Where to start

When you were at university, it would have been relatively easy to find out about the graduate recruitment schemes of large employers, through campus talks, the university’s careers website, attending recruitment fairs etc. Vacancies from SME employers can require a little more effort to identify.

They often won’t have the budget for lots of high cost advertising, so they are likely to take a more targeted approach, sometimes using local or sector specific recruitment agencies, sometimes relying on social media platforms to get the word out. In some cases, a speculative approach to a business that you would really like to work with can be effective. You’ll find out about that tactic in more detail later this week.

Because of this varied approach from the SMEs, a useful starting point for you will be to create a shortlist of those that interest you – and then start to research them further – exploring their company culture, values and needs, and investigating where they advertise their jobs.

Some of you might prefer to keep a completely open mind and start by broadly investigating the SMEs of North Yorkshire, finding out where they are based, what they do and then thinking about whether they sound interesting to you and creating a shortlist for further research.

Others might find that approach a little too broad and prefer to have some ideas about what they are looking for before they start.

In Week 1, when you were thinking about whether an SME or a large employer would suit you best, you considered practical issues such as location and salary. You also started to think about your personal values and whether they might align better with a small or large company culture. Your awareness gained through these reflective activities will be helpful now when you start to look at the SMEs across the region.

Two other key considerations are:

• The sectors that attract your attention

Your degree subject interests or previous work experiences may already have steered you towards certain sectors, such as science, engineering, social care or retail. Or your hobbies and interests might be your main drivers.

In Week 1, you learned that sectors such as hospitality, agritech and renewable energy are strong in North Yorkshire, so that might be a reason for you to target the region. Or your desire to stay in North Yorkshire could be leading you to these stronger sectors.

Alternatively, you might be considering roles that will be required in businesses across many sectors, e.g. in marketing or finance. In that case, is the sector important to you at all? Are there some sectors that sound more exciting or attractive to work in than others?

• The types of roles that might use your strengths

In Week 1, you briefly considered your skills in the context of working for a small business. An important consideration when thinking about your skills is the difference between skillsand strengths.

The University of York describes a strength as something you are energised by, are good at and use regularly. If you can identify your strengths, and use them in your work, you will experience greater job satisfaction and are likely to be more productive.

A better awareness of your strengths can also guide you to the roles you want to apply for. For example, you might be a strong communicator and enjoy being around people, or perhaps you prefer to work alone and focus on data and analysis.

To find out more about strengths, join Finding Your Why, one of the other courses in this Graduates into Work North Yorkshire FutureLearn series, which includes a section on recognising your strengths.

Over to you

Which category are you in? Do you want to just dive in and see what’s out there, or would you rather focus a bit more attention on sectors and roles before you start? If you’d like to share your thoughts – use the comments below.