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100 tips are never enough when you are looking for a student job. So that’s why we are giving you 101 student job hunting tips in this new blogpost!

From some of the basics you might have known but forgotten, to some of the more advanced techniques for success – we hope you’ll find this list very useful.

If there are just one or two tips that push you in front of your rivals to land you a student job, then we hope we’ll have done our own job pretty well.

These are just the first 101 tips for students that we have compiled. You never know, we might add another 101 later in the year. We’ve got bags and bags of these tips for students up our sleeves here at e4s.

And, let us know your own top tips for student job hunting in the comments below the blogpost and they could be featured in a follow up blogpost later in 2013.

Happy student job hunting folks!

Finding Student Job Opportunities

1. Read relevant online magazines, newspapers and blogs about the sector you are interested in to keep up with the latest trends and vacancies.

2. Job search websites like E4S offer job postings from multiple online recruiters and can make finding opportunities very easy. Employment4students is just one such example – set yourself up with a few other quality outfits too.

3. Get yourself a job hunt buddy. Why go it alone? If two of you are looking for similar jobs in the same area, then pool your resources and cut down on research time.

4. Get to know your college or university careers staff.

5. Subscribe to the e4s Student Jobs Blog for our latest student job hunting tips, advice and news right into your inbox or RSS reader.

6. Go old school for half an hour a week and have a look through your local newspaper for opportunities. Smaller local businesses often stick to more traditional methods of recruiting so never right off the power of print.

7. Likewise, keep an eye on the noticeboards of local shops and supermarkets.

8. Set up a dedicated email address for job applications and replies. Not only is it easier to track, but it can look more professional if your main email account has a “nickname”.

9. If it looks too good to be true, then it might actually be too good to be true. Always keep an eye out for student money job scams when researching opportunities.

10. University job shops, although often overlooked, are always a great first port of call for student job vacancies as recruiters know exactly the audience they’re targeting.

11. Keep it in the family. When you’re on the job hunt, especially if you’re still living at home, your immediate family will often know of local opportunities. But, why not cast the net wider and tap those extended family connections (doesn’t cousin Peter’s niece’s uncle work at Asda?) In never hurts to ask after all.

12. Search the e4s extensive database of student jobs and graduate jobs in your area.

13. Set up an email alert from the results page of those searches so that we can keep you up to date with new opportunities.

14. Widen your job search preferences. We very rarely get the exact job we’re after the very first time. Be aspirational but also realistic. No one starts out as a managing director.

15. Set up Google Alerts to get notified when news relating to your job search or desired sector reaches Google News. It can save time you would otherwise spend trawling the major news sites.

16. Gumtree is a bit like Marmite; you either love it or hate it. Online classifieds can be tedious if the same jobs are being posted and reposted over and over, but you do find some gems on there now and again. Especially in the casual and part time sections of the website.

17. If there’s a company that you really want to work for but you haven’t seen any positions advertised, it’s always worth dropping them a call or letter with your CV to make them aware of you keenness and qualifications.

 

CV & Covering Letter Tips For Student Job Hunting

18. Get your CV in front of the as many appropriate recruiters as you possibly can. You can never make too many applications so long as the recruiters are the right ones for you.

19. 5.2 million people have registered their CV with CV Library to ensure they get found. It will only take up a few minutes of your time, so just do it!

20. ALWAYS ensure your CV is kept up to date with contact details, education history, qualifications, key skills, work experience and interests.

21. When writing your CV and covering letter, make sure there is consistency in terms of design, layout and professionalism.

22. Prioritise your greatest achievements on your CV.

23. Don’t waffle on your CV or covering letter.

24. Make sure your contact details are on the CV (sorry guys, but we do see some that lack that basic feature. Not from you of course, though!)

25. Say it with numbers. Where applicable, try to quantify any results and achievements in your previous work experience. eg. I increased sales by 200% within 3 months.

26. Use the occasional bullet list format rather than prose if appropriate. It can break up the rest of the text and help summarise your major achievements and top qualities.

