How to Set Up Job Alerts That Actually Work
Job alerts are the automated version of manual job board searching. Set up well, they surface relevant roles quickly and ensure you do not miss good postings. Set up poorly, they generate an inbox full of irrelevant notifications that you eventually stop reading.
The Key Variables in a Job Alert
Job title keywords: The most important variable. Use the specific job titles you are targeting — not generic terms. "Marketing Manager" is better than "marketing" as an alert term.
Include variants: "Marketing Manager," "Senior Marketing Manager," "Head of Marketing" as separate alerts, or where the platform allows, combined with OR logic.
Location and radius: Be specific about your geography. Most platforms allow a radius from a postcode or city. Set the radius honestly — if you would not commute 90 minutes each way, do not set a 90-minute radius alert.
Salary range: If the platform supports salary filtering, use it. Alerts without salary filtering include a large number of roles that are outside your range.
Experience level / seniority: LinkedIn and some other platforms allow seniority filtering. Use it to reduce noise significantly.
Employment type: Full-time, part-time, contract — filter to the type you are looking for.
Alert Frequency
Daily alerts are appropriate for active searches — you want to see new postings quickly. For passive searches, weekly digests are sufficient and create less inbox noise.
The Alert Audit
After two weeks, review your alerts. Are you receiving roles that are genuinely relevant? If the alert is generating mostly irrelevant postings:
- Tighten your keyword terms
- Add negative keywords where the platform allows ("no" to specific terms)
- Reduce the radius
- Add salary filtering if you have not already
If you are seeing too few roles, broaden one variable at a time.
Recording Alert Sources in Your Tracker
When a role reaches you via an alert, note the platform in your tracker. Over time, you will see which alert configurations generate your best leads.
Build your CV free at CVCircuit and pair it with a well-configured job alert strategy to find the right roles efficiently.