The Visible Job Market

The first place to start looking for a job is the visible job market - the jobs that are advertised.

1. Job Centres

Love them or hate them these places are packed with vacancies. Job Centres provide vacancies boards for all types of work. They change quite frequently and so it's worth visiting them regularly. The staff can arrange for interviews for suitable vacancies and offer support and advice.

2. Careers Centres

Careers Centres deal with people up to 21 years of age, although some now offer advice to adults. What they do have are vacancies for younger people that job centres do not normally advertise. Most careers centres will also put you on a register as looking for work, and will let you know if suitable vacancies come up. They also submit young people to training vacancies, such as National Traineeships and Modern Apprenticeships, many of which are not advertised in the press.

You must visit a Careers Centre if you are between 16-18 and hoping to claim any type of benefit. They are normally listed in the Yellow Pages or other local directories.

3. Newspapers

Advertising in newspapers and journals is still one of the most popular ways of recruiting people. 'Scanning the ads' is, therefore, an important part of job hunting. It is where most of us start out on our search for a new job.

Many jobs are advertised in local and National Newspapers, many in free papers, and others in job hunting papers. Any quick glance along large newsagent's shelves will reveal the local job hunting papers. Some of these are printed on a regional basis, with vacancies within commuting distance, whereas others are national.

Local papers vary substantially in the quality of the recruitment advertising they carry but, on the whole, they are essential reading from the job hunters' point of view. Local papers frequently have 'jobs nights' or nights on which they feature jobs in certain fields (e.g. managerial and administrative appointments). If you are looking for a job out of your area, you can arrange for a copy of the local evening newspaper to be sent to you on subscription. Simply phone the subscriptions department and at the same time ask them if the newspaper has a special night for jobs (so you know which edition to order).

The national press often carries vacancies for a particular occupational area; e.g. the Guardian has Educational Vacancies on Tuesdays, with other professions and occupational areas on other days of the week. This is equally applicable to other papers. Many of the tabloids have web sites, and some carry vacancies online.

Public libraries will keep most local and many national papers - which is worth bearing in mind as it can be costly to buy them all. Check the specific days when they carry job adverts, as many will only include vacancies on a specific day of the week.

4. Journals and Magazines

Many professions have their own journals, periodicals or magazines. Employers will often go to these for the best chance of employing a professional. Some can be seen on the magazine shelves, others are by subscription only. So if you're a professional looking for work and not subscribing to your industry's publications it may be worth it now. If you have recently graduated, then subscribe to a professional journal, as they often have reduced rates for student members, and it will considerably increase your job hunting prospects.

One disadvantage about journals is that they tend to be national or international publications meaning the jobs will be 'anywhere and everywhere', which may not suit some people.

5. Employment Agencies

Local work is often handled by local Employment Agencies (not government organisations). They cover all types of work. Employment Agencies are listed under the Yellow Pages and in local directories like the Thompson Directory. If you are 18 or under you must visit the Careers Service before employment agencies can, by law, offer you any work.

Employment agencies can often work in two ways: They employ and pay you whilst you work on a contract they hold with an employer, or they fill a vacancy for an employer who will then employ you directly. These vacancies can be permanent or temporary and there are agencies who specialise in specific occupational areas.

It is not unusual for 'temps' to find full time work through agencies. Employers may well treat a temporary contract as a 'probationary' period. Of course, for some employers and employees alike, temporary contracts give both parties flexibility.

6. Employers Premises

Many employers still have vacancy boards on their premises. Large stores such as food retailers and DIY companies use internal notice boards as these are seen by thousands of customers, and there is often no need to go to the expense of advertising as suitable applicants can be attracted through these notices.

It is also common practice for these types of companies, whose staff members continually change, to provide application forms even when they have no vacancies. Make an enquiry at customer service desks. Some larger factories still use vacancy boards by their main gates.

7. The Web

If you're reading this, you will already know that the internet is a great resource for jobs. Employment and recruitment agencies use it a great deal, with their own dedicated websites carrying vacancies both nationally and internationally. Individual companies will also often use their website to advertise vacancies, so it's a good idea to check these out if you're looking to work for a specific employer.

Most sites are well marketed through search engines, so a search there is a must. Do a little reading on how to make the best use of each engine, how to combine words effectively, it will save time if you make specific searches for, say, graduate recruiters or specialist occupation agencies, rather than trawling through hundreds of thousands of general search results!

Once you've found relevant sites, you will find vacancies, with online directions on how to apply or obtain further information. In some cases, an added feature will be a CV posting service, a very useful speculative approach to those hidden vacancies.

Plan Your Search and Get Organised

To make the best of your job search you need to concentrate on the above areas, plan your search, plan the time you spend in the visible and hidden job markets. There's a well-used cliche that looking for work is a 'job in itself. The more you put into your job search in terms of research, time, effort and planning, the more likely you are to succeed in finding those vacancies.