Job hunting skills
Job hunting is a skill for life. We can help you learn how to conduct a successful job search and increase your chances of finding a job.
Finding job opportunities
Don't limit yourself when searching for job opportunities. You really need to commit sufficient time to your job hunt, think creatively, research companies and consider working for smaller enterprises. Job hunting is all about establishing a routine across a variety of methods and trying your best to not get too disheartened if things don't move as quickly as you want them to. Persistence and resilience are key to a successful job search.
As a full-time student, we recommend you don't work more than 16 hours per week during term time to allow time for your course timetable commitments, study time and having a social life. Target Jobs' guide to Knowing Your Employment Rights has lots of useful information from how much you can earn before paying tax and national Minimum Wage guidelines to zero hours contracts and the gig economy.
Our guide, Job Hunting for Graduates, explains all you need to know to make a good start and will introduce you to the variety of job hunting methods we encourage you take advantage of, in order to conduct a successful job search.
Top tips
- Understand yourself – Establish what you want from a job and what you are looking for. A targeted job search tends to be much more successful and less overwhelming.
- Research employers – Use their specific websites but also social media platforms to find out about them and what opportunities they offer.
- Set up job alerts on job boards with your preferences to get notified immediately when there are new opportunities to apply for.
- Think about your search terms – It is easy to get overwhelmed when job hunting so refining your search will narrow down the search results. Use key words, key skills or Boolean Strings to sift out irrelevant results.
- Build in a mixture of general, sector specific and graduate vacancy boards to search for advertised opportunities (use the links below to find out more!).
- Remember the power of social media in your job hunt – Use it to follow recruitment news, build awareness of companies, search for jobs and, of course, for networking.
- Speculative approaches are so important to a job hunt too – Never rely solely on advertised opportunities. Speak to employers, your existing contacts and your new connections.
- Always read application guidelines before applying for a job. You may be asked to submit an online application form or send a CV and cover letter.
- Keep a log of the interesting employers you discover throughout your job hunt (they may come in handy at a later date) and also log the dates that you submit any applications. This will help you to follow any up if necessary.
You can apply all of what you learn here to your full-time graduate job search, part-time job search, internship, placement and work experience search.
Advice for international students
International Students are limited to the number of hours they can work whilst studying in the UK. Your work conditions, including the maximum hours you can work during term-time, are normally printed on your visa sticker or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). Visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) for up to date information, advice and guidance for international students.
We also have our International Student information where you can find out more details about finding work and working in the UK.
Further support
Why not watch our Job Hunting LinkedIn Tutorial, for tips on how to focus your job search?
Please also see our guide: Getting Started with LinkedIn
Speak to a careers adviser
Our Careers Advisers are on hand to help. Book an appointment on Advantage or by calling 0161 295 0023 (option 5).
Appointments are available for current students and graduates of the University of Salford only.