Many students and graduates want to find work in the North West. This information aims to give you a starting point for searching for job vacancies within the region.
Careers
Edge Hill Careers is a good place to start. We advertise vacancies in the region and further afield. You can search opportunities via our Careers Vacancy Portal
Careers has great contacts with local employers and we run events with many of them, inviting them onto campus to meet our students and to tell you about their opportunities. These events are an ideal way for you to meet employers, find out about graduate roles within their organisations and build your network. We also have lots of useful information on our website including information about finding part time and voluntary opportunities in the area.
Sector specific job search
Where and how you look for job vacancies will vary depending on the job role you are looking for. For information about a wide range of graduate job roles and sectors as well as details of useful websites and where to look for vacancies, look at job profiles on the prospects website or look in our Help by Subject pages on our website.
Local Government
The North West region is made up of five county areas: Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire. There are 41 local authorities in the region: two county councils; 15 metropolitan borough councils; six English unitaries and 18 district councils. Visit the Local Government Association for further information and links to UK local councils and their social media accounts.
Local government organisations publish their vacancies online. To find vacancies visit individual authority websites, you can find details of your local council on the Gov.uk website.
Some websites advertise vacancies from a range of local government organisations, we have listed some useful sites below:
Greater Jobs - lists job vacancies in 12 local authorities & services in & around Greater Manchester.
jobsgopublic - lists local government jobs across the UK
Local Government Association - lists local government jobs across the UK
Local Government Jobs - lists local government jobs across the UK
National Graduate Development Programme - Graduate programme for local government
Civil Service
Many government departments are based in the North West region. The Civil Service recruits graduates through a central recruitment process for the Fast Stream programme, but many more graduates find direct entry roles which are not part of this programme. Job opportunities in government departments can be found on the Civil Service Jobs websiteand there is a useful website dedicated to exploring all career options in the Civil Service, office locations and even a career matching tool!
Universities
Universities are major employers in the North West. All universities advertise their job vacancies online. Check out the vacancy pages of local universities or use sector specific websites such as Jobs.ac.uk to search for vacancies.
The NHS
The NHS is the largest employer in the UK. As well as clinical and professional opportunities, the NHS has a national graduate management scheme with placements based in the North West and the NHS also recruits for a varied range of administrative and support roles.
To find out more about career opportunities in the NHS look at the Health Careers Website
To search for vacancies go to NHS Jobs and search for vacancies by location and role.
Job Centre Plus
Job centres advertise a wide range of local opportunities. Find details of your local centre at https://find-your-nearest-jobcentre.dwp.gov.uk or search for vacancies on the Job Centre Plus job website.
Many local job centres are active on Twitter and tweet local job opportunities, examples include: @JCPinManchester; @JCPinMerseyside; @JCPinLancashire; @JCPinCumbria;
Recruitment Agencies
Recruitment agencies are a great source of local job opportunities. Agencies often cover specific types of job and sector and whilst some offer online or telephone services only, many also have offices you can visit. Recruitment agencies offer help free of charge to job seekers.
Reputable agencies will often be registered with the National Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) so a search of their members can give useful contacts. You can also search on sector websites such as Agency Central or look for local agencies on Yell.co.uk
Networking
Many jobs are never formally advertised so networking and approaching organisations speculatively to enquire about opportunities are important job search techniques. For help and advice with networking contact Careers, check out our online resources or come along to an event. We have suggested some other useful resources below:
What Uni's advice about how to develop your network to aid job search
Prospects advice on how to use social media in your job search
Use the LinkedIn Alumni Finder tool to research what graduates of your course have gone into – if they are doing something which interests you contact them to ask for advice and tips.
Watch out for networking or industry events where you can meet professionals and ask questions. Events are a great opportunity to meet people who are working, studying or just interested in particular job sectors and you can search for groups to join within the region. You can search for online and in-person events listed on our careers portal or websites such as Target Jobs.
Meet Ups can be particularly useful for networking in the arts and media sectors, for example, check out these local creative industries groups: Manchester Film Industry Co-op; Manchester Creative industries networking Group
Local Employers
The North West is home to many vibrant and growing local, national and international organisations. Do some research to find out which employers are based locally and which you are interested in working for.
There are many resources available online that you can use to research employers in general or by sector. Some examples to get started with are:
The Times Top Graduate Employers in the North West.This is a list produced by The Times filtered from their Times Top 100 Graduate employer list. You'll need to register to gain access.
The Business Desk Regional Business Information North West
Yell.com list hundreds of local companies. Just search by sector and location
Search for local Chamber of Commerce to find out about local businesses, business events and opportunities in your local area. St Helens Chamber even has a graduate hub devoted to support for graduates!
Job Websites
There are lots of useful websites for graduates to use when searching for jobs in the North West - we've given links to a small number to get you started below:
Need Help?
Staff at Careers are here to help you with your job search and applications both whilst you are studying and for 3 years after graduation. Just look at our website for details of how to get in touch if you need help
Find us on twitter or instagram @ehucareers
Credits:
Created with images by Phil Kiel - "untitled image" • Jamie Street - "United Kingdom cityscape"