Find A Vacancy
Vacancies Further Afield
Check Out Location & Contact Details
Can You Get There?
Business Directories
Speculative Approaches
Careers Information
Information For People From Overseas
Voluntary Work
Telephone Directory
Some Handy Tools
1. Find A Vacancy ...
www.worktrain.gov.uk
Using the website "WorkTrain", you can browse the list of job vacancies
currently advertised at the Job Centre.
Notice the text box and "Search" button on the left. Try typing in the request: "Shop worker jobs in Norwich".
That particular choice of words will take you straight to a list of vacancies. Scroll this list down to the bottom, and notice the two command buttons, "Save this search" and "Refine your search". Click "Refine", scroll down the next page and see the kinds of detail you can change.
Now start again from the beginning, and try this similar phrase as an opener: "Shop assistant jobs in Norwich".
This time you get an extra page of questions, which can be confusing until you know your way around. Likewise if you omit the keyword "jobs", or forget to mention a town.
How do you know which words work best? Trial and error!
Once you have found a formula which works for you, make a note of it. With persistence, you can persuade the website to remember it for you (follow the link, "My Worktrain").
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
Another way to browse the list of job vacancies currently advertised at the Job Centre.
Same jobs, different control panel. Compared with "WorkTrain", this
version is very plain and no-nonsense, but many people prefer it because it's so quick.
www.edp24.co.uk/Content/Jobs
Job ads from our local newspaper here in Norfolk, the Eastern Daily Press (EDP).
Using the light grey "Search below" panel on the left,
you can search for any advert containing a particular phrase anywhere in the text.
The site covers the last 2 weeks' papers.
Note that it doesn't always weed out jobs that are past their deadline.
www.norfolkccjobs.com
Jobs in Norfolk County Council, complete with Job Description, Person Specification
and Application Form. If you use the Online version of the application form, you will be
able to recover your completed form, the next time you apply for a job with the Council.
Then you can re-use bits that stay the same - though you will need to rewrite the section
"Information in Support of your Application"
since this is tied closely to the Person Specification for each job.
www.chapelfield.co.uk
Information about the new shopping centre under construction in Norwich.
Items of particular interest to job seekers include details of the temporary on-site Job Shop, which maintains a database of construction workers. They recruit workers for the site itself, and also for other employers in Norfolk. See also the list of types of construction worker likely to be needed on the site in different years.
For a list of shops expected to move in, and a map, follow the link "New Quarter" from this web site's navigation bar.
2. Vacancies Further Afield ...
www.ajobtoday.co.uk
A jobs database pooling the resources of over 250 regional newspapers, including Norfolk's Lynn News.
Good coverage for the neighbouring counties to the west of Norfolk.
www.eadt.co.uk/Content/Jobs
Job ads from the East Anglian Daily Times, covering Suffolk and Essex.
Similar layout to the EDP web site.
3. Employers ...
Some examples of Jobs pages on Employers' websites
Many of the websites published by employers have a "Careers", "Jobs", or even "Vacancies" section.
This is a short guide to a just a few of them.
Once you know the kind of thing to look for, you can build your own favourites list, using the techniques we describe further down this page under the heading, Research The Company.
Once you've found the company's website, if there is no obvious "jobs" link on the home page, try following "About Us". If there's a jobs page at all, that's probably where it'll be.
www.norfolk-careers.co.uk/majoremployers
From the Norfolk Careers Service website, research into the recruitment practices
of 136 large companies operating in Norfolk.
4. Employment Agencies ...
Web links for agencies with an office in Norwich
This is our own quick reference check list of web sites relating to employment agencies
with offices in Norwich. We can't guarantee to have covered them all.
Many of these web sites contain vacancy lists. Some have facilities for applying for jobs on line. The "Reed Employment" web site gives access to a database of vacancies covering more than one agency.
Survey of Employment Agencies in Norfolk (from Norfolk Careers Service)
Excellent survey of employment agencies in Norfolk, from the Norfolk Careers Service web site.
Each entry has a heading in brown, which acts as a link to a page of more detailed information about the agency in question. Also, there is a link to each agency's own web site when available.
5. Check Out Location & Contact Details ...
www.streetmap.co.uk
Find out where the employer is. It's quickest to start from the postcode, but a place name will do.
www.royalmail.com
Using a link under the heading, "Postcode Finder", find the full, correct postal address
for the prospective employer, or your own past employers. Reconstruct the full address
from the bits you know, and find the postcode.
