There’s something job boards aren’t telling you.
Have you ever thought that if you figured out the search techniques, you would be able to find your dream job?
You click on the advanced-search function, fill in the blanks and hit return. But the matches still aren’t what you’re looking for. Despite improved functionality on many leading job sites, advanced-search functions are overwhelmingly under-used.
In fact, only about five percent of job seekers use advanced search functions, says Jonathan Duarte, founder of online job board GO Jobs.
Duarte attributes the low usage of advanced-search functions to several factors, namely that they involve too many steps and that many job seekers are not trained in Boolean searching, the use of “and” and “or.”
“If a job seeker performs an ‘advanced search’ without Boolean training, they are often frustrated with the results, and then leave the site,” Duarte says. “This is the worst case scenario for the job board.”
Job seekers can also get discouraged if the job search becomes too narrow and draws too few results. Another problem, say job board experts, is that position descriptions are not regularly updated and often do not reflect the true job expectations.
Many job boards have an intermediate search function, which asks for zip code, location and job category. This often gets job seekers close enough to what they are looking for.
Still, trolling job boards remains a very time consuming process, contends Richard H. Beatty, author of “The Ultimate Job Search.” There are over 40,000 career websites, including mega job boards, industry-specific sites and listings on company sites.
“Job seekers are faced with the daunting task of somehow screening through this bewildering array to discover those sites that will prove most productive for them,” Beatty says. “Huge amounts of precious job-search time can be completely wasted.”
Even with all of those sites, still only one-third of jobs are found through the internet.
Some, such as Beatty, are starting to advocate so-called job aggregators, a kind of Google for job searches that includes postings from big and small job boards as well as Fortune 500 companies.
Sites like Indeed, Jobster and SimplyHired are quickly winning admiration. These sites also have advanced search functions that have a more user-friendly feel than even the most well-travelled job boards.
And, Duarte points out, “chances are you don’t need to use it, because the programmers and engineers [who] built the intelligent search engine anticipate what you are searching for.”
Advanced search is an active, rather than a passive way of finding the right career opportunities.
It’s worth the investment of time to figure out how to make it work for you.
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