THE KENT Messenger Group, publisher of Kent Online and Kent Business, has launched a new free on-line service for job hunters.

KMG has joined forces with IT technology experts Matchwork UK to set up the service called CVBank.

People looking for a job will be able to log on to www.kentonline.co.uk/cvbank and register their CV. If it matches the requirements of a vacancy in the CVBank the details will be passed on to the employer.

Simon Clubley, KMG advertising director, said: "CVBank uses the specification on the CV for matching with the specifications of an employer looking to fill a vacancy.

"If your job requirements match, then the CVBank automatically sends the employer the job seeker's CV.

"At this stage anonymity is important for the job seeker so the employer does not see the personal details, like name and address.

"But the employer can then email directly to the jobseeker requesting more information or inviting them for an interview. Then it's up to the jobseeker if they wish to reply."

According to recent market research more and more people use on-line services to find out about jobs. There are already more than 1.7 million CVs on-line. Forty per cent of the 19 million Internet users in the UK have looked for a job on-line and a staggering 61 per cent of companies in the UK regularly use on-line facilities to find recruits.

Clare Muldoon, KMG situations vacant manager, added: "CVs will stay on the system for 90 days and will only drop off if the job seeker instructs us.

"The jobseeker receives an email from us asking if they wish their details to remain on the system. It's a great service and the jobseeker is in total control."

Matchwork UK is a technology company providing the database and system to power the online recruitment site. The company is based in Denmark and powers more than 200 media web sites across Northern Europe.

CVBank accept CVs from February 3 but the service will not be available

to employers until March 1.