PNet

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary: Founded in 1997 by the same people who created IrishJobs, Pnet belonged to the SaonGroup until 2013 when it was sold to Axel Springer.  Pnet is the second most popular job board in South Africa. Today, it has 49 300 followers on Twitter, 105 298 on Facebook and 12 167 on Linkedin. The “About Us” section covers a brief history of the company and their values. Unfortunately, there aren’t any photos of the team.

Design: The search engine (keywords, location) and the full-time/part-time boxes underneath are featured on the homepage. There aren’t any photos, but the dominantly red colour scheme looks professional. Four panels break down the job search into jobs by category, jobs by cities, popular searches (everything from microbiology to contract jobs) and jobs by title. The app is advertised on the homepage and a kind of alphabetical directory. In the job listing, the publication date is visible (but for some reason, the filters for the date aren’t very accurate) and the filters (the publication date, the function, the sector, the region, the city, the experience, the work type, the type of contract) are on the left-hand side. You can choose to hide the salary, work type and statute from the listing. There are also company pages, which include the current job offers, an “About Us” section, a logo, useful information and sometimes a map.

The job board objective: To quote PNet, the ultimate goal is to match the best candidates with the best companies as accurately as possible.

Recruiter observations: It’s relatively easy to create an account but a VAT number is required if you want to purchase advert space. You can also call the website for more information. You can include a questionnaire for applicants. Pricing information is available on the website (if you click on “post an advert”).

Jobseeker observations: Not only can you create a CV on PNet, you have to. Even if you upload your own. The form includes your marital status, your gender, your ethnic group and your South African legal ID if you are South African. When you apply to jobs, you must include a personal message and you can upload additional documents (like a cover letter). Other offers also popular with applicants appear afterward.

The job offers: IT, banking, engineering and manufacturing are the most popular sectors and represent more than 50% of the job offers on the website (15 425).

Reactivity: They answer quickly via e-mail and you can request a call back.

Special features: The blog (with subsections, no updates since April); the app; the alphabetical directory (you can look up the job offers by letter, which means it can be the first letter of the location, the job or the company. From there, you can also pick a subcategory); job alerts.

Verdict: PNet is professional. What else do you want from a job board? If you’re looking to hire in South Africa, you can rest assured that PNet can provide the best service.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.