Job hunting
Pretty much all of us will need to find and apply for jobs during our lives. This can include full-time work, part-time work (maybe whilst studying) or apprenticeships. Job hunting skills are actually essential life skills. As with any skill, the more you practise, the better you get.
Job hunting: where to find work
There are lots of ways to find work:
- job sites
- newspapers and magazines
- word of mouth
- noticeboards
- networking through family, friends or personal contacts
- making ‘speculative’ applications to employers
- Tower Hamlets Careers Service, WorkPath and Jobcentre Plus
- employment agencies
- staying with an employer after part-time, temporary or voluntary work
- social media.
There are lots of job hunting websites, but here are some to start you off:
- Jobcentre Plus ‘Find a job’ service
- Agency Central – find local employment agencies
- Find an Apprenticeship – Government apprenticeship search site
- Get My First Job – aimed at young people
- Student Job – aimed at students looking for part-time and temporary work
- NHS Jobs – the NHS is a huge UK employer with a bigger range of roles than you might think
- Jobs Go Public – public sector jobs in local government, education, housing etc (a huge number of UK jobs are in these sectors)
- Indeed – the UK’s most popular job search site
- Adzuna – pulls job vacancies from lots of different sources
- Monster – another well-known job search site
- Reed – well-known job search site and employment agency
- Guardian Jobs – jobs for professionals and university graduates.
When hunting for jobs, it’s good to be organised. Keep a list of what jobs you applied to and when, plus where you found the vacancies. This will help if you get invited for an interview and need to refer back to the job details. Also, if you applied for a job and didn’t hear back, you may want to follow up with the employer.
Some people find jobs through social media sites like LinkedIn. Even if you are not job hunting on social media, be aware that employers may search for your social media profiles to find out more about you.
Therefore, it’s important to check your and online presence. Make sure there are no public posts, photos or other information about you that could look bad to an employer.
Interested in working for yourself? These sites have more information:
- Set up a business (Government advice)
- Princes Trust
CVs, applications and interviews
There is lots of advice online about writing a CV, filling out job applications and preparing for interviews. You’ll also find books in your school/college library or local library. If you’re unemployed, advisers from Tower Hamlets Careers Service can give you face-to-face help too. Contact us to find out more.
Here are some useful online resources:
- Advice from the National Careers Service
- Princes Trust – finding a job
- The Mix – getting a job
- Barclays Lifeskills – as well as lots of other advice, this site includes a handy CV builder.
If you’re new to applying for work and are not successful at first, don’t worry and keep trying. Try to find out why you weren’t successful. Feedback from employers is really useful, as then you know what you need to improve.
Job hunting is challenging, but the more you fill out application forms and go for interviews, the better you get at them.