An overwhelming 84% of respondents indicated their intention to change jobs in 2008 when recently surveyed by LinkMe. This is despite (or maybe in reaction to) recent interest rate rise hikes, reduced housing affordability, tight rental market and anticipated economic slow down. Many factors drive job change - eg career progression, improved job satisfaction, better remuneration and conditions, and the tools available to assist job change are endless.

In response to member enquiries, over the next few weeks we will run a series of articles designed to guide you through the various tools on LinkMe. First we explore how to maximise the on-line job search functions, then we will address the LinkMe resume, salary expectations as well as networking, responding to calls from recruiters and employers, negotiation, interviews and a whole host of other topics - so stayed tuned!

SIMPLE SEARCH:

Exactly as it sounds this search is simple, easy and quick to use. It is available from the logged-in home page or the Jobs page. Results are displayed from any specified combination of keywords, location and single industry with the most relevant results appearing first, then the next and so on. This function works well for many users but for some it may display too many irrelevant jobs in which case it is best to conduct an...

ADVANCED SEARCH:

This is a more sophisticated search that allows users to specify additional criteria and keywords to further refine their job search.

Job Filters

Within the job title simply means inserting a job title eg HR Manager; within the advertisers name basically means you can either insert an employer or recruiter's name if there are specific roles / employers / recruiters you would like to search for. Alternatively you can choose not to insert anything in this section but rather proceed to the next section...

Keywords

Here a user can either expand or reduce the search results. For example if a user wanted to find jobs relating to Customer Service, they could specify in the field with all the words Customer Service, this would find all jobs that have both the word Customer AND Service within the job description thus expanding the search results. Similarly a user can expand their search by inserting a keyword into with at least one of the words field.

Continuing with our customer service example, if a user wanted to further refine their search and only see results with Customer Service Manager in the exact phrase and sequence then they would need to enter the keyword Customer Service Manager into with the exact phrase field as it treats this title as one word. Further, to receive only jobs that are related to customer service managerial positions, a user can filter out keywords such as junior assistant officer telesales (no commas required) by inserting these words into without the words field, and these words with then be excluded from the results.

Job location

Using a simple search this feature will search for jobs within a 50km radius of a specified location. However this can be further refined in the advance search setting by stating the within km radius eg 3kms within the Melbourne CBD.

Industry Type

Selecting this option allows a user to specifically state their preferred industry. However there is also the option to select several industries by going into the advanced search screen and holding down the CTRL key and selecting the industries of interest. Multiple industries are treated as if you included the word OR eg Banking & Finance Services OR Government & Defence.

Salary & Job Type

When stating salary expectation it is important to give the range which usually means the minimum to maximum annualised salary. Be realistic -- the range should be acceptable industry standards, not the sky's the limit!! Similar to industry type above you can select more than one option in the job type category by holding down the CTRL key.

Lastly you can sort the search results according to the most relevant keywords you have selected or by the most recently advertised positions (freshness). Remember the more refined your search the greater the chance of alignment with your ideal job, but the flip side is a narrowing of potential opportunities - you decide!