A good careers adviser can be a great help. Choose one who has excellent references and charges by the appointment or, better still, find one that is free.
Invest in an answering service or machine so that you can receive messages from prospective employers.
Inform friends, business associates, acquaintances and former employers that you're job hunting.
Researching a prospect
If you come across an interesting job through your network or the press, research the firm thoroughly. Read newspaper and magazine articles about it. Study the last couple of annual reports (available from Companies House). Go to your local reference library and look up the firm in the latest edition of Key British Enterprises (the standard authority on companies), published by Dun and Bradstreet.
If possible, talk to people who work for the firm. Find out its position in the industry, what its main problems are, and what it's like to work for. Does it promote from within? Does it educate employees, or help them to advance?
Visit the company if it is practical to do so. Do the employees look enthusiastic? Do they talk positively about their work?
Write a letter to whomever is in a position to hire you and use headed notepaper, if possible; it looks impressive. Indicate your knowledge of the company, state how you could contribute to it, and request an interview. Say that you'll follow up by phone in about a week. Then do so.
If you have a job
Ask agents or prospective employers to call you at home or leave only their first name if they call you at work.
Arrange interviews for before or after work or during your lunch hour.
