Graduates favour going online to find their perfect job

Four out of five job hunting students and graduates use recruitment websites to search for work.

And they regard going online as the most effective way of uncovering the best opportunities.

Graduate recruitment specialist Milkroud.com asked 100 of its student and graduate users about their job hunting habits.

A total of 83 percent said they used recruitment websites such as Milkround.com, edging ahead of directly visiting an organisation's own site, used by 77 percent. Careers fairs were attended by 61 percent and half (50 percent) used the national press to find work. Just 36 percent had tried jobs boards and only 26 percent had gone to an on-campus employer event.

Topping the list of the most effective media was recruitment sites with 37 percent rating them as superior to the others, well ahead of company websites with 19 percent of the votes. Respondents praised websites, claiming they offer a high volume of jobs, advice and articles as well as emails to users. Careers fairs were considered the most effective by nine percent and the national press received seven percent of votes.

Students may want to try to avoid finding work after they graduate due to fierce competition: summer is the most popular time to look for jobs with 37 percent of respondents on the hunt. It might be better for them to look early: just 10 percent job hunt in the winter months with 23 percent looking in spring. The autumn graduate scheme season is favoured by 30 percent.

Part time jobs are becoming crucial to student lives: 90 percent of respondents have or had one at university. Some 58 percent of those found their job through word of mouth, with ambient media the next most effective on 16 percent. Newspapers, the job centres and job boards all received less than 10 percent of votes each. When asked what was the least effective medium for finding a part time job, radio was rated bottom with 37 percent of the vote.

Milkround.com spokesman Mike Barnard said: "These results prove companies cannot afford not to advertise their graduate jobs online. With so much of a student's time at university, and life in general, based around the Internet, young people are very likely to use it for finding work as well. It is encouraging to see them also choosing to access specific companies directly, taking the initiative when and being specific about who they would like to work for.

"It is interesting to note that part time work generally comes from less direct sources such as word of mouth and ambient media. Businesses in student towns and cities can therefore keep recruitment costs down by spreading the word about their part time vacancies using these cheaper methods."

www.milkround.com

Source: www.Onrec.com