Finding a job in recruitment and HR

HR has become increasingly popular with employers as they come to appreciate the legal and financial implications of not having good HR. Organisations offer specific graduate programmes and entry level positions to enable graduates to get a foothold. Vacancies are advertised on individual organisations' (in both private and public sectors) websites, as well as in journals and newspapers.

Larger organisations usually hire for their HR Graduate programmes between September to December each year, so check the websites of the firms you are interested in early, to confirm the dates and deadlines. Vacancies may appear under other sectors as well as HR, e.g. Human Capital Management, General Management, Administration, or the sector of the organisation's main business, for example an HR vacancy at a bank may well come under the finance sector. Recruitment consultancies often advertise vacancies throughout the year.

Tips for finding a job

• Keep your online job search flexible as some employers might use different titles to describe the same job role.
• Most companies have a Twitter and/or Facebook account, register with them as this is often a place where new opportunities are posted, and where you can keep in touch with their current activities .
• Be realistic - you may need to consider relatively junior roles to get your career off to a start, but entry positions of a clerically-based nature will give you opportunity to develop your craft.
• Get networking - check our employer events and attend them to build links and gain information on the sector.
• Keep abreast of employment law, the labour market, government policy changes or recruitment trends.
• Read some of the numerous industry titles to stay updated on what's happening in the sector, and maintain an interest in business and commercial topics.

Further information

If you need more information why not check out some of the resources below to help you to research a sector in more depth.

• Access the link register with our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to sign up with the University of Portsmouth's very own on-campus graduate recruitment team.
• Michael Page – Recruitment consultancy that regularly recruits graduates from any degree discipline as trainee recruitment consultants.
• Reed – Provider of permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced recruitment solutions, IT and HR consulting.
• Agency Central – UK's leading Recruitment Agencies and Job Sites Directory. To find specialist recruitment agencies, select an appropriate ‘skillset’ to bring up a list of suitable agencies.
• People Management – Online magazine of the CIPD, HR and training careers
• HR Zone – Articles on specialist HR topics