Unfortunately, they require you to "register" before you can use this service. This doesn't cost anything, but you have to give them your email address (tough luck if you don't have one) and invent a password. Notice the tick boxes at the foot of the registration form. Two of them allow you to opt out of receiving unsolicited emails - if you don't tick the boxes, you do get the mail.
6. Can You Get There?
For full information about the buses in our area we recommend the Traveline Shop in Castle Meadow, Norwich (telephone 0870 608 2 608). They give free advice and supply printed timetables.
First Bus Company - Norwich City Route Map
Timetables for Region
The largest bus company operating in our area. These items don't cover the smaller companies.
www.norfolkgreen.co.uk
Map
Comments on Map
Services
A smaller local bus company operating mainly in West Norfolk, but with some routes in North Norfolk.
They publish a very informative web site, complete with map and timetables.
www.onerailway.com
Train Timetables
Handy guide to train times and fares in our region.
www.centraltrains.co.uk
Train Timetables
Handy guide to train times and fares in our region.
Traveline East Anglia
An ambitious attempt to combine bus, coach and train timetables into a single work of reference.
Covers out-of-town journeys in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Our link takes you straight to their "Plan a Journey" feature.
www.traveline.org.uk
Same idea, extended to the whole country.
7. Research The Company ...
www.google.co.uk
Research the employer before interview - you'd be surprised what a difference it makes.
If you can find the employer's own website, you are well under way.
If not, glean what information you can from mentions of the company on other websites.
Any good search engine will do. Google is one of the best, because it gets right inside web sites, and finds individual pages which merely mention the subject you're looking for. Google UK has an option button which restricts your search to British websites only.
8. Business Directories ...
www.yell.co.uk
The online equivalent of the well-known "Yellow Pages" classified business directory.
An excellent source for business names, addresses and telephone numbers. But it only gives web links
for businesses which choose to have an enhanced, framed entry.
You can search for businesses by name, using only a keyword if you don't have the full name. The wildcard "*" is also accepted. Eg, the keyword "Wood" gives "Wood World" and "Woods Masonry", while "Moon*" - notice the asterisk - gives "Moonraker" and "Moonshine".
www.thomsonlocal.com
Another useful business finder with an approach very similar to "Yellow Pages".
But this one is blue !
www.norfolkchambernetwork.co.uk/directory/list.jsp
This is a directory of members of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hence a good source
of information about smaller businesses. You don't have to "log in" to use the directory.
Notice the control panel under "Options" on the right hand side of the screen.
www.norwichweb.com
This is a street-by-street guide to shops and services in Norwich city centre,
in which the principal index is a detailed map of the area, with each shop marked.
A good source of information about website addresses of retail and similar businesses,
and remember that even if all you can obtain is a name and address,
you can still use a search engine to pick up further information.
Business Directories on Local Authority Websites
Great Yarmouth
King's Lynn
Broadland
Some local authority websites include an online business directory, but not all.
It's a difficult thing to achieve technically,
and it can be harder still to keep the information up to date.
Most of them will give the address of the company's website, if there is one.
If it seems that there isn't one, we use a search engine to double-check.
Norwich City Council web site had a business directory until recently, but it seems to have gone.
North Norfolk appear to be trying to set up a business directory, but the search page is often "not available".
9. Speculative Approaches ...
You don't always have to wait for a job to be advertised. It's acceptable to approach a potential employer on your own initiative. There's a right and a wrong way to do this.
The wrong way is to write a standard letter and send it indiscriminately to dozens of companies.
The right way is to do some solid research first. By the time you first approach a potential employer you should already know quite a bit about the company, and have a clear idea how your skills and experience are relevant.
Researching a Type of Employer (example: Printing Trade)
This is a piece of real-life research on behalf of a machine minder in the printing trade.
We developed this item as a teaching aid, to demonstrate the possibility of speculative approaches and to show how internet research can help.
10. Careers Information ...
[ www.norfolk-careers.co.uk
- now defunct ]
The old Norfolk Careers Service website was once a goldmine of information,
one of the best resources of its type on the web. And guess what?
They've killed it off! You are now redirected to ...
www.cnxsnfk.co.uk
"Connexions Norfolk"
A garish, dumbed-down web site apparently aimed at 13-19 year olds, to the exclusion of
everyone else. Notice the token "Over 19" - a miserable old git with dark jowls,
apparently giving a cringing teenager a very hard time.
