• Look at weekly job postings on the notice boards on the ground floor.

• There are regular job fairs at the job centres – ask your work coach for upcoming events and ask him/her to book you a place.
• Your work coach will advise you and book you onto courses, but will not actively search for jobs for you

There are large job fairs at Villa Park and at other venues of Birmingham where you can meet employers. Take a copy of your C.V. with you. 

Look on the Eventbrite website and search for ‘jobs fairs’. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/#search

The most common question we have been asked when  attending job fairs on guests’ behalf has been “What’s their English level”.  

When writing your C.V. it’s a good idea to give a self assessment of your level, for example, lower intermediate, and any experience you have using English. 

Most jobs are advertised online, but if you would like to work in a shop or cafe then you can sometimes see jobs advertised in shop windows. 

Register with the following websites and add your CV to your profile. 

Indeed is one of the most visited job websites.

https://uk.indeed.com/

Reed is another popular site.

https://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/jobs-in-birmingham

A local government sponsored job search site

https://www.wmjobs.co.uk/

A national Government job search engine

https://www.gov.uk/find-a-job

There are many employment agencies across Birmingham who can find you temporary or permanent work. Start by doing a online search for employment agencies in the areas close to where you live.  Before visiting an agency, write a C.V. and take this with you and have it ready to send electronically too. 

Here are a few of the agencies in North Birmingham:

• First Choice Staff

Warehouse and administration

• Midas Recruitment

Work across a wide range of sectors

https://midasrecruitment.co.uk/

• ST Selection

Based in Sutton Coldfield, this is a specialist recruitment agency for the construction industry

https://st-selection.co.uk/

• Elite Personnel

Based in Boldmere, has a wide range of positions

https://www.elitep.co.uk/jobs/

• AM2PM

Warehouse and administration

• Aspire People

Teaching and school support

• Adecco

Office based and administration

• Monarch

Teaching and administration. Runs training courses for Ukrainians.

The start point in your job search is your C.V. It’s important that you have the correct format and information on your C.V. and that it is no longer than two pages.

In addition to your C.V.,  you will need to have at least two referees – people who can vouch for you. One referee should ideally be your last employer if you can contact them. The second referee can be a ‘character’ referee. This is someone who knows you well. If you have been attending our ESOL classes for a while, then we can provide you with a character reference

Look at the key common workplace skills below. Which do you think apply to yourself in your previous job?

• When writing your C.V. include these key words in the section on your work experience.
• You could write a few sentences, with bullet points, at the top of your C.V. highlighting these key skills.