How to get the most out of a job board in your job search
A good place to start your job search is on a job board. Job boards operate by a simple principle they advertise jobs which you can apply for.
Job boards have become one of the most common ways to find a job; there are generalist job boards covering all sectors for jobs nationwide and niche job boards, covering a particular sector, town or city. EmptyLemon, who we featured on Everlasting Employability recently focuses on jobs direct with the employers; we have lots of jobs up for grabs across all sectors.
Since the early days of job boards in the 1990s, most job boards have added extra functionality to help employers find candidates like you, including CV searches or candidate matching.
Here are four simple things you can do on a job board to enhance your chances of finding a job.
1. Sign up for an account
Job boards offer additional candidate services to help you find your next career step; all you need to do is sign up for an account. Typical candidate services include:
Save jobs you have applied for.
Save searches so you can go back to them another time to see new jobs which match your search.
Sign up for e-mail alerts of jobs as they are posted
Show a list of jobs which you might like, based on what you have previously applied for.
To get the most out of these additional services, you will need to ensure that your profile shows the town or city you wish to work, your latest job title; or if you don’t have one, ‘seeking career in (job title)’, as employers often skim over applications to see the most relevant candidates nearest to them.
In addition, check your phone number is up to date and that your e-mail address is correct and if your email address is ‘[email protected]’ or similar it’s time to set up a professional email which includes your name and surname.
2. Upload your CV
Once you have signed up for an account with the job board, the next most effective thing you can do to help find a job is to upload your CV to the job board.
Imagine you are the employer; you need to fill the job quickly, so you don’t have the time to wait for applicants to apply. Job boards offer employers a ready made pool of uploaded CVs for the employer to access, shortlist and contact candidates for an interview.
You will need to ensure that your CV can be read by the job board CV search or candidate matching software which the employers use to seek out candidates. This means no images, tables, graphics or fancy fonts, and save it in a popular editing format such as Microsoft Word.
3. Apply for jobs regularly
Most job boards weight the relevance of a candidate to the employer based on their activity on the job board. If you apply for jobs on a daily basis, even if you are being selective, your activity will be logged and relevant and recent. This means that your CV will be listed as more active to employers who are using CV search or candidate matching to source candidates.
4. Follow the job boards’s social media accounts
Job boards often post news of mass recruitment drives or unique roles on their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so it is a good idea to follow job boards on social media in order to keep up to date with the latest job opportunities as they are added.
Employers are increasingly checking candidates’ social media profiles, including Facebook, so review your profile content carefully. At the very least, change your cover image and/or profile picture if it shows you with a drink in your hand, in a beach shot, or on a big night out. Alternatively, create a ‘professional’ Facebook page which is your profile for job seeking, and lock down the privacy settings on your personal page.
These are just four things you can do on a job board, which take a small amount of time out of your jobseeking schedule, to boost your chances of landing your next job role. Of course, there are other ways of finding a job, such as in the local newspaper or on social media, but job boards for now remain one of the biggest sources of jobs.
Thanks to Jo Rowbotham of EmptyLemon, a direct employer job board, who wrote this blogpost for Everlasting Employability.