Written by Jamie Murphy, Editorial Team, Graduate Prospects..
It’s a fact of life that as most business and commerce is centred in the City, so too are a great number of jobs that many graduates look to go into. But if you prefer to stay in your locality who could you work for? The London and South East bias blue-chip companies often have may require you to shift your focus to small businesses in order to stay local. The Working Out report of graduates from 1999 found that 40% found work in businesses employing fewer than 250 people. According to a survey by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services on graduate employment and SMEs, the recruitment resources most commonly used by small businesses were local employment agencies followed by local newspapers. As well as recruitment agencies, small businesses use a number of employment schemes run by Regional Development Agencies, Chambers of Commerce, government sponsorships such as Step Enterprises and your University Careers Services. Links with university careers services and academic departments are highly rated by small businesses. Many university careers services deal directly with local businesses in promoting their vacancies and work experience placements through Job Shops and other projects. Check with your university to find what services they can offer you. Around a third of SMEs surveyed recruited graduates through referral and the same proportion from speculative applications, so it is important to make contacts either directly or through networking, as well as more conventional job search methods. Careers services, academic departments and regional development agencies may all prove a good starting point for information on local small businesses. Related topics
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