JOB SEARCH
STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION
This leaflet will look at strategies for conducting a successful job search, through identifying
advertised vacancies and also through more creative approaches. Large companies actively
advertise their graduate opportunities through key websites and graduate directories, and so
identifying their opportunities and how to apply to them, is pretty clear. However, recruitment for
some smaller or medium-sized employers, or even within some areas of work (e.g. publishing),
might vary and could be via speculative approaches and/or through having established a network
of contacts (i.e. networking).
It might be surprising to know that many job vacancies are never advertised (this is known as ‘the
hidden job market’). Employers often recruit from strong candidates who have approached them
with a well presented speculative letter and CV, or who have completed a work placement with
them. The speculative approach to finding a job, supported by building networks, has become
increasingly popular and demonstrates initiative and tenacity in the attempt to secure a job
GETTING STARTED
Before you start your job search, you need to do some preparation. Spend some time reflecting on
your skills, personal qualities, work experience, as well as your degree skills. Visit the ‘career
planning’ page on our website which will take you to some online tools that will help with selfassessment and also generate job ideas, including Profiling for Success (on the CES website),
Prospects Career Planner (www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm) and TargetJobs
Careers Report (http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report). You could then visit the Prospects and
TargetJjobs websites to find out about occupational and ‘industry’ information in your field of
interest: www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm, http://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors.
FINDING JOB VACANCIES
The most important strategy to take on board is to use more than one strategy! Just relying on
one, e.g.checking vacancies in the newspaper, might take success in finding a job a long time!
ADVERTISED VACANCIES
Graduate Recruitment Websites and Directories / On-line Vacancy Services There are a number of these sites and the key ones are:
Prospects:
Targetjobs:
www.prospects.ac.uk
http://targetjobs.co.uk
Inside Careers:
www.insidecareers.co.uk
Gradplus:
www.gradplus.com
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers: www.top100graduateemployers.com/
All About Careers:
www.allaboutcareers.com
The Careers Group, University of London’s website lists current UK vacancies as well as
international jobs:
http://jobonline.thecareersgroup.co.uk/careersgroup/student/
University Careers Services - The CES’s JobZone online site (www.bangor.ac.uk/jobzone)
advertises graduate jobs (local/national/international), local casual jobs, work experience
placements and internships, as well as voluntary opportunities.
Regional Graduate Recruitment Initiatives - Based in various parts of the UK, these graduate
initiatives can include work experience placements, job shadowing opportunities and job
vacancies. These include:
GO Wales (www.gowales.co.uk) is a pan Wales graduate programme with centres throughout all
the regions in Wales which provides initiatives to help graduates begin and develop their career in
Wales..
Amongst the other initiatives in the rest of the UK are Graduates Yorkshire
(www.graduatesyorkshire.co.uk) , Graduate Advantage (http://www.graduateadvantage.co.uk/),
Graduate Careers Scotland (http://graduatecareersscotland.com/), Grad South West
(http://www.gradsouthwest.com/) and GradIreland (http://gradireland.com/). So check to see if any
schemes are available in your local area.
For graduate internships and careers advice on the UK Government website, visit
http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/p!ecaaefg
Visit the JobCentrePlus job search site: www.gov.uk
See also our handout “Using the Web to Find Work” at www.bangor.ac.uk/careers/services/jobsearch.php.en
Careers and Graduate Recruitment Fairs - For a full listing of fairs see:
http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Careers_fairs/p!epkgf
Sector-specific websites and publications – locate these on the ‘types of jobs’ pages on the
Prospects website. Under ‘employers and vacancy sources’ you will find a link to key websites and
publications, include specific newspapers, professional bodies and trade journals. See also the
TargetJobs website.
Newspapers, national and local – The national newspapers advertise particular jobs on particular
days (e.g. Education jobs in Tuesday’s ‘Guardian’).
Recruitment websites – e.g. www.monster.co.uk, www.fish4jobs.co.uk, www.jobsite.co.uk.
