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Work for Good how-to: Job Alerts

Written by: Marc Schultz
Published on: Feb 26, 2020

Job Alerts

If you’re a jobseeker, job alerts are one of the handiest features offered on Work for Good: With a (very) little finessing, you can have an automated job search assistant delivering the best new opportunities directly to your inbox. 

For anyone new to the feature, or having trouble with the alerts you’ve already established, here’s a guide for setting them up effectively.

But first: What are job alerts? Job alerts are automatically-generated notification emails, updating you on all the new Work for Good job opportunities that match your parameters. They can be set to arrive daily or weekly, and they can be tested or tweaked at any time. 

To create a job alert, log in to your account and click "Create job alerts" in the navigation bar up top. Next, you’ll see a page with options for your alert. Fill out the search parameters you wish to use, like so:

  • Keywords are the top criteria for your job search: your area of expertise, the job title you aspire to, the position you currently occupy, etc.
  • Location is a must – unless you want to receive opportunities from across the country, in which case you should leave it blank. Don’t forget to adjust the distance field using the drop-down menu, in accordance with your ability (or willingness) to commute. (Note that the default is “Within 20 miles.”)
  • Job Function is useful if you’d like to limit results further – just check the job function or functions to which your keyword search applies (e.g., Accounting/Finance, Marketing/Communications, or Social Work/Counseling, among others). Alternatively, you can leave the “keyword” field blank and use this field as the primary criteria for your alert.
  • Focus Areas allow you to filter by hiring organizations’ causes, should you have a particular expertise or interest in them (e.g., Animal-related, Healthcare, or Youth Development, to name a few).
  • Under More options, you’ll see filters for salary range, position type, education level sought, travel requirements, experience level, and whether you want to rule out listings from either direct employers or recruiters.
  • The Frequency field lets you choose whether you want to receive emails daily or weekly. Note that if you choose “daily,” you will only receive emails on days when jobs have been added that meet your criteria.

Click "Email me jobs like this," and your job alert is set to run! You can create up to 20 job alerts, but keep in mind that you’ll receive a separate email for each one you save – which may contain repeat listings, depending on your settings.

You can change or cancel job alerts any time. Once you’ve logged in, click on your name at the top right corner, and select "Your jobs." On the next page, select the "Job alerts" tab, and you’ll see a list of your saved alerts. From there, any alert can be edited, deleted, or “previewed,” which runs an instant job search using your saved parameters.

At Work for Good, we want you to have the best and most successful jobseeking experience possible. If you have any questions about job alerts, or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@workforgood.org.

Marc Schultz is communications editor at Work for Good.

Feeling informed, inspired, and empowered? Now's the perfect time to search for your next job! Or set up a job alert, and bring the search to you.