27. Ensure you are concise when constructing your CV. It is often beneficial to limit yourself to one page (two maximum) so be concise.

28. Hold off on using fancy graphics on your CV. Keep it simple.

29. Only include the most appropriate education details on your CV. If you’re applying for a job after college, there is no need to list your primary school.

30. Check, check, check again – and the double check for spelling and grammatical mistakes.

31. Update your references regularly and, if you have multiple referees, then use the most appropriate ones for each individual job application.

Are You Experienced?

32. Work experience, internships or placements are a fantastic way to get the proverbial foot in the door at a company to gain valuable experience and connections. You can find the latest opportunities on the e4s website.

33. Take a course. Similar to work experience and internships, if you can afford to live whilst studying then an extra course is a great way to enhance your knowledge, CV and chance of securing that dream job.

34. Volunteer – either in the UK or overseas. Okay, you won’t earn money – but you’ll be doing good for others and making yourself much more employable.

35. Apprenticeships are becoming ever more popular with job seekers across a wide number of sectors, as the combination of excellent training, skill development and a qualification at the end of it, whilst getting paid, is an attractive proposition. Check out some options at Apprenticeships.org.

36. Does a family member own their own business or have influence at one owned by someone else? See if they can sort you out with some work experience, if even for just a couple of weeks.

 

Not Experienced? Work From Home Until You Find A Job

37. Working from home is a great way to earn some money while you are still looking for a more traditional student job. It also builds up skills to add to your CV.

38. Check out our guide to legitimate work from home jobs for students.

39. Read our blogpost about 11 Jobs Students Can Do On A Laptop.

40. Are you crafty? Make your own toys and handicrafts to sell.

41. Find some online freelancing work.

42. Always keep looking for new opportunities. eg: NEWS JUST IN: Good with computers? Why not help other PC users remotely with technical issues using the new Google Hangout & Remote Desktop marriage?

43. Earn money filling out online surveys.

44. Is there an entrepreneurial side to you? If you’ve a product to sell, identified a gap in the market, formulated a sound business plan and have a little finance, then why not setup an ebay shop?

45. If you have a second language, why not find some online translation work?

46. You’re a student, you know how tutoring works – so start tutoring other students. Read about how to find online tutoring work.

47. Fill some spare time testing websites for businesses.

48. Own a camera? Then here’s how to sell your photos online.

Get Social For Your Student Job Search

49. Facebook doesn’t only have to be used for keeping up with friends and family and other students. Get the message out to all of your Facebook friends that you are in the jobs market.

50. “Like” relevant recruiters’ Facebook Pages and add them to specialised Facebook Interest Lists so that they are easy to keep track of.

51. “Like” e4s on Facebook and add them to the interest list you just created )

52. Check your Facebook privacy settings to make sure that only the professional parts of your profile will appear to potential employers. They don’t want to see that photo of you drunk at the Student Union.

53. Google yourself! It might sound a tad narcissistic – but you can bet that many of the employers that you apply to will be searching on you. Try to work out how to remove anything that shows up in searches for your name that might not help you to land a job.

54. Tell the Twittersphere you are looking for a job – and use keywords relevant to the sort of job you’re looking for.

55. Read our three-part guide to using Twitter to find jobs. (Start with Part One of 19 Ways To Find Student Jobs Using Twitter)

56. Follow e4s on Twitter to get really instant updates of our latest student jobs vacancies.

57. If you’re looking for a more full time position or career, join LinkedIn and get yourself connected with friends and family to see which contacts they may have.

58. Treat your LinkedIn profile differently to how you treat your Facebook and Twitter presences. Get to know the subtle differences between the different social media outlets and how they can each help you find and secure a student job.

59. You’ve got to be Pin it to win it. See why you should be on Pinterest.

60. Looking for some Plus points? Read the reasons why students should be on Google+

61. Join our Student UK Community on Google+ to network with other students, careers services and recruiters.

 

Surviving The Interview Grilling

62. You’ve heard it before, but don’t let that allow you to forget! FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT!!! Make sure you dress smartly, look the part and act professionally from the doorbell to the goodbye if you are lucky enough to get an interview.

63. Don’t overdress. Keeping it simple is the safest option. Easy on the aftershave/perfume/bright nail polish etc.

64. Piercings are usually best removed and try to cover up any tattoos. We have nothing against them, but we can’t vouch for what your potential employer might think. Why take the risk?

65. Take along extra copies of your CV and covering letter in case the recruiter’s colleagues decide to sit in on the interview.

66. Don’t use slang in the interview. It’s not professional and the interviewers might not even know what you are talking about.

67. Be polite! Shaking hands and using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ go a very long way to showing potential employers the type of person you are.

68. Hand gestures, eye movements, emotions and seating posture all tell an interviewer something about you.

69. Practice in a mirror.

70. Clean the mirror – and then add ‘cleaning’ as a skill on your CV (just joking!)

71. Remain calm, composed and focused throughout the interview.

72. Honesty is the best policy! We hear stories of people blagging their way into a job on lies and distortions of the truth – but is it worth it? Would you really want to spend each day at your place of work wondering if they will ever find out you lied and risk being fired on the spot?

73. Whether your current employment is unsatisfactory or not, never criticize current or past employers.

74. Sell yourself without being arrogant.

75. Do you know anyone who already works for the company? If so, meet up with them beforehand to see if they can give you any tips for the interview.

76. Practice being interviewed by friends and family and ask for honest feedback (however brutal).

77. It’s not what you know….- it’s what you don’t know.

78. Know as much as possible about the job, industry and company before you get to the interview. Don’t hope to find out about the company from literature in the waiting room!

79. An interview is a time to sell yourself. Make sure you mention all relevant accomplishments. *You* achieved them after all!

80. There are lots of standard questions that tend to crop up in most interviews. Search online for a list of these and write out your answers in advance so that you are ready for what might come.

81. For example, you will more than likely hear “Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you want to work for us?” Make sure you have succinct answers to basic interview questions like these.

82. If you know who is interviewing you, then do some background research on them. You may find common ground on interests, education or where they come from.

83. Be prepared to ask questions towards the end of the interview. Prepare at least three questions in advance in case any of them get completely answered in the interview stage.

84. If you don’t know the salary on offer, don’t ask about it at the interview stage. Likewise with holidays. It gives the impression that you are only in it for the money and that you’ll be taking a day off whenever you possibly can.

85. BUT, it’s always good to research the average pay you can expect for a particular role to ensure your surprise doesn’t register in the interview if they do mention the pay rate.

Telephone Interviews

86. Make sure you can focus on the task in hand with no TV, radio or people distractions.

87. Interviewing over the phone has the benefit of allowing you to have your notes in front of you. Lay them out neatly so as not to make unnecessary noise during the phone conversation.

88. Don’t ask if you can reverse the charges.

89. If possible, use a landline phone rather than a mobile to avoid reception issue. It will be very embarrassing if you keep cutting in and out.

90. If it’s a Skype call then make sure you’re invisible to friends so they don’t hammer you with chat throughout the call.

91. Take notes (quietly) in case you need them for the next stage of the recruitment process.

92. Avoid pauses – but don’t try to fill every gap in the conversation with irrelevant banter.

 

Onwards & Upwards – Dealing With Knockbacks

93. Never give up.

94. Learn from job rejections. From each one you will learn how to manage disappointment more easily.

95. After setbacks and feedback, tweak your CV and cover letter to ensure they get better and better.

96. Never give up. Ever!

97. If you start to feel down about the whole job hunt situation, find some inspiration on our Pinterest Board of Words For Students.

98. Never ever give up. Never ever!

99. Some of the most successful people in the world failed to land the job of their dreams the first time round.

100. Decide what to be – and then go and be it!

101. And…if you can’t be that – you can always be something else

Good luck with the student job hunt guys – and please do let us know any of your own top tips and advice in the comments below.