Universal Jobmatch website – any good?  The Diary of an employable blogaholic… 

When TheEmployable heard that the Universal Jobmatch website would “revolutionise” the jobsearch for the unemployed we thought it was best to take a look and we were sorely disappointed… Revolutionary? Maybe 15 years ago…Here, we explain why…

When Iain Duncan Smith announced the launch of the Universal Jobmatch website, we at TheEmployable were all rather excited – after all after the fanfare launch where I.D.S said that this was a website that would do all the job searching for you, while you slept, we couldn’t help but be impressed.

However, after the bashing of the bankers, and the “you get great pensions” attacks on the Public Sector, the most recent ‘cut back’ rhetoric has been targeted at the unemployed. The “when you go to work, but your unemployed neighbour is still in bed with their curtains drawn” cliche attack has become more and more common over the last few months in an attempt to get the public’s backing for the below inflation 1% increase in welfare benefits.

(I wonder when are we going to have a go at Politicians for having 6 weeks off in the Summer for their hols to the ‘South of France…)

It was only a couple of years ago that the now moral right and left of the political parties had had their hands deep in expenses claims and moat houses, but now it seems only fair for them to make political decisions on how long someones curtains are drawn?

And this is the point – even if the curtains are drawn, and some of the ‘benefits scroungers’ really are not looking for work, what about the 50% plus that are actively pursuing and looking for quality jobs? Quality jobs that unfortunately don’t seem to be there.

And what of the Universal Jobmatch website? How revolutionary is it? Answer? it’s alright.

In fairness there is nothing particularly wrong with the website, however it is hardly ‘revolutionary’. It is really more a mashup of other job search sites that existed perhaps 10-15 years ago. The whole “this website will search for your job” is a tired cliche and one that most commercial jobsites have pushed over the last 10-15 years –  the claim that is revolutionary is to be quite frank, a load of ol’ baloney.

I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that much from the site. Although getting the private company Monster on board to create the site was a good thing in itself, the end result looks tired and nothing new. I wonder how much that this website has cost the taxpayer ? Hmmm…

But then again we probably won’t hear about that will we I.D.S especially when you have such a closed curtain attitude on Welfare and those who apparently deserve it? Perhaps the Government should concentrate on creating new jobs for the unemployed to apply for, before creating a website that does little more than paper over the cracks.