• Up to 60% of vacancies are never advertised by employers

• Just waiting for advertised vacancies reduces your opportunities significantly

• Creative job hunting involves identifying what you are looking for, researching organisations and approaching contacts. It's about being proactive.

• You can: find work, demonstrate your initiative, learn more about sectors and careers, add massively to your CV and earn money

• Creative job hunting needs more effort but is more rewarding as well – you’re more likely to earn money doing something you enjoy and that will benefit your future career ideas and aspirations

• Resources to start / help are available from the Creative Job Hunting page

• If you would like more guidance on it contact careers

In addition to Jobshop other sources of advertised vacancies are:

Newspapers
The Observer: the Bognor and Chichester editions are published on Thursdays. Copies are held in the libraries or you can buy them locally. The job pages are the same in both editions. If you are looking for work in another location there should be equivalent local papers

Commercial job websites
Examples are:
www.hotrecruit.com and www.workthing.com (part of the same group of websites)
www.monster.co.uk

Some recruitment websites will ask you to register. You will need to assess the site:
• How many vacancies are there on the website? How recent / up-to-date are they?
• Are you happy to have your details / CV on it?
• What sort of control will you have over your information? Are there any personal details you would want to take out?

Free advertising
www.gumtree.com online classified adverts by city. The nearest are for Portsmouth (covers some Chichester and Bognor Regis vacancies), Southampton and Brighton. Bear in mind that these adverts are not subject to a code of practice - research and check the details of the opportunity before committing yourself to work or giving out your personal details

Jobcentre
Vacancies can be searched for at: www.jobcentreplus.co.uk. You may need to persevere with the search results to find vacancies that have a suitable number of hours. If you would rather go to a Jobcentre Plus in person there’s also the facility on the website to search for your local one.

Large local employers
For example St Richard's Hospital www.jobs.nhs.uk, Chichester District Council www.chichester.gov.uk, Arun District Council www.arun.gov.uk, and West Sussex County Council www.westsussex.gov.uk may be worth a try.

Can be a useful source of work (particularly temporary), but it’s worth knowing a little about them and how to approach them:

• Find appropriate companies – most specialise and not all will offer temporary work

• The Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) represents the recruitment industry. Members agree to a code of practice. A list of members can be found and searched on their website: www.rec.uk.com

• Recruitment companies can’t charge you to use them (there are a few exceptions, mainly for the entertainments industries). They can charge for additional services however, so check what you are being offered

• Treat them as you would any other employer - dress appropriately when you see them, return calls and let them know if you find employment elsewhere for example

• Be as specific as you can be about what you’re looking for. Don’t say that you don’t mind what you do unless you really mean it. Being specific and thinking about what you’re looking for will be beneficial for you and them. Also think about practical aspects. Have you got transport? What hours / days can you work?

• Ask around for recommendations and assess the consultant and the company. They should find out what you are looking for, consult you and offer you suitable opportunities

• Advice about how many agencies to contact varies. If you contact too many you many have to turn work down and then seem unreliable, but you want to ensure you find work. Also try and get the balance right with follow-up calls. Don’t pester the consultant, but remind them if you haven’t got any work and are still looking. You’ll have to assess what you think is appropriate

In Jobshop we do not advertise opportunities that require you to be self-employed. However, this may be a appropriate source of income for you - music teaching is an example. More information and useful links are available on the self-employment page.

Part-time work can be valuable to you beyond the pay. It gives you the opportunity to develop skills that you will probably need to be able to demonstrate to employers after you have graduated.

Working part-time in something that is relevant to your future career ideas is ideal, but if this doesn’t happen you should still be able to use the skills you have developed positively. Generic, transferable skills include time-keeping, communication, team and/or individual working and problem solving. Even knowing what it’s like to have a job is useful experience.

This article from The Independent covers the potential value in working during vacations: http://education.independent.co.uk/graduate_options/article340956.ece.