Job hunting in the UK using the Internet: finding your next information professional role in the health care sector and the skills employers require.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this article is to analyse 'professional' health information vacancies advertised on three specific websites for 6 months from 1 April 2006 (to 30 September 2006). The objectives for this research were to identify the frequency of health information vacancies advertised on three specified websites and on an e-mail discussion group.


METHODS
Each fortnight all health-related vacancies advertised directly by the hiring organizations were identified. The job descriptions and person specifications for relevant vacancies were either downloaded or requested from the hiring organization. The main criteria for determining the relevance of a vacancy was that a degree or higher qualification in an information-related subject was 'essential' or 'desirable with previous experience'. The core skills and experiences required from the job descriptions and person specifications for professional health information posts were identified.


RESULTS
The results highlight the importance of the Internet in locating suitable vacancies. However, not one website listed all the potential job opportunities. The importance of information technology (IT) skills (including literature searching) and teaching skills were identified from the person specifications and job descriptions.


CONCLUSIONS
The Internet is a useful tool for identifying health-related employment opportunities. However, to obtain a full list of vacancies, several websites must be searched.
Davies
Karen
K
Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK. K.S.Davies@lboro.ac.uk
D000329:Advertising / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D003197:Computer Literacy; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007586:Job Application; D007587:Job Description; D024382:Professional Role; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology