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Job Hunting on the Internet

The internet is an essential tool for those seeking careers information and job opportunities. You can use the internet to:

• find out about job sectors and types of jobs
• track down potential employers
• search for vacancies or courses of study
• apply to jobs or make your CV available to recruiters.

However, using the internet should form only part of your job-seeking strategy. See the leaflet Job Hunting in this series for further ideas.

RESEARCHING YOUR CAREER
Researching job sectors and types of jobs
The internet holds a wealth of information to increase your knowledge of your chosen field or job role. For example, the following websites are dedicated to providing careers information to graduates:

• Prospects www.prospects.ac.uk
• GTI TARGET Jobs www.targetjobs.co.uk
• Inside Careers www.insidecareers.co.uk
• Hobsons www.get.hobsons.co.uk

These sites are useful for getting an overview of different job sectors. They may cover the jobs within that sector, routes for progression and types of employers. For instance, the Prospects website has a selection of briefings on different job sectors www.prospects.ac.uk/links/SectorBs.

These websites also include information about different job roles, such as what you would be doing, how much you would be paid, the entry requirements, opportunities for career progression, types of employers and where to find vacancies. The Prospects website has over 400 occupational profiles at www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Occupations.

Use www.careerstagged.co.uk to gather together a range of useful links to different employers, job boards, trade associations and so on. This service works using a 'tagging' system and has links to websites from across the world.

Many professional and trade association websites contain useful career information and sometimes lists of members. For example, a visit to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising website will provide access to a list of member agencies which is an ideal starting point to gain further information. If you are unsure whether there is a professional body for your chosen career area, try using Google to search for words like 'association' or 'institute' plus the relevant sector.

Researching employers
Employers' websites are often useful for finding out more about the work they are involved in, their values, the company's background, their structure and their contact details. In addition, many employers now include a 'careers' section on their website for prospective applicants with current vacancy listings. Google has an advanced search facility where you can search for 'similar sites'. If you know the web address of a company you would like to work for, go to 'advanced search' on the Google homepage, then 'similar pages' and type in the web address. Clicking on 'search' should then bring up other organisations involved in similar work. Graduate careers websites such as Prospects, GTI Doctor Job, Inside Careers and Hobsons provide lists of employers with graduate recruitment schemes, which can be searched by sector.

Web directories are a good tool for finding employers by searching for specific fields of interest and can also be useful for locating specific employers. These include:

• Yahoo http://dir.yahoo.com
• Yellow Pages www.yell.com

Information about companies can also be found on business news and information providers, where you may be able to find topical snippets of news and business press:

• UK Business Park www.ukbusinesspark.co.uk
• Financial Times www.ft.com
• Corporate Reports www.corpreports.co.uk
• UK Company News www.companynews.co.uk

FINDING OPPORTUNITIES ON THE INTERNET
Finding vacancies on the internet
The internet can be a valuable tool for finding job vacancies as there are a whole host of sources of vacancies online.

The Careers Group, University of London website has vacancy pages www.careers.lon.ac.uk/jobonline which list full-time graduate vacancies, part-time work, internships and work experience. You can subscribe to an RSS feed to get all new vacancies into your in-box and information from Careers Tagged is linked into this site too. Graduate positions are listed on graduate careers websites (eg Prospects, Hobsons) and these websites usually enable you to search current vacancies by sector, employer and location. You will find sector-specific jobs boards online through Careers Tagged using the 'job sites' tag.

A huge range of vacancies are to be found on job websites, such as:

• Monster www.monster.co.uk
• Fish4Jobs www.fish4jobs.co.uk
• topjobs www.topjobs.co.uk
• www. milkround.com
• www.targetjobs.co.uk
• www.justjobs4students.co.uk

These sites often feature a more advanced search screen where you can, for example, search for key words in the job title or search within a salary range. You can also often apply to jobs online by completing an online form or submitting a CV. In addition to job websites, some recruitment agencies have databases of jobs which you can browse online.

When submitting your CV or details online it is advisable to read the site's privacy policy to ensure you understand who will have access to your details. Also, if you are using an agency, note that reputable agencies charge the employers not the candidates. Recruitment agencies should comply with the code of practice laid down by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation www.rec.uk.comwhich also has a database of members searchable by sector and location.

You can also check the websites of national and regional newspapers for job vacancies, for example:

• The Guardian http://jobs.guardian.co.uk
• Evening Standard http://www.londonjobs.co.uk

The website www.wrx.zen.co.uk/britnews.htm links to all the national and regional newspapers that are published online, saving you time tracking them down individually.

