Making sure your job search is a job well done

So you're thinking of looking for a new role. 

The first step in anyone's job search is to do just that, search. But knowing where to start and how to approach your search can be a challenge. After all, there are over 3 million jobs advertised every year in the UK alone so there's no wonder spending the time sifting through the many, many openings online can quite quickly begin to feel like a full time job in itself. 

To maximise your chances of success, we'd recommend approaching your job search in a strategic way. A great place to start is thinking about the different routes to finding a job that are available to you. We've summarised the four main ones below, as well as giving some advice on how to make them work hardest for you.

Make direct approaches

The first route to market is all about going directly to the source. This involves approaching either organisations or the people within them to gauge whether there any prospective job opportunities either actively being worked on or due to come live in the not-too-distant future.

This can be a really effective route to market as it often puts you in front of influential people or decision makers from the get go, but it does have to be approached with an element of strategy to it. Our best advice? Get really specific and think about the roles and organisations you're wanting to target before you start making approaches. 

A great way to do this is to take stock and think about what you're looking for in your next role. Consider what would best align with your career goals, the industries or disciplines you want to work in, and what would complement your existing experience. Then use this information to begin building out a target list of companies that you can begin to proactively approach. By doing it this way you can maximise the time you spend targeting genuinely interesting, high potential employers that are more likely to align with your experience and long-term career goals.

Search on job posting platforms

Telling you that you can use job boards to find a job is a bit like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs (to borrow the old saying), but bear with us. Nowadays, 'job boards' come in a number of forms, and not just the traditional aggregators. Those 'classic' job boards do still exist, but increasingly networking platforms like LinkedIn, and employee review platforms like Glassdoor are becoming more common routes to market for candidates looking for vacancies. In fact, the former is now one of the largest job boards in the world. 

To get the most value out of using job boards it's important to use them tactically. Generalist job boards may not be your friend here, so we'd advise looking at more industry or vertical specific job boards (if suitable) so you can reduce the likelihood of sifting through hundreds of roles that aren't quite aligned to what you've done before or where you want to go next.

Speaking of time saving, have a look at our Boolean searching guide here to help optimise how you search on these platforms. Using this approach means you can get hyper-specific, as well as ruling out any ads that are definitely not right for you. It's well worth investing a little bit of extra time in doing this for your searches in order to get the results that are worth taking the time to apply for.

Go to your existing network

Of all the routes to finding a new role, your existing network can often have the quickest impact. After all, who better to go to to open doors than the people who already know you and what you can deliver?

We'd recommend approaching this in a similar way to making direct approaches. Think about who you know - as well as who they might know - and make a list of people to speak with who could potentially facilitate an introduction, open a door, or even hire you themselves. Networking sites are for just that, networking, so don't be afraid to reach out to your connections and engage with people who could support you with your job search. A well timed message can go a long way!

If you're publicly searching for a new job and can use the 'open to work' functionality on LinkedIn we'd also recommend this as another avenue to tap into the network of people you're connected with.

Speak to a recruiter

Now, this isn't some shameless self-promotion, but recruiters really can be your best friend when it comes to a job search. They can complement your own efforts, support you through the application process, and work proactively alongside you to make introductions. 

A real benefit to working with a recruiter is that they have their finger on the pulse of the market, so can help you to understand the recruitment landscape. Plus they're often able to identify opportunities that either aren't being advertised or haven't been yet, helping you get ahead of the curve with your application.

We'd recommend using specialist agencies that work in the same industry as the ones you're looking to target. This'll mean you're more likely to find a good fit with the roles and organisations they're representing. Speaking of, you can find all of our live jobs here. 

A combination of all four will really maximise your chances of success in a job search.

But the biggest advice we can give you is to be proactive and strategic. Approaching your job search in a structured, methodical way will not only mean you're more likely to target companies that are exactly where you want to be, but will also mean you won't waste precious time on applications for jobs that turn out to be not quite right.