Week 6: Understanding the job market within your sector

Introduction

Last week you explored the ways in which you can use networking to find out more about your sector. You identified your current networks, investigated how to make your networking more effective and gained some practical tips for doing this face to face. Finally, you considered online networking and the professional platform provided by LinkedIn, and how to manage your online profile on social media more generally.

This week you will be looking more closely at different types of job market and how they work. Having this understanding is crucial to navigating through the different ways in which employers advertise vacancies and recruit staff. It adds detail to the larger perspective that you have started to develop through your work in previous weeks.

Watch Lynne Johnson as she introduces Week 6.

Download this video clip.Video player: boc_uys_1_video_week6_intro.mp4

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Transcript

LYNNE JOHNSON

Welcome to Week 6. Last week, you considered your own networks and how you can use networking to find out more about your sector. You also thought about how to manage your online profile on social media. This week, you’ll be looking more closely at different types of employer, highlighting the pros and cons of these employers from your own perspective and identifying which is right for you. You’ll also explore how and where jobs are advertised, find out what is meant by the hidden job market and consider the advantages and disadvantages of speculative applications. Finally, you’ll look into the area of self-employment and think about whether this might be something which appeals to you.

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As with previous weeks, you’ll need your notebook or the Toolkit [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   to jot down your thoughts and responses to the activities.

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• describe the distinctive types of employer, differentiating them by size and characteristics
• identify the advantages and disadvantages of these employers from your personal perspective
• outline the main sources of job vacancies and how these are used by different types of employer
• explain what is meant by the hidden job market and speculative applications, and the pros and cons of the latter
• describe common features of self-employment and evaluate whether it is an option that might appeal to you.