Where to look for a job online

Online job boards are now one of the top routes to work, with more than a quarter of recruiters saying they are the main way of finding the candidates who ultimately get the position.

They are, of course, designed to widen your search range, cut out legwork and duplication of effort and make it easier to find your next role. Unfortunately, there's now so many of them that just searching through can sometimes feel like a full-time occupation in itself.

Irish online and social media trainer Social Talent has tracked the visitor statistics of the UK's job boards, and come up with its top ten.

We take a look at each of them, and what they have to offer.

1. Indeed
Indeed isn't just the biggest job website in the UK - it's the biggest in the world, attracting more than 180 million visitors a month. Users can search for jobs on thousands of other job boards, as well as the company's own. They can get daily emails about jobs that match their search criteria, and there's a handy mobile app. Most job applicants seem to like the site, saying the search and notification service is effective and well-targeted.

2. Universal Jobmatch
The official job centre website for the UK, this site uses its Universal Jobmatch algorithm to match job-seekers with full- and part-time jobs, both in the UK and abroad. You can post your CV and create cover letters, be matched to jobs, get updates on jobs that interest you and get hints, tips and ideas to help your job search. Run by Monster, it has come in for a great deal of criticism for hosting bogus jobs in the past, but appears to be cleaning up its act.

3. Reed
Reed was the pioneer when it came to online recruitment, launching its website right back in 1995. It now features vacancies from over 25,000 employers, and generates over 160,000 job applications a day. However, it gets poor reviews on Trustpilot, with job applicants complaining that staff can be poor at returning messages.

4. TotalJobs
TotalJobs attracts over six million job seekers a month, chasing one of the 110,000 jobs the site has advertised at any one time. But it gets poor reviews on ReviewCentre, with users complaining that it often matches them with unsuitable or already-filled positions.

5. CV-Library
Established in 2000, this is the UK's leading independent job site, with over 138,000 live vacancies at any time, in seventy different industry sectors. It gets good reviews from users, although some struggle with creating profiles and setting their criteria and email alerts.

6. JobSite
JobSite.co.uk has over 150,000 vacancies listed on its site every month. It offers an email alert service to tell users when a job suiting their requirements comes up, as well as notifying them when a deadline is approaching. It's not hugely popular with users, though, who complain of being spammed by CV-writing services and money-laundering scams.

7. Monster
Monster offers job-seekers very well-regarded careers advice, as well as being a standard job search platform. It gets mixed reviews: as with most other sites, some users complain of poor matches, but plenty more say they've been offered good opportunities.

8. Jobs.nhs.uk
The dedicated online recruitment service for the NHS, this site receives applications from more than a quarter of a million people a month, and hosts around 20,000 jobs. Users can set up email alerts and track their application status and prepare a 'dummy' application form in readiness for when they see a vacancy they wish to apply for. The site also pre-populates application forms to save time.

9. Fiverr
Not really a job site as such, Fiverr allows you to apply to carry out small tasks and services, with payment starting at just $5 a job - hence the name. There are around three million jobs up for grabs, and most can be done from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, as the name implies, pay rates are often dreadful.

10. Jobs.ac.uk
Launched in 1998 by the University of Warwick, this site has now become the leading job board internationally for careers in academia, research, science and the like. It recruits for more than 700 organisations around the world. The site's clear and well-thought-out, and there's a wealth of useful information and advice.