Receiving vacancies by email
Many websites allow you to sign up and receive jobs that match your search criteria by email. You will then receive regular updates when jobs come up that may interest you. For example, you can receive an RSS feed from The Careers Group JobOnline service of all jobs, or register your details with JobAlert to get information and jobs from employers in specific sectors. See www.careers.lon.ac.uk/jobonline for both services. Make sure you use an appropriate email address - not your fun personal one!

Networking online
Networking is a valuable strategy when it comes to finding work and the internet provides plenty of opportunities for networking such as chat rooms, forums, message boards, mailing lists and networking sites. www.linkedin.com is a popular choice of site for professional networking. You should fill out your profile with your work history, skills and interests as you would your CV. You can include a link to your profile in your email signature or on letters so that new contacts can find out more about you if they wish. Build your network by inviting friends, work colleagues and university alumni. Through them you can be introduced to other professionals working in areas similar to your own.

Sites like www.facebook.com, www.bebo.com and www.myspace.com are more informal environments, useful for maintaining contacts with university friends and personal contacts as they too become professionals. Some graduate recruiters will have pages on there for you to ask questions about their graduate schemes. While valuable on a social level, pay careful attention to your privacy settings and regularly review the content on your pages to ensure it matches your professional image as your career develops.

Discussion boards and forums can be a great way to learn about current issues. The websites of professional bodies often have forums relating to their particular occupations, and you can find active discussion groups within LinkedIn. www.twitter.com is also growing in popularity, with strong networks in many career areas where you can follow professionals in their day-to-day working life and similarly get the latest sector news

Finding courses on the web
If you are considering further study, the internet is a rich source of information and advice. Go to the now-defunct site www.hero.ac.ukfor directions to various resources about how to choose a course, different institutions and where to find funding. Further information can also be found on the Prospects and Hobsons websites.

In addition, there are several online study directories which you can browse to find courses, such as:

• www.postgrad.com
• www.hotcourses.com
• www.findaphd.com
• www.findamasters.com

Work or study opportunities abroad
If you are thinking about working abroad, you may find it helpful to look at the country profiles on the Prospects website www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Countries which include information about working in different countries as well as sources of vacancies and lists of websites for further information. The Careers Group has a site dedicated to overseas vacancies, International JobOnline www.careers.lon.ac.uk/jobonline/ijo.

If you are looking to study abroad the Universities Worldwide Searchable Database www.univ.cc will help you to locate institutions in different countries. There are also websites which offer advice on study abroad and enable you to search for specific courses, such as

• Studyoverseas www.studyoverseas.com

Your college careers service may have 'work and study overseas' reference files that will also contain useful websites for different regions of the world.

A NOTE ON INTERNET SEARCHES
When searching for information on sectors, employers, vacancies or courses you may find yourself making use of tools such as search engines (eg www.google.co.uk and www.bing.com), and directories (eg http://dir.yahoo.com and www.yell.com).

Don't forget, when entering search terms, put your keywords in order of importance as the search tool will address them in order; and find an exact phrase (eg the title of a book) by putting it in quotation marks (eg "All About Careers for Graduates").

ONLINE APPLICATIONS
Online job applications are becoming increasingly popular, and include employers' online application forms as well as CVs submitted on the web or via email. The basic principles of application writing apply to both paper-based and online applications. See the leaflet Job Applications in this series for further information. Here are some tips for handling online applications:

• As with paper applications, it is advisable to practise your responses to questions before they are submitted. You could use a word processing package (with a spell checker!) to draft your responses and then cut and paste them into the online form. This would also give you the opportunity to show your draft answers to a careers adviser.
• Print out your application and keep a copy. You may be asked about your answers to questions if you are invited to interview.
• It is a good idea to have a well-structured plain text version of your CV. Although you can send your CV as a formatted document in an attachment to your email message, you then run the risk of the recruiter's email system not being able to handle your attachment, so it is a good idea to have a plain text version to hand.

FURTHER INFORMATION

• www.rileyguide.com The Riley Guide to job hunting on the Internet.
• www.jobhuntersbible.com A companion site to the bestseller What Colour is Your Parachute? This site will assist you with networking, job hunting research, internet research, career guidance, skills testing, and using job boards.
• Job Hunting Online, Mark Emery Bolles & Richard Nelson Bolles, Ten Speed Press, 2008. This book shows you how to integrate the internet into an effective job-hunting strategy. (ISBN 9781580088992).