Job search second most popular activity on Internet: Survey

The technology boom may have made IT sector the top career choice, but software geeks account for only one-fifth of those scouting for jobs online - the second most popular activity on the Internet.

Besides, searching jobs online is no more limited to big cities and only four out of 10 online job seekers in urban India come from the top 10 metro cities, according to a survey by online research consultancy firm JuxtConsult India.

A majority of 61 per cent of online job seekers come from non-metro towns - 31 per cent belonging to smaller non-metro towns and 30 per cent from the larger non-metros, it reveals.

In terms of functional background, just 21 per cent of the total number of online job seekers in urban India, estimated at about 18.4 million, come from the IT or software area, the JuxtConsult India Employee Speak 2007 study found.

According to the survey, three out of four urban Indians (73 per cent) are logging on to the Internet in search of a job, making it the second most popular online activity after emails. This represents a sharp increase over 53 per cent of active Internet users searching for jobs in 2006.

Sending emails is the most popular activity with a user base of close to 24 million, or 95 per cent of the total active Internet users.

With over 80 million white collar employees and prospective students being active in the job market, nearly one in four white-collar job searchers is currently using a job portal in conjunction with other models to find a suitable job, it said.

The other online activities in top five are - instant messaging (15.6 million and 62 per cent of total Internet users), checking news (61 per cent and 15.4 million) and music (60 per cent and 15.1 million).

Chatting (59 per cent and 14.9 million), checking sports (57 per cent and 14.4 million), e-greetings (57 per cent and 14.4 million), online games (54 per cent and 13.7 million) and dating or friendship (51 per cent and 12.9 million) make up the top ten list of activities on the Internet.

JuxtConsult said among job seekers, two-third of them are looking for a change, while one-third are understood to be looking for their first job.

According to the study, 64 per cent people who search jobs online are already employed and are looking for better prospects, while remaining 36 per cent are either unemployed or 'freshers' looking for the first break.

Among the various job portals in India, Naukri has retained its leadership position with a 37 per cent of user preference, despite a fall of 12 per cent from 49 per cent in 2006. International player Monster, which has acquired Indian firm Jobs Ahead, has seen an increase in its popularity to 27 per cent in 2007 from 19 per cent last year.

Times Jobs has also seen an increase in its user base, which has doubled to 14 per cent this year, while the two generic portals Google and Yahoo are ranked at fourth and fifth positions. Google's user preference base has increased to 5 per cent from 3 per cent in 2007, while Yahoo has retained its base at three per cent.

The top three job portals -- Naukri, Monster and Times Jobs -- together account for 78 per cent of the total user preference, while just one in ten online job seekers are visiting generic portals like Google and Yahoo.