If you need to find a job and you aren’t very experienced, it can all seem very confusing. There are so many places you could look (or so it seems) but, when you put them to the test, you can often find that they have nothing to offer. There is, however, a real skill in being a successful jobseeker and, fortunately, it is one which can be learnt.
The key to it all is being creative, imaginative, organised and persistent.
So, where are the best places to look for jobs? Here are some ideas to help you find employment.
An employment agency
An employment agency will try to find you work but there will be a delay while they check your qualifications, referees and experience prior to agreeing to represent you. This delay can take up to 3 weeks depending upon how busy the agency is and how quickly your referees respond. The service has to be free (by law) – see our blogs about employment agencies.
The Jobcentre
If you register with them, a Jobcentre Plus adviser will be allocated to you and he or she will investigate local vacancies or, if you ask, check the national register for jobs outside of your area. To save you filling in dozens of different (but essentially the same) application forms, you can use a Jobcentre ‘own brand’ application form which many companies will accept in lieu of their own. Jobcentres can even negotiate and arrange interviews for you. Why not give them a call on 0845 6060 234, 8am to 6pm (weekdays) and 9am to 1pm (Saturdays)?
Directgov website
If you prefer to hunt online, this official government website is free and simple to use and is available 24/7. Click here for more information. This jobs database is the largest in the UK and is constantly updated.
The Media
Local newspapers are the traditional hunting ground for serious jobseekers but, if you are offering a more specialist white-collar skill, then you should try the national newspapers or, better still, the trade magazines. Don’t assume that ‘if it’s not in the paper there aren’t any vacancies’. Newspapers get paid a lot to run jobs adverts. As a result, they are pretty clued-in as to what vacancies are coming up (but not yet advertised) or about businesses moving to your area. Make an appointment and drop in to see someone.
The News
Just as newspapers may provide you with the details of potential new employers from their database and contacts, the news can give you a heads-up on a nationwide basis. Keep your ears open for areas scheduled for redevelopment or funding and get in at the beginning.
Social Networking
The future starts here. If you are already into Facebook and you Twitter regularly, this could be your 21st century ‘old boys network’. Your contacts will have other contacts and so on (the seven degrees of separation theory). If you are well connected, sooner or later you will find potential employers.
Word of mouth
The old-fashioned form of social networking but still as effective as ever. Get out there. Press the flesh. Tell everyone you know that you want work. Email, text, call, ask – do everything you can to get the message out.
Cold-calling
Well, not quite calling but sending your CV on spec to all relevant employers. You should always ask them to retain your details even if there are no immediate vacancies – you never know. If you are emailing, ask for a ‘read receipt’ and follow up your application by ‘checking in’ at, say, monthly intervals.
Record every application you send, every company you call, every contact you ply along with every response you get. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, you can monitor what gets you an interview and what doesn’t. Secondly, if anyone ‘official’ starts checking up on you, suggesting you haven’t been trying hard enough to get work, you can give them a copy of the file and not expect to hear from them again!
This is important because you must demonstrate that you are ‘actively seeking work’ if you are to continue receiving the Jobseeker’s Allowance.
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