Cookie policy
Follow this topicFollow this topic Knowledge » Your job

Why job hunters should give the Jobcentre a miss

ReenaSewraz
by Lovemoney Staff ReenaSewraz on 19 April 2012  |  Comments 31 comments

Traditional methods of job hunting, like heading down to the Jobcentre, are increasingly being replaced by social media.

Why job hunters should give the Jobcentre a miss

In the old days, when the time came to find a job the local paper or jobcentre would usually be your first port of call.

But now the internet and social media are the platforms providing jobseekers with the opportunity to find the right job, and give employers the chance to find the perfect candidate. With this in mind is the Jobcentre out of touch with how recruitment now operates in the UK? And could this be why unemployment remains so high?

Unemployment

Although many will be breathing a huge sigh of relief over the promising drop in unemployment figures, youth unemployment remains high at 22.2% and the figure of those claiming jobseeker's allowance is still on the up. And while there are things young people can do, as we explained in How young people can find a job, there's no simple cure.

So how are we helping the 2.65 million still looking for work?

The unemployed in the UK attend the Jobcentre on a fortnightly basis to collect jobseeker’s allowance and provide updates on their job search. Centres across the country offer a database of jobs in the area to help the unemployed find some work.

However, Katrina Collier, director of recruitment specialists Winning Impressions, believes this method is out of date and not where employers are posting the latest jobs. She explained: "Companies have radically changed the way they recruit. With so many jobseekers out there, the days of advertising jobs in the media or at the Jobcentre are numbered. Much recruitment is now moving into social media, like Twitter and LinkedIn, and the best jobs simply aren't advertised in the traditional way anymore."

New technology

Social media is enabling people to market themselves in a public domain to prospective employers and also find the very latest job openings at a number of different companies.

Sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter allow recruiters and companies to let people know they are hiring through updates and allow users to build a professional profile that offers a little more than your standard CV.

LinkedIn encourages you to build a profile based on where you have worked and your skills, along with a picture and the option to be recommended by someone you have worked with before. You can then set about adding professional contacts you already know (which don’t necessarily have to be close friends) and get introduced to some people they may already know: in order to build a functional network of contacts that could land you a job.

It's also a good idea to try to get people you have worked with to recommend your work. A profile looks all the more impressive if you have a collection of references explaining why you are a capable worker! And sites like LinkedIn still make use of the traditional CV too. For tips on getting your CV up to scratch, read How to write the perfect CV

This new technology seems a far cry from circling ads in the paper, but the online presence has worked for many people as well as honing their job searches to specific sites and recruiters.

The Jobcentre

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions today told lovemoney.com that the Jobcentre does not use social media in the same way as recruitment companies might (to look for potential candidates), but has strived to create an online presence with its various Twitter feeds showing vacancies for different areas.

However, a quick look shows that many people do not even realise a Twitter account exists for the Jobcentre in their area.

With only a few hundred Twitter followers for each borough of London compared to the thousands unemployed in each area (Streatham for example has 4,870 unemployed, but only 241 followers on their Twitter account), is the Jobcentre really pushing this method of constant updates to the thousands of jobseekers still desperately seeking employment?

How should the Government embrace the innovations in social media? Have you ever found work using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? What do you think is the best way to build an online presence attractive to future employers?

More on employment:

2012's best big companies to work for

The worst place to find a job in the UK

The dangers of telling lies on your CV

How to work from home

Enjoyed this? Show it some love

Twitter
General

Comments (31)

  • hopefultom
    Love rating 43
    hopefultom said

    I would like to comment on my own jobseeking experience, just in case it may be useful to anyone.

    Having been shopkeepers for many years, my wife & I sold our last shop in 2002. I was then aged 55 and found myself seeking work for the first time in many years. I had no paper qualifications beyond a few O levels and had an arthiritic knee, which was part of the reason for selling the shop.

    I realised that it may not be easy, but refused to accept that there was nothing available for someone who really wants to work. One of the places that I called at was Kelly recruitment agency (formally known as "Kelly Girl " many years ago ) and I found them very positive & helpful; they even allowed me to take a basic computer literacy course in their office at no charge.

    It occured to me that as I had a dodgy knee ( acknowledged by my GP) that I should be entitled to seek employment through an employment agency for disabled people, which I did. I was given enormous help by the staff, particularly in relation to updating my CV.

    I was soon supplied with 2 leads to follow up and I got a part time job with one of them. After working succesfully for a few weeks, I was invited to work full time, which I accepted.

    The experience I gained over the following 12 months, or so enabled me to start working for myself, on a freelance basis, in the same line of work until I retired about 18 months ago.

    I realise that my circumstances would not apply to everyone, but my advice would be try to think "outside the box "and be prepared to try something different. Life can sometimes take us in unexpected directions.

    Report on 26 April 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • jegwe
    Love rating 20
    jegwe said

    I have been out of work eight times in thirteen years through no fault of my own. In order to get JSA (reduced in my case because as a widowed single parent I get a very small surviving spouse pension from my wife’s pension scheme) I have to sign on as a job seeker. It does not even cover my Council Tax. The entire system is locked into the mentality of working in the 1930’s and is totally unfit for purpose.

    Most of the jobs are low paid, dead end jobs. Most of the job seekers appear to be poorly educated, often with English as a second language if at all, and have limited skill sets. The staff at the job centre attempt to match A to B and on the whole probably make a reasonably good job of it. It is sometimes very difficult both for them and for the job seekers.

    For those of us who are fortunate enough to be better educated and to have higher levels of skill sets, the system offers no help and is actually a hindrance. Job hunting is a full time job. They insist that the job seeker has to attend an appointment at a time that they choose. This can interfere with searching web sites first thing in the morning and prevent making contact with job agencies in time for a CV to be presented to the employer. I have missed many phone calls from agencies because I have not been in a location where I can handle a phone call properly. They fail to recognise that in some professions UK, Ireland, Belgium Germany and Holland are a single job market and refuse benefit if someone leaves the country because they are not “job-hunting” whilst they are abroad. On one occasion I had to reschedule an appointment to attend a job interview and I was told that if I ever did it again they would stop my benefit.

    Help with CV’s is not available until a person has been out of work for six months when it is really needed on day one. The whole system needs radical reform and needs to be re-orientated to meet the needs of job hunting. The Job Centres should be a support service not a form of state control.

    Report on 27 April 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love

Post a comment

Sign in or register to post a reply.

Related content

Our top deals

Credit card
company 		Balance transfers rate and period Representative
APR 		Apply
now

Barclaycard 26Mth Platinum Visa

0% for 26 months (3.5% fee) Representative 18.9% APR (variable) Apply
Representative example: assumed borrowing of £1,200, representative 18.9% APR (variable). Purchase rate 18.9% PA (variable)

Barclaycard 25Mth Platinum Visa

0% for 25 months (2.4% fee) Representative 18.9% APR (variable) Apply
Representative example: assumed borrowing of £1,200, representative 18.9% APR (variable). Purchase rate 18.9% PA (variable). BT fee is reduced from 3.5% to 2.4% (T&Cs apply)

Halifax BT 25 Month MasterCard

0% for 25 months (2.5% fee) Representative 18.9% APR (variable) Apply
Representative example: assumed borrowing of £1,200, representative 18.9% APR (variable). Purchase rate 19.0% PA (variable).
W3C  Thank you for using CGWEBLIV1