An alert set to “jobs in Lagos” sends you everything, most of it wrong. Good alerts are narrow, layered and reviewed. The effort is about fifteen minutes to set up and fifteen minutes a week to check.
Why alerts go wrong
- The title is too broad. “Manager” matches almost everything.
- The location is too wide. “Nigeria” includes roles you cannot relocate to.
- Seniority is mixed. Graduate trainee and head of department should not share a list.
Build a short list of searches
1. Accounts officer OR finance officer · Lagos · exclude: trainee
2. Credit analyst · Lagos or Abuja · exclude: sales
3. Payroll officer · Lagos · full-time
Use exclusions
Many job boards let you exclude words. Use them for the words that show up in roles you never want, such as “commission only” or “door to door”. Add an exclusion each time you notice an irrelevant advert.
Check the adverts, not only the headline
Before you apply, read the salary, the location, and how the employer asks you to apply. Any advert that asks you to pay a fee, or to send money to a personal account, is a scam. Our guide on spotting fake adverts lists the warning signs.
Check the alerts each week
Alerts are only useful if you read them. Set aside one fixed time, once or twice a week, to go through the new adverts and mark the ones worth a closer look. Delete the rest, and update your searches when the results drift away from what you want.
If an alert produces nothing useful for two weeks, the search is either too narrow or too broad. Change one word at a time, so you can see which change made the difference. Keep a note of the searches that worked, so you can reuse them.
Be wary of an alert that sends adverts asking for payment, a registration fee or personal banking details. A real employer does not ask for those at the alert stage. Our guide on fake job adverts explains the warning signs.