Some places to find out about jobs in the UK

There are several ways in which can find jobs: (1) job portals where jobs are advertised from all sorts of different organisations, and (2) individual companies' websites where their own jobs are posted. For (2) it can also be helpful to find (or create) your own list of companies by theme - eg the Association of Medical Research Charities has 100+ members so there's a ready made list of 'medical charities'.   

(3) For the sorts of jobs where people are headhunted (I don't move in those circles or at that level so can't help) I think it's all down to networking so things like LinkedIn would be for that. The UK Gov't has some advice on networking. CV Library has advice on How to address unemployment on your CV.

(4) What about a 'hand search' - poring over Google Maps of local areas to see what companies are there (that you might not have come across before) and sending speculative enquiries. 

(5) Put together a short pitch in a tweet / video and send it via Twitter and ask for RTs and suggestions, or via a public Facebook post etc.

(1) Places where jobs are advertised / portals

• The 10 Best Job Boards in 2020 - according to Wikijob (includes CV Library, Indeed, Total Jobs, Reed, Monster, Adzuna, Glassdoor, CW Jobs, Guardian Jobs and WorkInStartups - https://www.wikijob.co.uk/content/features/useful-resources/10-best-uk-job-boards-2020
  
  
• How to find job vacancies - from National Careers Service, list includes JobCentre Plus, Job boards, Networking sites, Local council bulletings, Recruitment agencies, Hidden job market, National Careers Service, Job Fairs, Direct contact, Industry magazines and newspapers - https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/advertised-job-vacancies
  
  
• AMRC (Association of Medical Research Charities) - https://www.amrc.org.uk/vacancies - provides a weekly vacancies email 
  
  
• Bidstats - https://bidstats.uk/tenders/ - for public tenders (not jobs as such)
  
  
• Charity Job - https://www.charityjob.co.uk/
  
  
• Civil Service: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi - the site for all Civil Service jobs in the various governmental departments.
  
  
• Contracts / tenders for UK and EU - https://www.gov.uk/tendering-for-public-sector-contracts. Sell goods or services to the public sector (presumably mostly in England as info for the other nations is given too). Includes Contracts Finder for UK Gov't contracts, and Tenders Electronic Daily for EU tenders.
  
  
• Find A Job: https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search - at the time of writing there are over 109,000 jobs on there (new ones are added or time out all the time). You can search by location, salary or category but not by keyword. You can see their categories here https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/browse
  
  
• Freelance writing jobs - https://mailchi.mp/69d207801f23/freelancewritingjobs from Sian Meades (@SianySianySiany)
  
  
• Guardian Jobs - https://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/job-vacancy/
  
  
• Google search - Google now draws in snippets of various job adverts and you can add keywords, filter by location and set up an email alert
  https://www.google.com/search?&q=jobs
  
  
• Greenwich jobs - https://www.royalgreenwichcareers.com/ - and Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB) https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/directory/76/gllab_jobs - this is just illustrative (I live there!) but there may be similar schemes where you live.
  
  
• Kelly Services - https://www.kellyservices.co.uk/
  
  
• Indeed - https://www.indeed.co.uk/ - browse, upload a CV, or work at Indeed
  
  
• Intelligent people - London & South East - https://www.intelligentpeople.co.uk/jobs/ marketing, product management, eCommerce
  
  
• JETS Work Coaches - apply here https://dwpjobs-workcoach-microsite.co.uk/ - 13,500 new posts have been created (most filled already).
  
  
• Job Centre Plus - https://www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus - more about benefits and help in finding jobs than a portal as such
  
  
• Jobs.ac.uk - https://www.jobs.ac.uk/ - jobs in academia
  
  
• Job help: https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/latest-jobs/ - (via https://gov.uk/jobhelp) this includes context about the themed categories and also includes links to other advice on finding jobs locally.
  
  
• LinkdedIn - https://www.linkedin.com - network, hear about jobs
  
  
• Monster - https://www.monster.co.uk/
  
  
• National Museums - https://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/jobs/
  
  
• Science communication jobs: psci-com (large mailing list), Facebook group, ScicommOps, Association of British Science Writers mailing list, Stempra mailing list - you might need to be a member to access the last two, British Interactive Group 'BIG'. 
  
  
• Reed Jobs - https://www.reed.co.uk/jobs 
  
  

(2) Thematic ists of organisations' websites - I recommend creating your own tailored version. These lists are not set up with job seekers in mind so you will need to drill into any org's website that interest you and find their vacancies page.

• Association of Medical Research Charities -
  https://www.amrc.org.uk/pages/category/member-directory?Take=151
  full members' list (note ending of URL, there are currently 151 member orgs, if link doesn't work [eg a new member org joins] delete last bit, scroll to the end and choose 'load more'). You can also sign up to their weekly vacancies email.
  
  
• Companies Lists in UK (Wikipedia) - literally alphabetically, not thematically
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_the_United_Kingdom_A-J
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_the_United_Kingdom_K-Z
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lists_of_companies_of_the_United_Kingdom - organised by city 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_United_Kingdom_employers - list of largest UK employers 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Index - companies listed on the FTSE 100
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_private_companies_in_the_United_Kingdom - largest private companies in the UK
  
  
• Companies list in London (Wikipedia)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_based_in_London
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Organisations_based_in_London - organised thematically (eg housing orgs, local gov't, health orgs etc)
  
  
• Places that employ science communicators (mostly in London) - 
• https://brodiesnotes.blogspot.com/2009/07/amrc-member-charities-websites.html (created by me, on this blog)
  

Random

• RAF - https://www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment/ (I'm not allowed to apply as they know I'd try to steal the aircraft)
  
  
• Women Returners - https://womenreturners.com/ - support for women returning to work after a career break, and info for their (potential) employers
  
  
• Marshall Harber - https://www.marshallharber.com/job-board.php - for private chefs, live in housekeepers (I was watching Downton Abbey while searching and thought I'd add this one in!)
  