Nevertheless, if you go to the "Jobs" and "Careers" sections, and rummage around vigorously, you can still find some fragments of the old Norfolk Careers web site, which have been salvaged from the carnage.
For example, the link "Careers Options FAQ's" on the Connexions web site leads to the following item ...
The NCS "Careers Information Navigator"
The Norfolk Careers Service used to have a careers library in Pottergate, Norwich.
The "Navigator" is part library catalogue, part internet links page,
part online resource: you can print out short articles.
If you want to know how to get started in a particular career, this is the place to look.
www.worktrain.gov.uk
The Job Centre's "WorkTrain" web site has an "Occupations" section, which is another
valuable source of information on how to get started in a particular career.
To reach this section, start WorkTrain as normal, but enter only the job title in the text box on the first page.
For example, if you were looking for jobs in retail work, you might type "Shop Worker jobs in Norwich" into the text box. If you are looking for careers information on retail work, just enter "Shop Worker". This leads to a choice between "Jobs", "Training", and "Occupations". Click on "Occupations".
Up comes a detailed run-down on what the job entails, what qualifications you need, and so on.
11. Information For People From Overseas ...
Overseas Educational Qualifications - from www.UCAS.com
A section from the UCAS web site comparing overseas educational qualification levels with UK equivalents.
The latest version comes out as a 50-page PDF file in "Adobe Acrobat" document reader. Use "Thumbnails" to go to required page, or Ctrl+F for Find dialog box.
International Telephone Dialing Codes - from www2.BT.com
Select the country from a pull-down list.
Tip: You don't have to scroll all the way down. Open the pull-down list, then type the first letter of the country name.
Is your Driving Licence valid in the UK? - from www.DVLA.gov.uk
General guide only. Please check with
DVLA
if unsure!
International Driving Permit - from www.DrivingPermit.co.uk
This is an internationally recognised document which you use alongside
your existing driving licence from your home country.
You normally apply to the country which issued your present licence.
12. Voluntary Work ...
www.do-it.org.uk
A nationwide database of volunteering opportunities.
On the left hand side of the home page, you'll find a text box and a "Go" button. Type in your postcode and click "Go". We tested it with a Norwich postcode, and it came up with over 300 vacancies - it seems all our local Volunteer Bureaux post stuff there.
Websites which mention Volunteers
Another way to find voluntary work is to do your own research, and approach an organisation directly.
Here is a list of websites which might be useful in that context. We've given our list
a local slant.
www.uea.ac.uk/volunteers
An excellent website about volunteering opportunities, published by the University of East Anglia
for the benefit of UEA students. Try the link "Projects" for further suggestions about
organisations to approach.
13. Telephone Directory ...
118 500 Directory Enquiries - from www2.BT.com
An online BT telephone directory covering the whole of the UK.
Search for individuals or businesses, using the wildcard (asterisk) if necessary.
The map of the UK, located left of the search box on the "New Search" page, could be useful even if you're not looking up a phone number. It leads to a web page which acts as a memory jogger for place names in the UK.
There's also a handy feature on UK Area Codes.
14. Some Handy Tools ...
Calendar - from www.dateandtime.com
A handy 12-month calendar, which can be adjusted to show any year you like
- go back as far as you need. At the top, there is a control panel
which enables you to specify "United Kingdom" and choose the year.
Calculator - from www.calculator.org
A desktop calculator. Click on the link above, then on the picture of a calculator,
then close the larger Internet window, leaving the calculator in its own small window.
Dictionary - from Cambridge Dictionaries Online
A brilliant dictionary which gives you examples of the use of a word, not just a definition.
English Grammar - from "The Online English Grammar" by Anthony Hughes
A thorough guide, but you need to understand the technical terms of grammar to find your way around.
Punctuation Guide - from www.grammarbook.com
Use the link "Punctuation" on the dark blue ribbon at the left of the home page.
Excellent guide, very easy to use.
|
"Gateway for Jobseekers" If you found this page useful, but would like 500 web references instead of 30, then come to the Workers' Centre and try our "Gateway". This is an in-house resource which contains the results of our own efforts to research employers on the Internet over the last 18 months. |
[ This page checked for broken links, 2 April 2005 ] [ Updated 2 April 2005 ]
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