Need a job?  Get an app.

Jobcentre Plus have launched a Jobcentre App for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Google Android enabled mobile phones.

The app is another tool

for people looking for work, making it easier to search by location,

save preferences and get information about vacancies, said Employment

Minister Jim Knight.

Almost

1m people search for work through Jobcentre Plus every working day.

Last month alone 60,000 people accessed the website from their mobile

phones.

The app makes it easier for people to find jobs

relevant to them, jobseekers will be able to enter their location, or

select key areas where they are looking for work and see exactly where

vacancies are with Google maps. Within a year, jobseekers will be able

to use GPS to spot jobs around them, whether from home or on the move.

The app will also be developed to automatically notify people of new

vacancies matching their preferences.

The app is available to anyone who uses an iPhone, iPod touch or Google phones.

In

December, Jim Knight set out his vision for Jobcentres across the

country, and developing online tools was a key part of delivering this

increasingly personalised service.

Speaking at the National

Digital Inclusion Conference, Mr Knight also announced a pilot to give

Jobcentre Plus customers access to PCs. Initially around 200 PCs will

be spread across approximately 50 jobcentres. There will be free help

for customers who have never been online, provided by Jobcentre Plus

staff and partners such as UK Online and equivalent organisations in

Wales and Scotland. Customers will be helped to set up an email

account, build an online CV and supported to search for and apply for

jobs online.

Already 13 per cent, some 350,000 vacancies

advertised through Jobcentre Plus each year only accept electronic

applications – meaning if people are not online they are missing out.

Jim Knight said:

“In

this digital age being online is not a luxury, it is a basic right.

Evidence shows that access to the internet improves exam grades,

earning potential and can save up to £600 on family bills.

“As

Smarter Government Minister responsible for the digital transformation

of public services I am committed to getting people online, improving

the customer experience and saving money through a better, more

efficient use of technology.

“Giving people access to the

internet in jobcentres and expanding the tools available through the

introduction of the app are just two elements of this work.”

The

move is part of a Government wide campaign to get more people online by

promoting the benefits such as saving money, paying bills and looking

for work.

The Government is committed to getting 60 per cent of

the 10m people who have never used the internet online by 2012. The

Smarter Government white paper, published last year, set out the

potential for public services to be delivered more efficiently. 

And don't forget bidefordpeople has a free app too!  Click here to download.