News
Jobcentre Plus To Launch The First UK Government Jobcentre Mobile App
10/03/2010
By Lea Pachta
The app is another tool for people looking for work, making it easier to search by location, save preferences and get information about vacancies, said Employment Minister Jim Knight.
Almost 1m people search for work through Jobcentre Plus every working day. Last month alone 60,000 people accessed the website from their mobile phones.
The app makes it easier for people to find jobs relevant to them, jobseekers will be able to enter their location, or select key areas where they are looking for work and see exactly where vacancies are with Google maps. Within a year, jobseekers will be able to use GPS to spot jobs around them, whether from home or on the move. The app will also be developed to automatically notify people of new vacancies matching their preferences.
The app is available to anyone who uses an iPhone, iPod touch or Google phones.
In December, Jim Knight set out his vision for Jobcentres across the country, and developing online tools was a key part of delivering this increasingly personalised service.
Speaking at the National Digital Inclusion Conference, Mr Knight also announced a pilot to give Jobcentre Plus customers access to PCs. Initially around 200 PCs will be spread across approximately 50 jobcentres. There will be free help for customers who have never been online, provided by Jobcentre Plus staff and partners such as UK Online and equivalent organisations in Wales and Scotland. Customers will be helped to set up an email account, build an online CV and supported to search for and apply for jobs online.
Already 13 per cent, some 350,000 vacancies advertised through Jobcentre Plus each year only accept electronic applications - meaning if people are not online they are missing out.
Jim Knight said:
"In this digital age being online is not a luxury, it is a basic... continued on page two >
Advertisement
Rate
Bookmark
