The Role of the Internet in Job Seeking
Recent surveys have indicated that the role of online sources in employment seeking has made a significant impact on the way in which job seekers look for jobs and simultaneously, how recruiters look for job applicants.
South African Internet Users
A survey conducted by world wide worx indicated that in South Africa, 10% of regular internet users spend over 20 hours a week accessing the internet (or 3 hours a day) and that work is the key access point for regular internet users, followed by home and then internet cafés. The primary reasons for surfing the web includes searching for news or business related information, entertainment, education and jobs.
Searching for Jobs Online
Research by UK Recruitment conducted in January 2007 revealed that 66% of the UK population was actively looking for a job in the previous 12 month period of which 38% of those people who changed jobs found their new job using an online recruitment or job search agency; half found their new job by applying for a specific job online. 51% of those who used the Internet to find their new job applied for a very specific job online, while 28% used a job search agency to find available positions that they might be suited to. In terms of the types of people using a job site, the findings indicated that job seekers between the ages of 30 and 39 were most likely to use a job site, followed closely by the 19 to 29 and then 40 to 49 year age group and in most cases, males seem more likely to use job sites than female job seekers.
Recruitment Agencies on the Web
Recruitment agencies still play a significant role in recruitment as 26% found their new job through an offline recruitment agency. Interestingly though, half of those who used a recruitment agency in their job search (online or offline) initially started the process by using a search engine or job site to locate the recruitment agency that specializes in their field or locality
Career Advice
Job sites that provide more value than just job postings are most likely to attract job seekers. Although a majority of job seekers go to employment sites to look for more information about specific jobs, a large percentage of job seekers visit job boards to post their CV's, look for career information and career advice such as how to write CV's or interview tips. Other visitors are looking for more information about a particular company or recruitment agency or seek further guidance on how to further their education.
Posting CV's Online
Of the surveyed UK population that used the internet to look for a job, 22% were comfortable in posting their CV to a general online employment site. Further research conducted by Beyond.com, Inc. indicated that business professionals are also amongst those who post their CV's on job sites. Of the professionals who responded to this survey, more than 25% had posted their CV onto 1 or 2 job boards, 29% onto 3 or 4 and 18% posted their CV on 5 or more job boards. Only 29% of professionals had not yet posted their CV onto any online job boards.
The Role of Search Engines
In most cases job seekers would first visit a general job listing site followed by search engines (Google being the most dominant) and niche industry career sites. Job seekers mostly used search engines in trying to obtain more information about a specific role or company that they are interested in working for, however search engines are also used to obtain clarity on industry, salary benchmarks, education, professional associations and career and CV posting advice.
Jobs.co.za
Jobs.co.za currently ranks first on Google when searching for Jobs or Jobs in South Africa, which is an essential position to hold considering that nearly 86% of users prefer to use Google when searching for jobs or career related information.