 

Background to this post
The UK Government is increasing the number of Work Coaches through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), by creating 13,500 new jobs for people to help as JETS: Job Entry - Targeted Support. Their role will be to support other jobseekers into finding suitable employment and the scheme was launched on Monday 5th October 2020.

This story was widely covered in the news media on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th October but none of the stories I saw linked to where someone could apply for one of these 13,500 new jobs. Even the Government's own press release made no mention of it. 

Eventually I found it: JETS jobs - https://dwpjobs-workcoach-microsite.co.uk/ (via a search on https://civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk, restricted to DWP organisation. When I clicked on an example job and then 'apply at advertiser's site' that's where it took me. 

It seemed like it would be the sort of things that would just fall out into the top results on a Google search for jets dwp jobs, but no.

 

 

 

Updating my list of places that might employ science communicators

In 2003 when I began working in science communication I didn't know about all the different type of jobs available or the different sectors, so I began collecting examples of places that had employed, or seemed likely to employ, science communicators. 

That list became a hugely popular blog post in 2009 and I have been perennially updating it ever since. The latest version (checked Nov 2017) now lives in a Google Spreadsheet: Scicomm jobs - list of vacancies pages employing science communicators

Science communication happens in medical research charities, schools, newspapers, museums, universities, community groups, learned societies, pharma companies, government - it is impossible to completely map all the possible ways that one can do scicomm.

The jobs are hugely varied too - health information professionals (my own background), PR people, journalists, museum explainers, bloggers, television or radio presenters and vloggers, scientists who talk about their work, non-scientists who talk about other people's work. It's a big sector!

Anyway if you're new to science communication I hope you'll find something interesting among the suggestions.

Note that these employers also employ IT specialists, HR personnel etc so the vacancies pages will probably be of use to anyone looking for a job, but the focus is on scientific (broadly) institutions.

Note to employers
PLEASE consider adding a /jobs redirect to the end of your homepage address and pointing that to wherever you're currently keeping your jobs. The reason this list of science communication vacancies pages needs updating so frequently is partly because you keep moving your jobs around every time you have a website refresh but also because you use different terms to describe jobs (jobs, vacancies, recruitment, work for us, work with us, opportunities). 

Obviously you are free to put your vacancies pages wherever you wish and call them whatever you like but please let's all point to them with /jobs for simplicity. Thank you. This will let anyone type /jobs at the end of your homepage URL and go straight to your vacancies page, hooray!

Is there a list of places that employ Computer Science graduates?

Back in 2003 I wanted to find out what was available to someone (me!) new to the world of science communication. It's a huge field that encompasses museum explainers, people working in press and PR in medical research charities, bloggers / journalists / science writers, scientists and researchers working in educational or corporate institutions who want to talk to non-specialists about their work etc. I began making a note of "organisations that might employ science communicators" with a focus on London which is where I live.

As my list got bigger it naturally fell into themed areas (charities, learned societies, universities etc) and in 2009 I published what I had found, and others suggested new organisations and new thematic areas. It's a resource for people looking for work 'now' or for those who are 'prospecting' and want to find out what sort of things are available.

Where London science communicators might work (July 2009)

I wondered, on reading the Shadbolt Review (of computer science degree accreditation and graduate employability) if there might be something similar for people interested in working with computers or 'in computing'.

"We have gathered evidence that, outside of the large and well-known technology companies, the potential computer-related careers paths on offer to graduates can often be unclear and that graduate outcomes can be impacted through a lack of knowledge about the industries in which they could make effective use of their skills and knowledge." - 7.29, p77 of 91 in the Shadbolt review (below)

One of the recommendations, Recommendation 5, looks at careers advice and visibility of graduate opportunities - bemoaning the fact that students (and perhaps pre-students wondering what direction to head in) don't really have a good overview of what's available. In science communication I see that quite a few job openings are circulated within small groups - I wonder if prospective applicants (and, in this case, computer science students) are aware of that infrastructure, if those jobs aren't more widely findable.

Computer science degree accreditation and graduate employability: Shadbolt review (May 2016) 

Computing is an even wider field than science communication because almost every profession has its own software, and individuals skilled in unrelated matters might use software for their business needs. Employers like banks, charities, Google, Microsoft, Apple - not to mention startups - provide employment for people who are good at computers. Many of those employed will likely have or need a Computer Science degree but since there are plenty of self-taught computer geniuses in the maker / tinkering community too.

There's this, but the page is too vague for what I'm after https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/computer-science-it but it is from ACGAS who are mentioned in the report (p78 of 91).

Edit: 12 January
I wrote this post yesterday (11 Jan 20117) then somehow inadvertently managed to revert it to a draft and delete the text within an hour or two of publication. Given that the Blogger platform is owned by Google and Google crawls Blogger blog posts very regularly I assumed I'd be able to find a cached copy, but alas it wasn't to be, so I've had to remember what I wrote, and then rewrite it. Silly mistake really.