How To Find A New Job – Hints and Tips

How to Find A New Job…

Now the title of this blog post may seem a bit simple but in all honesty, I didn’t know what else to call it.  As some of you may know, even though at night I’m a shiny lifestyle blogger, by day I frequent interviews, set up assessment centres and spend my hours CV sifting…  If you hadn’t guessed I work in recruitment/HR.  It seems to be that as people in the blogging community find out this snippet of information they send me emails asking me all sorts of questions in aid of their own job search.  So I thought I’d do a few posts to answer the most common questions that I receive about how to find a new job.

I thought I’d start with ‘How to find a job’ – because if you don’t know where to look for a job, then none of the other stuff really matters.  Please take this post with a pinch of salt guys, I don’t consider myself a recruitment expert in every single industry or every single job – I’ve just picked up a few things in my three years in the working world.  I feel like the advice below will apply to all job seekers in some shape or form so read on for my top tips to find a new job…

1) Job Boards

There are lots of job boards out there.  Some are generic and list lots of different job types (Reed, Monster, Total jobs etc…), others are industry or skill specific (GaapWeb, InAutomotive, Simply Marketing Jobs etc…).  Make sure you’re looking in the right places.  One of my favourite job boards to use is indeed.co.uk – it pulls adverts from all over the internet (using those witchcrafty spiders) and brings them all into one place – although remember it’s not a flawless system and will still miss the odd one or two so it should always be used in conjunction with other methods.  Sites like Reed, Monster and Total Jobs also let you upload your CV onto their database so recruiters/companies can find you.  I’d recommend giving this a go because you never know what might pass you by otherwise.

2) Recruitment Agencies

It can be really daunting speaking to a recruitment consultant but they will know the job market better than most.  Remember some employers will never directly hire, meaning you’ll never see an advert on their website for some of their jobs.  That’s because they’re using a recruitment agency who will be sourcing the best talent on their behalf on a more low key basis.  It’s always a good idea to be on a few recruitment agencies ‘books’ as you’ll be informed about some of these passive opportunities.  My biggest tips when dealing with recruitment consultants is to remember that to them, placements mean prizes – or in their case commission.  Always do your own research if they put a job in front of you and NEVER feel forced to accept a role you don’t really want.  My second tip is to never tell them where else you are interviewing – see point one for the reason why!

3) LinkedIn

If you’re not on LinkedIn then my question to you is this; why the bloody hell not?  LinkedIn is a hot bed for recruiters looking to find new candidates for their role.  In my experience, LinkedIn can help companies source the best talent directly rather than using the agency route.  Make sure your profile is up to date and that you profile reads a bit like your CV – with a few bullet points about what you’ve done at each role you’ve had.  Also, lose the inappropriate photo of you in your bikini.  Nobody wants to hire somebody from a business networking site who doesn’t look appropriate – save that for Facebook!

4) Print Media

Believe it or not, certain industries still use print media to attract top talent so don’t rule it out all together.  Newspapers and trade journals are popular and are worth checking out – if you don’t subscribe, the same jobs are usually listed on the magazines website too.

5) Social Media

Some (not all) companies are using social media more and more these days to advertise their jobs.  If you’re interested in a company make sure you’re following them in case they happen to adopt said method.  There is also the #jobs hashtag (and probably a few more) so keep an eye on there – especially if you’re looking for something in marketing/digital/creative!

6) Persevere

Not really ‘how to’ and I know people are probably sick of hearing it, but perseverance is one of the best traits you can have when hunting for a new job.  Not everybody can log onto a job board one day, fire their CV off and be hired within 48 hours.  Some of us really have to work for the dream job.  It can also be a bit of a waiting game if you’re waiting for something rather specific – but don’t give up!

So those are my top tips for how to find a new job.  Last year I wrote a CV Hints and Tips post so you might want to check that out also.  If you have any questions regarding job hunting or anything else recruitment related then leave me a comment below or feel free to drop me an email.