Monster.co.uk & other Jobs websites

[El Saxo]

Following on from the career change thread, does anyone have any recommendations / experience with any of the online job search sites (i.e. the ones where you upload your CV so that employers can search & find you etc)

I've been trying to use Monster.co.uk for the past few days but the site hasn't impressed me much so far, it keeps bloody crashing or throwing up errors! :evil:

Any other particularly good ones?

[cuffy]

fish4jobs is ok as is totaljobs.com

[Warren]

i use monster,
all the jobs i get offered are at a much lower salary and more hours, or scams.

[instigator]

Monster is fine for me although probably nowhere near as popular/useful as it likes to think it is.

Had plenty from agencies just browsing my Cv so there's hope yet. It's one of a few that I'm currently signed up to. The rest being more engineering/oil & gas orientated.

[Carsick]

jobserve.com and cwjobs.co.uk are good for IT stuff. No idea about other areas, though.

[M65]

gojobsite.co.uk is worth checking out

[Cronos]

s1jobs.com is pretty good for any jobs north of the border.

[Demonz]

www.thegumtree.com - good for finding London based jobs. Not uploading though.

[Jelster]

jobsite, totaljobs and monster have all (are all) working for me right now. Monster's search engine is pretty poor. My CV has had more respose from Jobsite, not sure if that's because it's used more by Telco/IT agencies or just because it's better.

My advice with any of thses though, use them to find contacts at agencies and then call them directly and discuss what sort of jobs they specialise in, that way you can pick the best ones for what your looking for.

.

[philipMac]

I put mine up on Monster...

Its a little odd. Every time I make any change in it, it seems to bump it up, and I get a load more job offers. Then I let it sit, and they taper off very quickly.

They are always banks though... looking for IT gimps. Yeuurgh.

[Razor]

Jobsite is pretty good, I got 4 good interviews from them already. They email me a couple of times a day with about 75 jobs and I apply for at least 2 a day.
I've got more interviews next week.

[Red ones]

I found Monster really poor - poor response and poor to search. Totaljobs on the other hand was really good - easy to upload to, easy to search. Having said that I got my current position through the Reed website. www.hays.com was really good too, though I think you need to back that one up with signing up to a branch of Hays to get exceptional service.

You need to update your details on a WEEKLY basis - sounds a pain but if you are happy with the content then just alter the cv only very little and the covering letters a bit more. Recruiters look not only for relevant cv and letter, but also check when they were last changed - they do this to avoid chasing a cv that is no longer used (how many people forget to remove their cv when they find a job?)

If you use websites like Totaljobs, look closely at who the recruiter is. Look up the recruiter directly and call the contact. Let them know you have seen the job on Totaljobs, or which ever website. Frequently they have 4 or 5 more posts that are not on the website yet. Then call the contact on a weekly basis.

I would also recommend the free cv checks that get offered. Totaljobs again have a good partner - the Fuller cv - you send them your cv, they then phone you after a couple of days and give you some pointers and suggest you rewrite it. They then try to sell you a professionally written cv to which you say no and they actually say OK and don't hassle you again! But their pointers are really good! I would consider paying them for my next job change.

I know it all sounds a pain - all this phone calling, all this updating etc. I was lucky (!) I had 4 months without having to go to work at the same time - a full-time job seeker - being able to give job hunting my undivided attention really helped me find a good post (especially as my former employer was still paying the phone bill and for the car and fuel to go on all the interviews!) An on-line cv is old hat after 2 weeks and will not get the attention you want it to, equally if you do not call the recruiters on a weekly basis then they go off you.


Calling the recruiters direct is an art form! Always call the same person - this helps you stay top of their list. I used to write in the diary a week ahead of when I was going to call them - so I had my Monday morning calls, my Tuesday morning calls etc. So Hays would always get called on Monday morning etc. Try to arrange to meet the recruiter at least once, even if they are one you see pop up on places like Monster etc. If you do this then you are more likely to strike up a relationship where the recruiter will volunteer additional posts, or even just tell you "irrelevant" stuff like when they are taking a day off, or where they are going on holiday, which room their are decorating at the weekend (Believe me, this is NOT irrelevant - you always accidentally drop it back into conversation the next week!)


Dont be afraid to throw out crap recruiters either - thay just waste your time. Small recruiters who want employers to use them can be prone to saying "We have 10 million jobseekers on our books" they may just be padding their numbers - if they don't work then don't waste your time.

I must admit I nearly disagree with Razor. Set up you online filters wisely. Cut down the number of posts that get emailed to you. If razor is getting 75 posts emailed, then applying for 2 and then gets interviewed for 1. That's a strike rate of 1.3% I used to get probably 10 posts in a WEEK, but the filters meant that I applied for 5. (I then used to get on average 4 interviews and 3 offers - really! No, really I did!) That's a strike rate of 40% getting to the interview stage.

Don't be afraid to ask the recruiter what it is that you need to do to get that job that you are looking for - they WANT you to get a job, they are on commission. They want you to get that highest paid job as the commission is a percentage of the salary!


Good Luck!!

[Kinvig]

Following on from the career change thread, does anyone have any recommendations / experience with any of the online job search sites (i.e. the ones where you upload your CV so that employers can search & find you etc)

I've been trying to use Monster.co.uk for the past few days but the site hasn't impressed me much so far, it keeps bloody crashing or throwing up errors! :evil:

Any other particularly good ones?

What happens? ONe of my mates works in their IT, I'll forward the details on.

Actually, it's probably something he's done. They had to move two of their £10k servers from Kings Cross ot their data centre in Canary Wharf a couple of days ago. Personally, I would have used loads of bubble wrap & a good driver. They used an unlicenced cab, no bubble wrap & they didn't even use seat belts for the server. At the data centre the trolley had a wonky wheel so god knows what impact that had on the disk drives!

[Grinch]

cwjob.co.uk is much better then monster with more hits... its the one I used and got interviews with IBM and Fujitsu both who offered me a job. Though it was about 5 months before I got to that point...

[El Saxo]

Thanks for all the info guys, I'll give all of those sites a try! After all, nothing ventured... :thumbsup:

Kinvig - I can't really give you any specifics about the monster site. It was all working fine last night up until a few minutes before I started this thread. Then I started to get a lot of 'page not found' errors and also pages taking absolutely ages to load. :smt102

[Baph]

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

I got that from a collegue, the only person I personally added to my 'network' was my collegue. There are now 67 people in my network, and I've not touched it since logging in.

I also have 3 job adverts, two in London, one in Amsterdam! These start at £55,000 p.a. That's START! One of the jobs is for a Head of Marketing & PR.

If anyone wants in on my network for linkedin, I don't use it, but I'll happily link you in :)

This should help a little with the principal that it's who you know, not what you know.

EDIT: I've just looked at my 'network', I have contacts in the UK, Washington DC, San Francisco, Sweden & Australia. Cool.

[El Saxo]

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

I got that from a collegue, the only person I personally added to my 'network' was my collegue. There are now 67 people in my network, and I've not touched it since logging in.

I also have 3 job adverts, two in London, one in Amsterdam! These start at £55,000 p.a. That's START! One of the jobs is for a Head of Marketing & PR.

If anyone wants in on my network for linkedin, I don't use it, but I'll happily link you in :)

This should help a little with the principal that it's who you know, not what you know.

EDIT: I've just looked at my 'network', I have contacts in the UK, Washington DC, San Francisco, Sweden & Australia. Cool.

Sounds good. PM on it's way :wink:

[anna]

It might be an idea to search through all the jobs on monster and see which agency names are popping up most for the jobs that you are looking at.. then contacting the agencies directly?