Value of online recruitment is now £200m

The UK online recruitment industry is worth more than £200m, almost double what it was last year, according to the largest annual study into the market.

The 2006 National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (Noras), based on the responses of 18,724 jobseekers, revealed that 79% had applied for work electronically, with 43% e-mailing their CV to an employer and 28% completing an online application form.

The results, unveiled this week, showed that just 6% of respondents put a hard-copy CV in the post. Search engines were the main route for people finding a particular recruitment website (35%), followed by links from another website (20%).

The majority (64%) were looking for a full-time permanent position, while 27% were seeking temporary work, and 21% were searching for a part-time job.

The average online jobseeker is 34, has 13 years' work experience, earns 34,000 and visits more than five sites when actively job-hunting.

Tim Elkington, managing director of recruiter Enhance Media, which manages Noras, said: "Our latest results show online recruitment has come of age. [It] is steadily attracting more senior candidates and, with more people applying for and obtaining jobs than ever before, is proving to be a very successful way to find work."

Three-quarters of the respondents applied for a job they found online, and 68% got an interview. Fifty-two per cent got a job, up from 51% last year.