Graduate Recruitment and jobs boards

Different jobs boards in graduate recruitment will offer a range of features, here's a selection of the most useful features you should be able to find and utilise to help you find jobs.

Graduate job search

Perhaps the most obvious feature is the job search. Although look out for keyword searches as these can be a useful additional tool. The keyword tool will search the text within job adverts for the terms you put in. So for example, if you were on site for graduate jobs but were only interested in sales vacancies, if you put the word 'sales' into the keyword search this can immediately isolate any advert with the word 'sales' in the text.

Company Directory

Most boards will have a visible directory of users, both graduate recruitment companies and client companies within a particular sector. This can allow you to research wither the best recruitment agency or indeed do your homework on a prospective employer. The record of each company should also carry all of the their contact details and links to their web sites.

News sections

As well as being able to browse current and old news in your sector, many jobs boards will allow you to register to receive news updates as they are posted. This can be an excellent way of keeping up to date with developments in your industry without too much effort, ensuring you come across as well researched in front of your prospective employer.

CV searches

Some graduate recruitment jobs boards allow you post your CV to be viewed by companies who subscribe to this service. Again this can be an excellent time saver as companies and agencies will come to find you for suitable jobs rather than you having to pro-actively look all the time. There may be a risk here in that your CV and the fact that you are job seeking is out on the internet, introducing the prospect that your current employer may see your details. To overcome this, some sites allow you to select companies from whom you don't want people to see your CV. Hence you can select your current company to prevent your CV coming up in one of their searches. In theory this works, but be careful, it's no bullet proof.

Job alerts by e-mail

This service allows you to register a job profile, for example 'graduate sales jobs' in 'Yorkshire'. Once you have done this the site will e-mail an alert every time a vacancy that matches this profile is posted, giving you the chance to pitch in for this first.

Job alerts by text

This service is the same as above but instead the alerts are sent to your mobile phone. You will be charged for this so read the sites Terms and Conditions to ensure you are happy with this. This can be well worth the cost in order to receive new matching vacancies ahead of the game.

Blogs and Forums

Many boards offer a blog or a forum. These allow you to tap into the community of others using these sites. If you have a question about a company, job or industry, a query posted on here may return many answers quickly from other users who know the answers.

Article Libraries

Jobs boards with article libraries can provide a wealth of information and help regarding developing your career in a particular area, whether you are a novice or in a developed stage of your career.

In summary, job searching has never been easier using the internet and the many jobs boards available at the click of your mouse. In many cases, jobs boards will do the work for you, alerting you when suitable jobs arise. Just remember, any personal details you post on the internet are then available to the world, so make sure your choosy about what you put up.

Good luck.