CaribbeanJobs.com, a new online recruitment website, will be investing US$5 million in expanding its business, to facilitate thousands of employment opportunities for people within Jamaica and the other Caribbean islands.

The company, which began operations, five months ago, is an online recruitment agency which caters to job seekers as well as employers who have vacancies.

Jane Lorigan, group marketing Director of CaribbeanJobs.com said, "The Caribbean is a rapidly growing market with a strong mix of both local and international companies. Traditional recruitment methods are changing and the young, educated workforce is adopting the internet as the best medium to find a new career."

"Members of the public who are in search of jobs can go to CaribbeanJobs.com website, which has a comprehensive database of relevant and up-to-date vacancies in all sectors of the economy throughout the region," Lorigan explained during a breakfast meeting with some senior journalists yesterday.

"The service is free to members of the public. The website is also easy to use."

She pointed out that CaribbeanJobs.com is a great asset to jobseekers in the region, especially since it comes at a time when the Caribbean Single Market has come into being.

"You can find out about a job anywhere in the region or anywhere inside your own country, all you have to do is log on to the CaribbeanJobs.com website and carry out a search for the jobs. You can search by country, job or interests," Lorigan outlined. "Once you have found the job to your liking, click the apply button at the end of the page and submit your resume as an attachment."

Fionnuala Walsh, Sales Manager of CaribbeanJobs.com said, "We are trying to make sure that thousands of Jamaicans and other Caribbean people have jobs at their fingertips. Already Digicel and Superclubs have started to advertise their vacancies on our website."

Walsh pointed out that one of the strong features of CaribbeanJobs.com is the confidentiality it affords job seekers: "Once you click on the appropriate tab and apply online, your curricula vitae goes directly to the company to which you are applying. We guarantee 100 per cent confidentiality."

On the matter of employers, CaribbeanJobs.com offers them a cost-effective way of sourcing high calibre employees, within the region and outside of the region. Noting that the goal of CaribbeanJobs.com is to give Caribbean people living within the region and living in the Diaspora a chance to access jobs in the Caribbean, Jane Lorigan stated that "job security plays a significant role in whether Caribbean people living overseas return to the region. If they have access to see what jobs are available in the region and get a chance to apply for those jobs, then they will be encouraged to return home to the Caribbean."

At an affordable rate, employers can have their profiles and jobs posted on the CaribbeanJobs.com website. They are also allowed to constantly update their vacancy postings on the website. "The fact that we allow companies to include their profile on the website, it means that jobseekers can know more about the company, before even applying," commented Valerie Sorohan, Assistant Group Marketing Director. "This they would not be able to do, if the traditional means of advertising vacancies, such as the placement of ads in newspapers were used."

CaribbeanJobs.com also provides free career advice, tips to jobseekers on resume writing, information on salary surveys and news on worldwide job trends. For jobseekers who register with the site, they receive a monthly newsletter on career issues.

CaribbeanJobs.com is modelled on the highly successful IrishJobs.ie, a 10-year-old company. IrishJobs.ie began with a 'handful of jobs' on its site in 1995 and just two clients(employers), but today the site has more than 45,000 jobs and 950 active clients(employers). The company posted a turnover of US$25 million last year.

Caribbean Jobs.com is also an affiliate of NIjobs.com, WelshJobs.com, Northenglandjobs.com and ScottishJobs.com. Since January, the group also has affiliates in China.

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