Jobseeking on the Internet
In this age of technological advancement looking for work is not only done at a Jobcentre, in a newspaper or by talking to potential employers in person. A huge amount of prospective employers advertise their positions on the internet and it is fast becoming the largest job searching resource.
There are specific sites for advertising jobs and newspapers let you advertise online, some people use social media like Facebook or LinkedIn to advertise or even just advertise on their own website. For example for any of you that are online gamers you will probably already know that Blizzard the company behind games like World Of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo use their forums and notice boards to advertise when they are recruiting game masters or developers.
The job seeking market online is as fast paced as any other job seeking service, if not more so, with the applications being open to a far larger employment pool. Let’s face it, jobs advertised on the internet are available to anyone in the world that also has internet to apply for, so you need to keep a regular check on the employment boards and get your application in pretty quickly to be competitive.
How to get Online
One of the best ways of advertising a job online is through a recognised recruitment company. These work much the same way as recruitment companies on the high street although they advertise jobs countrywide even worldwide. If you are prepared to move to find work then having access to a job pool that holds about 1000 jobs across the country at any given time truly opens up lots of opportunities for you.
Of course the main criterion for having access to this new source of job opportunities is having access to the internet. This means that you need to be able to use a computer and for a fairly long period of time. If you have a computer at home with internet access then you have no problem and conducting your entire job search campaign will be easier this way. Here you can store your CV so that you can modify it as you go along, you can write letters of introduction and application and change and edit them with the click of a few buttons. If you do not have constant access to the internet however, there are places that you can get online, either for free or for a small fee all across the country.
Your first port of call could be the Jobcentre Plus as they will have information about all kinds of places and schemes that could grant you access to the internet. Places like Online Centres and internet cafes will provide internet access but often for a fee, but your local library should be able to give you some internet access. If there is a fee for the library computers it may be just a small one or that you only get charged after the first hour or so. Some libraries limit how much you can use the computers in a day; some limit it just during peak times so you need to find out about all of this to plan when the best time to go is.
Another way to access the internet is by borrowing the computer of a friend of family member. It might be possible to swap a service from you for the use of their computer, for example you hoover the house every day and they let you use their computer. There are always ways around things so ask around to find the best solution or combination of solutions for you.
Once you are Online
The very first thing to do once you have internet access is to get yourself an email address. This is a virtual mail box and you can get them from all manner of providers for free with only a minimal amount of effort. Check out Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo as some of the most well-known email address providers worldwide. Once you start applying for jobs online, prospective employers will send all communications to your email address which means you need to keep a close look on it at all times. Here they may ask for more information, ask you to go to an interview or even tell you whether you have been successful in your application or not.
To find the places to then search for your job you need to use what is called a search engine. The most well-known is Google followed closely by Yahoo. When you open a blank page on the internet you will see a box - usually a long strip that you can type your queries in. If you do not see that you can just type into the strip at the top of the page that has the small world symbol in, this is called your internet browser. If you are looking for all kinds of jobs you could type in jobs online or job search or something similar. If you are looking for a particular type of job you could type in jobs in engineering or whichever field is appropriate to your expertise.
How to Apply Online
Applying online is very similar to applying in person. Employers may send you an online form to fill in, or request that you send them an application letter by email. Most employers will often ask for your CV by email as well which is why we suggested that it is a good idea to keep it on your computer or on a flash or portable drive if you do not have a computer yourself. The added bonus of having your CV in digital format is that it is really easy to change things on it as you gain experience in life and work and training.
Again we reiterate keep a close watch upon your email inbox as that is how prospective employers who advertise jobs online will communicate with you.
If all this information about computers seems really scary or hard to understand Online Centres offer courses in computers all over the country. These are often courses that teach you the very basics about computer skills and are normally either free or only ask for a small fee. Find out about an Online Centre near you as gaining basic computer skills will be another thing to add to your CV, but the centres will also give you access to the internet and lots of other resources. To find out about an Online Centre near you follow this link – Online Centres.
