Step 4 – Find work

Step 4

Find work

There will be a breadth of full-time opportunities and graduate roles advertised on a range of sites that you will be qualified and skilled for. Set some time aside each day to look through them and to get to know the sites that you really like and feel easy for you to use.

■ Use CareerConnect, winchester.jobteaser.com It is the University’s Careers and Jobs platform where you can set your preferences to receive email alerts for full-time and graduate jobs or specific type of contracts you are looking for. ■ Sign up for job alerts on a range of known sites that you find helpful. This will save you time and introduce you to opportunities you may not have previously considered. Use filters to put in job titles, duties (e.g. ‘writing’) and/or the word “graduate” on sites such as www.reed.co.uk, www.indeed.co.uk, www.totaljobs.com, and www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/jobs ■ Register to get notifications on specialist graduate job sites such as www.prospects.ac.uk, targetjobs.co.uk, milkround.com, jobs-graduate.co.uk, gradjobs.co.uk, graduate-jobs.com and best-graduates.co.uk. ■ Search on the websites of companies you really want to work for. Most have a careers or a jobs section, and these are usually right at the top of their website or in the information lists at the bottom of the page. E.g. sainsburys.jobs and www.hsbc.com/careers/find-a-job. ■ Make yourself searchable, most job boards have a function which allow you to upload your CV to their database and make it visible to recruiters. Some jobs are not advertised on job boards but recruiters search CV databases for candidates instead.

■ Use sector specific job sites for particular industries, like www.charityjob.co.uk, www.environmentjob.co.uk/jobs, jobs.communitycare.co.uk, www.designweek.co.uk, prisonandprobationjobs.gov.uk and www.accountancycareers.co.uk However, there are many more. ■ Use specific recruitment or employment agencies for the industry you want to work in. Agencies work on behalf of employers to find suitable candidates and act as the link between jobseekers and employers. Many employers use them and signing up will sometimes give you access to jobs that aren’t advertised elsewhere.

Search on www.agencycentral.co.uk for an industry related recruitment agency that you are interested in. ■ Update your profile on LinkedIn and connect with previous graduates working in companies you are interested in working with. Make connections with graduates, lecturers, and relatives and let them know you are looking for work. Find the University’s LinkedIn page, and click Alumni button to find other graduates. ■ Many jobs are not publicly advertised so use your contacts to find them. Be proactive and send employers a well written professional looking CV and a covering email explaining why you are interested in them and why you would be an asset to their team.

■ Do not forget to contact and apply to smaller companies that offer full-time and graduate jobs and often have wider scope for progression. Ask your friends and contacts who they work for as there will be thousands of small companies that you will not have heard of.