recommend…

Irene Krechowiecka is author of Net that Job – Using the world wide web to develop your career and find work.