Job Searching

In this guide, we will review how to search for jobs in tech effectively. 

To use this guide you should:

• Have a clear understanding of the job(s) you want to apply for (examples of jobs: Software Engineer, Cloud Engineer, database admin, IT analyst, data analyst, QA, manual tester, etc.)
• Be able to define what skills are required to be able to do the job you want
• Be able to demonstrate through your CV and Portfolio the skills and experience that you have
• Be able to break down the requirements of a job description.

After using this guide you will:

• Find jobs effectively using job boards and networking. 
• Select and use appropriate search terms
• Select and use appropriate filters
• Use alerts to save time when searching for jobs

Where to find jobs?

There are several places you can find job opportunities:

1. Job boards
2. Networking through:
   1. The Code Your Future community
   2. LinkedIn 
   3. Meets Ups and tech gatherings  
   4. Your own personal networks
3. Code Your Future

Job Boards

There are many job boards advertising tech jobs online. Becoming efficient at searching for opportunities online will save you time as you work on your applications. 

Job boards come in various formats the main two being:

• General Job Boards e.g. Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, and Glass Door. These advertise across industries and are often good for junior-level positions.
• Niche Jobs/Industry specificboards e.g. Otta, GitHub, devitjobs.uk. These sites focus on specific skills or interests and can sometimes advertise roles not found on larger sites

Finding the right boards can make your job search easier. This involves identifying which sites advertise jobs that you are interested in, here is a link to sites highlighted by grads as useful for their searches: [LIVE] Collective Job Research Form (Responses)

Networking

Networking resources coming soon 🚧

Code Your Future

The Code Your Future community is full of tech professionals keen to help. Connect with our community through Slack and Linkedin. If you find connections through CYF who are related to a job opening then reach out! Here is a guide to how you can help Code Your Future create more hiring partnerships.

Search Terms 

Use Search Terms to focus your search and make the best use of your time. You should

Exercise: 

• Choose a job site to use
• Look at the skills and experience you have listed on your CV
• Try different combinations of those skills 
• Try different combinations of job titles that you’re interested in

Note: What changes do you see? 

• Do some search terms return results that are a better match for you?
• Make a note of the most the most effective search terms. You will use this in a later section

Filters

Use filters to save you time and focus on the roles that you’re aiming for, you can usually filter based on the following: 

• Locations
• Remote/Hybrid/In Person
• Type of contract (Full-time, Part-time, Permanent, Contract)
• Job Title/Role
• Experience
• Skills

Exercise: 

• Pick a job board and a role title
• Search for the role using different variations of filters. 

Note: what changes do you see? 

• Do some search terms reveal jobs that you’re more interested in? 
• Make a note of the search terms that are most helpful to you. You will use this in the next section.

Alerts

Alerts allow you to save your search terms and get notifications when new jobs appear on a site that matches your criteria. This saves you time in your searches and allows you to apply quickly to new roles. 

Each site has different ways of setting up alerts (see LinkedIn’s here) but they normally link to your profile or email. 

Exercise:

• Using the filters and search terms you found in the previous exercises set up alerts on different job sites.
• review these alerts as they update you over the next few weeks.
  • Are they finding good job openings?
  • How can you refine your search terms and filters to be more useful?

Creating a profile

Some job boards allow you to create a profile. This can help match you to job opportunities and make sure that the jobs being advertised to you are a close match. 

It is worth setting up profiles that reflect your skills and experiences on your most used job sites. 

Hint: Remember to keep these profiles up to date as you work on projects, gain expertise and learn new skills. Keep a spreadsheet or document in which you know which websites you have signed up for and update them all when something changes.

Collectively finding job opportunities

Finding the right roles to apply for can be time-consuming, and confirming their suitability can be confusing. Work together to cut down the time you spend searching for roles and spend more time focusing on making good applications.

Learning objectives

Our goal is to collectively do the following:

• Search for jobs using different online platforms.
• Locate the Collective Job Research form.
• Identify key company information in a job advert.
• Add 1 job role to the Collective Job Research form.
• Check the suitability of the found job roles.

Set-Up

• Split up into groups of no more than 5
• Set a whole class timer for 30 minutes

Instructions

• Find the Collective Job Research form.
• Each team should select no more than 3 different platforms based on the list on the first tab of the Collective Job Research form.
• Each team should use a different set of platforms than the other team.
• Search for jobs using keywords and filters.
• Identify a suitable job role that you want to apply for.
• Find the job opening advertised on the company website if possible.
• Identify key company information in the job advert. (Try using this tool to find the key information)
• Add the link and information about the vacancy to the Collective Job Research spreadsheet.