Job Hunting on the Internet

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In the past when looking for work, browsing the jobs section of a good quality newspaper was the way forward. Now, more often than not, most jobs are advertised online in a variety of different ways. Even the newspapers have followed suit!

Employers will usually carry their own vacancies within the content of their respective homepages, but will also publicise their posts elsewhere to catch the attention of you and any other potential applicant. Read on to find out how best to make use of the plethora of sites available.

Thankfully now there are easier ways to search for your first job

Contents

Online Job Sites

Before you start browsing for jobs, online or otherwise, it is a good idea to gather some thoughts and ideas about what kind of sector/organisation and even geographical location you might like to work in. You may find our I don't know what I want to do section on the Careers Centre Website helpful.

Once you've done this, selecting a particular and relevant job site to suit your needs will be much more straight forward, enabling you to make best use of the differing search options (e.g. location; sector; keyword) of each of the sites available to you.

Careers Centre website

Other Graduate job sites

Commercial graduate job sites tend to attract adverts from large ‘blue-chip’ and public sector employers which take on substantial numbers of people each year onto ‘graduate programmes’. They are more likely to be useful to you if you are looking for vacancies in sectors such as business and finance and probably less helpful if you are interested in the arts, media, publishing, education, charities, etc.

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General job sites

The sites listed below, and other similar pages, advertise a wide range of vacancies. Try performing a key word search with the word "graduate". The results found may not necessarily be graduate training schemes but could provide you with just the job to suit your circumstances.

Always remember to thoroughly read through the job description for each post you wish to apply for, ensuring that you meet the requirements listed by the employer.

Job sites with a specific focus

For job search strategies specific to various sectors, head to I want to work in ...

Finding employers

Some employers will not choose to openly advertise some of their jobs. This is when making good use of contacts gathered through Networking comes in handy. It is also a good reason to make use of some Speculative Applications having carried out some Employer research.

Below are a few useful company search engines:

Employer websites

Many employers will have a 'Careers' or 'Job Opportunities' section on their website. If you've identified an organisation or two you are interested in, try looking for jobs directly on their website. If the link to job opportunities isn't obvious, try the site map or contact us page. Don't be put off if an interesting job doesn't say 'graduate', as long as your skills and experience fit the requirements, you will be considered. As with all applications, be sure you tailor it, clearly demonstrating how your skills and experience fit the job on offer. Finding the organisation's website has the added benefit of giving you access to good information on the organisation which might be useful in preparing an application or for interview (see Employer research).

People are willing to help. Look for someone working in a job, industry or organisation you are interested in.

Alumni and Professional Associations

St Andrews graduates work in a variety of industries, jobs and locations. Have a look at 'Network with St Andrews Grads' in the lefthand menu on the Careers Centre website.

There are a number of professional associations which can be good sources of job opportunities, with organisations looking for people experienced in that field. While you are a student, you can usually join these associations at a reduced rate for students, which gives you access to a range of information and publications. For job search strategies specific to various sectors and their respective Professional Associations, head to I want to work in ...


Useful Links

Recruitment Agencies

As well as advertising jobs online most recruitment agencies can be contacted by email, telephone or in person. They can be useful for some sectors and for casual work, but make sure that you don't rely solely on agencies to find a graduate job. To use recruitment agencies successfully it is important to:-

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) website allows you to search for agencies which deal with employers by sector and location.

Useful links

Retrieved from "http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers/wiki/Job_Hunting_on_the_Internet"
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