one are the days when people could start at the bottom of a company and work their way up. Company Man is at the very least a dying breed, if not completely extinct. According to recent trends most people beginning their working career will have at least 10 jobs by the time they are 40 and most of them will have been achieved by moving around between companies. This makes the challenge of getting a dream job a more frequent and time consuming task at a time when we are all expected to work harder and smarter. So the job search has to be efficient and effective. So throw out your newspapers and log on to the 5 best job boards you can use.

If you are a specialist or a professional, then the very best sites are those which are dedicated to your area and these can’t be beat: so TES (Times Education Supplement) for teachers and The Nursing Times for all branches of nursing. Likewise, if you are an employee of the NHS looking for career advancement, the NHS jobs site is the only place to go (https://www.jobs.nhs.uk). There is also a specialist site for people who want to work in the third sector (www.charityjob.co.uk). On the other hand, if you are interested in local government work, then check your local authority to see if they have their own web page for recruitment, many do. But if you are in the private sector or looking for a job in a particular trade, profession, company or location, then you should use the following 5 boards to help you land your dream job:

1. Indeed: www.indeed.co.uk

Indeed, is a fairly vanilla site which is a super site. This means it trawls all the major job sites and provides a comprehensive list of all jobs in a particular category. It is possible to search jobs by type, location and date posted. You can also load up your CV, but because it is an overused site, it is a little like tossing it into the fog and there is no telling where it will land. Because it provides a comprehensive listing which includes the NHS website and even the Government Gateway, it may be possible to use just this one site. Adverts open up in a new tab so you can keep them for later.

It does have some weaknesses though. Whilst it is good for technical adverts with specialised job titles, it isn’t so good for less defined jobs, e.g. a job in creative arts and media. Sometimes searches give too many results and it is possible to trawl through pages of adverts, many of which are irrelevant. Its geographic pinpointing of adverts is great if you live in a big metropolitan area, but less good for places such as “Hull”.

2. Universal Job match UK Government https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk

Time was when the only community a job centre served was the people who were unemployed looking for work. Now it’s all change. This is a great site and like “Indeed” you can tailor your search. It carries all the adverts from big employers such as the NHS as well as big and small private organisations. Jobs advertised range from Barrister to Barista through to a part time gardening help. If you register too you can get job preferences straight to your email. Another feature is all jobs advertised there are vetted to make sure a person can achieve the living wage.

3. Glassdoor: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk

This is a totally different concept. It is membership based and the information isn’t solely about job adverts, but there is an opportunity for people who work or have worked for an organisation to give feedback relevant to new recruits. Some feedback is quite supportive, others are damming. It also gives potential candidates the ability to get the lowdown on the type of interviews in particular companies.

This site is brilliant for those of you out there who have a plan and are very focussed on the experiences you want in your working life.

4. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/jobs

LinkedIn hosts a job board and what makes it unique is that it is an opportunity for you to sell yourself and use Intel and your networks to give you the edge when searching for a new job. Like Glassdoor, there is information about organisations, but unlike Glassdoor, the job hunter can interact with them via their own networks. A LinkedIn profile is a shop window where a job hunter can display their talents and potential. It is the complete job hunter’s dream, plus it is international too.

5. The Guardian https://jobs.theguardian.com

The only print-based media which has also a top notch website. This site is a must for anyone with a career profile biased toward the public or voluntary sector, creative & media or those with professional status. The adverts are in a standard format and very detailed, which helps a lot in the decision to apply or not. Like other sites, you can set up to 6 email alerts which deliver relevant adverts to you each morning. The only downside to this site is the tendency for bias toward the Home Counties.