Job hunting strategies

Introduction
The vast array of possibilities on offer is what, understandably, confuses many as they start to think seriously about getting a job. It is very important, from the outset, that you provide yourself with the neccesary information to cut through that confusion to give yourself a clearer route through knowing what type of work you are looking for and how to find appropriate vacancies.

Where to start
Any job search runs the risk of being pointless if you haven't first identified what you have to offer to a job in terms of your skills and abilities. You'll also need to consider what you want from a job in terms of the types of activity you want to engage in, the level of financial reward you are seeking, the sorts of people you want to work with etc. This understanding of your own needs is a vital starting to anyone's job hunt. If you neglect to do it, it is likely that applications and interviews will find you out as you will struggle to show an employer what it is you have to offer. You will also not be clear on which types of job you shoud be applying for and why. Time spent understanding yourself and matching your own needs to the requirements of particular jobs will always be time well spent. See self assessment and assessing your skills.

Investigating your options
Once you have a clearer idea about what you have to offer a job and what you want from a job, you are likely to make more sense of your research into what different jobs involve and their likely suitability for you. In your research always try to get behind the stereotypical image of any job and try not to be swayed by what others may think - remember this is your job and you are investigating its potential for you, not anyone else. It is also important to have some understanding of the current labour market. Much greater numbers of graduates enter the workforce than used to be the case - this has inevitability brought chance to the 'graduate job' with graduates now entering a wider variety of jobs than ever before. Very few people now have a job for life so it is important you take responsibility for your own career. Graduate now are expected to be much more self reliant, capable of handling change and use their own initiative in their jobs. More employers now seek to fill specific posts rather than recruit onto training schemes and SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises who employ up to 250 employees) are employing increasing numbers of graduates.

Sources of vacancies
Methods of locating vacancies fall into two broad categories:

traditional
alternative (often known as the creative job search)

Each approach has its merits; you will need to research which method is likely to work best for the type(s) of work you are seeking. It could be that you use both! In recent years the Internet has become an increasingly important medium in recruitment and must not be ignired as both a source of vacancies and provider of information about jobs and employers.

Traditional routes to graduate jobs:

vacancy bulletins issued by your careers service
drop in sessions
on campus recruitment programmes
online job sites
recruitment agencies
specialist publications
local and national newspapers
journals and magazines
careers and information fairs

The range of vacancies covered by all these mechanisms is extremely wide and will often offer useful details of the jobs advertised. Sometimes, the volume of information can seem overwhelming so try and focus your search.

An alternative route allows you to uncover jobs that are unadvertised. A creative job search is a way of finding out about these jobs, as well as identifying openings, which might lead to employment. Some employers don't need to advertise because they receive enough speculative applications. Other prefer to use recruitment agencies or fill their vacancies internally. Sometimes an organisation may not have realised that they could benefit from creating a job for you. For all these reasons it is well worth using strategies to access this 'hidden' jobs market but you must be well researched and convinced that you have the right skills, interests and motivations to present confidently what you have to offer. You will need to take the initiative to identify individual contacts who might be able to help you and you must come across as someone who is clued up and interested. Do as much reading as you can about the occupation and the organisation.

Making and using contacts
Most students and graduates start by using both their careers service and the Internet due to the wealth of information on companies and organisations available. The human resources department of any organisation is a good contact point.

Dealing with job offers
When you job hunting results in one or more jobs be aware that this, although good news, can sometimes bring with it some difficult decisions. If you are offered a job be sure that it is what you want before you accept. A formal offer of employment will be in writing and will outline the terms and conditions. If you feel anything is unclear refer back to the employer and ensure you clairfy all the information you need to make a decision. Don't commit yourself too early or rush anything. It is possible to ask for more time to consider an offer. As long as you keep employers informed they are usually prepared to be reasonable.

Please see job offers for more information and advice.

How not to find a job

Lack of self-assessment, not having worked out what you have to offer
Limiting your search to highly competitive occupations or prestigious employers
Limiting yourself too narrowly to one georgraphical area
Going for too wide a range of jobs
Poor application and interview technique (invariably the result of poor preparation)
Unrealistic expectations

Keep you job hunting strategies under review. Good luck with your search!

Back to making job applications