The employment market has significantly changed since Internet job boards have developed, you can post your CV onto sites or receive jobs by email. However, the critical actions are still undertaken by people and you need to make sure you are in touch with the right people, either direct employers or relevant recruitment companies. It is therefore always worth researching the best job boards to post your CV onto and the best recruitment companies to email your details to first.
Ways you can do this include :
- Recommendations from friends and associates.
- Choosing sites with several vacancies which possess relevant key words.
- Choosing sites with recognised and relevant advertisers
- Choosing sites affiliated to recognise industry bodies, professional institutions or reputable industry magazines.
- New regulations suggest that sites who are members of the Association of On-Line Recruiters will meet approved standards of practice in the handling of your personal details.
Due to the ease of applying for jobs on-line, recruiters receive high numbers of applications from people who are unsuitable for their vacancies, similarly it is easy to upload advertisements on to the internet and selecting worthwhile vacancies to apply for can be a problem. We therefore suggest :
- Personalise each application with a short covering email, putting the reference or job title you are applying for in the subject line
- Keep a record of who you have applied to, so when they return your call you remember the company or vacancy.
- Don't send your CV out c.c. or b.c.c. to a large number of recruiters as you will be seen as un focussed and indiscriminate.
- It is worthwhile following up your application with a phone call to ensure your CV has been received and understood.
- If you have posted your CV on-line try and include a profile with the key words in it you would like your job to be related to.
- Your on-line CV should also be clear about where you would be prepared to work, salary expectations and notice period.
- Once you have found a new job and have stopped looking, don't forget to remove your CV, you can always re-post it if things don't work out.