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Recruitment agencies: Some agencies might recruit to specific ‘industries’. Find out more at:
www.jobfit.co.uk, https://www.rec.uk.com/help-and-advice/jobseekers, www.agencycentral.co.uk.
UNADVERTISED VACANCIES (aka How to be creative in your job search)
Work experience placements, internships, job shadowing and volunteering experience can all have
the potential to lead to something bigger. During your placement, try to use the time to network
internally and take every opportunity to show the employer what you can do.
As mentioned earlier, many jobs are not advertised and people have managed to get recruited
through an internship or may have made direct contact with an organisation, either with a
speculative application or with a view to developing a network of contacts connected to their job
search. As with any job search strategy, you must first do your research before making contact.
finding out as much about the organisation as you can.
Networking
Networking isn’t about getting in ‘by the back door’. It is a tool that you can use to gain an insight
into jobs and employers and also demonstrates your commitment and motivation. Basically you
are saying “I’m not going to sit at home and wait for a job to appear; I’m going to identify and
contact people who can possibly help me in my search and let them know about my key strengths
and that I’m looking for work”. We all network to a certain extent – we might be looking to visit a
particular restaurant and start to ask around for information like ‘has anyone been there before,
what kind of food did they serve, how good was it, what was the service like’. You need to have a
very clear focus on what kind of information or help you want to get from your contact. It could be:

Information about what a particular job is really like. From this, they might even be able to
offer you some work shadowing which might lead to paid experience which might lead to a
job. Lots of ‘mights’ but there can be a lot of luck involved in having the right skills and
being in the right place at the right time.
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Advice on the skills or experience you need for a specific job. Your contact might
recommend other sources of information or even put you in touch with some other contacts.
They may also be prepared to look over your CV.
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Gaining in insight into the culture and activities within their organisation and where the key
roles are.
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Knowledge about the media the organisation uses to recruit staff; via newspaper adverts or
online, or maybe they rely solely on speculative applications. They might also let you know
about upcoming vacancies give an idea of other similar organisations to contact.
Whatever you want help with, when you first make contact, it’s probably best to initially ask for
information and advice, and not for a job – that can come later! Visit our ‘career videos’ page at
www.bangor.ac.uk/careers/students/careervids.php.en to access an excellent 9 minute on-line
video about networking (your Bangor University user name and password is required). See also
www.careerplayer.com/tips-and-advice/general-advice/its-not-what-you-know/.
Think you haven’t got a network? Family, friends, neighbours, academic staff, alumni, previous
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employers etc. are all network contacts and each of them will have contacts who in turn will have
contacts! To develop your network further, you could get in touch with professional bodies for the
fields you are interested in as these can be a good source of information and contacts. Other good
ways of meeting people are at events such as recruitment and careers information fairs, employer
led careers workshops, and professional conferences.
Social Media
You should also consider using social networking sites to develop your network of contacts and be
proactive in searching for jobs. These include LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. It’s important
that you are aware that employers are becoming very active in building communities of potential
graduate recruits in a more informal way through the use of social networking sites. The main thing
to remember about using social networking sites in a jobs/career context is to be happy with your
own site, should a potential employer decide to visit your pages, which they may well do! So,
make sure your digital footprint is acceptable for all to see! LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a great
site to build up a network of professional contacts. You can use Twitter (www.twitter.com) to
follow companies or individuals you want to work for. Employers will very often have their own
Facebook pages, so if employers are actively using all social media, it’s a good idea to get on
board! An excellent guide to “Using Social Media in Your Job Search” has been produced by the
University of South Wales and you can download the pdf at:
http://careers.southwales.ac.uk/media/files/documents/2013-0730/Grad_Edge_A4_social_media_guide_Layout_1.pdf
SUMMARY
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Know what you are offering and what you want from work
Research job areas, research employers and how they recruit
Use a variety of job search strategies, including social media sites
Make the most of your contacts and cultivate new ones
Stay focussed and positive. Contact CES, if you need help!
August 2014
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