1. Read relevant online magazines, newspapers and blogs about the sector you are interested in to keep up with the latest trends and vacancies.
2. Job search websites like E4S offer job postings from multiple online recruiters and can make finding opportunities very easy. Employment4students is just one such example – set yourself up with a few other quality outfits too.
3. Get yourself a job hunt buddy. Why go it alone? If two of you are looking for similar jobs in the same area, then pool your resources and cut down on research time.
4. Get to know your college or university careers staff.
5. Go old school for half an hour a week and have a look through your local newspaper for opportunities. Smaller local businesses often stick to more traditional methods of recruiting so never right off the power of print.
6. Likewise, keep an eye on the noticeboards of local shops and supermarkets.
7. Set up a dedicated email address for job applications and replies. Not only is it easier to track, but it can look more professional if your main email account has a “nickname”.
8. If it looks too good to be true, then it might actually be too good to be true. Always keep an eye out for student money job scams when researching opportunities.
9. University job shops, although often overlooked, are always a great first port of call for student job vacancies as recruiters know exactly the audience they’re targeting.
10. Keep it in the family. When you’re on the job hunt, especially if you’re still living at home, your immediate family will often know of local opportunities. But, why not cast the net wider and tap those extended family connections (doesn’t cousin Peter’s niece’s uncle work at Asda?) In never hurts to ask after all.
11. Search the e4s extensive database of student jobs and graduate jobs in your area.
12. Set up an email alert from the results page of those searches so that we can keep you up to date with new opportunities.
13. Widen your job search preferences. We very rarely get the exact job we’re after the very first time. Be inspirational but also realistic. No one starts out as a managing director.
14. Set up Google Alerts to get notified when news relating to your job search or desired sector reaches Google News. It can save time you would otherwise spend trawling the major news sites.
15. Gumtree is a bit like Marmite; you either love it or hate it. Online classifieds can be tedious if the same jobs are being posted and reposed over and over, but you do find some gems on there now and again. Especially in the casual and part time sections of the website.
16. If there’s a company that you really want to work for but you haven’t seen any positions advertised, it’s always worth dropping them a call or letter with your CV to make them aware of you keenness and qualifications.
18. Get your CV in front of the as many appropriate recruiters as you possibly can. You can never make too many applications so long as the recruiters are the right ones for you.
19. 5.2 million people have registered their CV with CV Library to ensure they get found. It will only take up a few minutes of your time, so just do it!
20. ALWAYS ensure your CV is kept up to date with contact details, education history, qualifications, key skills, work experience and interests.
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