{"id":8714,"date":"2026-03-31T15:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8714"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:37:10","slug":"strengthen-your-job-hunting-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8714","title":{"rendered":"Strengthen your job-hunting skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gradcracker<\/strong>Watch this introduction to Gradcracker<\/a>, one of the UK\u2019s leading platforms for early career opportunities. In the video, Gradcracker<\/a> Marketing Director Jessica shows how it can help you discover different career pathways and make informed career choices. Gradcracker is a great place to explore the labour market. Make sure you read our OU Labour Market Information guide<\/a>, whether you\u2019re exploring career options<\/a> or preparing to apply for roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gradcracker is well-known across STEM subjects, but it features a broad range of industries just as relevant for non\u2011STEM students who want to work in innovative and fast\u2011moving sectors. Non-STEM roles include business support in engineering firms, project management in tech and communications roles in scientific organisations. There are people\u2011focused positions, data\u2011driven roles and graduate schemes open to any degree discipline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are hundreds of employers, thousands of opportunities. Make sure that you give yourself time to explore, discover and go and put a good application out there.\u201d Jessica, Marketing Director, Gradcracker<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are the five top job-hunting tips<\/strong> shared by Jessica to help you use Gradcracker effectively, identify potential career pathways and stand out in a competitive jobs market:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Activate your Gradcracker student dashboard
    \n<\/strong>Follow employers and switch on personalised alerts. Staying ahead of deadlines and new postings gives you an advantage.<\/li>\n
  2. Use the Shortlist tool to stay organised<\/strong>
    \nTrack each stage of your applications and revisit job descriptions as you progress. This helps you tailor your answers and prepare with confidence.<\/li>\n
  3. Explore Company Hubs<\/strong>
    \nEmployers look for genuine interest. Company Hubs allow you to explore culture, values and employee insights, helping you craft applications that connect with what the organisation cares about.<\/li>\n
  4. Showcase your experiences<\/strong>
    \nJessica highlights the value of extracurricular activities, part\u2011time work and society involvement. These experiences show you\u2019ve develop transferable skills valued by employers, such as collaboration, problem solving, communication and initiative.<\/li>\n
  5. Explore broadly and check regularly<\/strong>
    \nNew opportunities appear daily, from specialist STEM placements to graduate roles open to all subjects. Keeping an open mind widens your potential routes in.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good luck with your job-hunting.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Photo<\/a>Georgina Hawkins is the Employer Engagement Manager for STEM within the OU\u2019s Careers and Employability Services. She connects OU students to opportunities via OpportunityHub, as well as organising employer events. Over the past 5 years she has built up more than 170 employer relationships and hosted multiple events. Georgina really enjoys creating opportunities to bring students and employers together.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Watch this introduction to Gradcracker, one of the UK\u2019s leading platforms for early career opportunities. In the video, Gradcracker Marketing Director Jessica shows how it can help you discover different career pathways and make informed career choices. Gradcracker is a great place to explore the labour market. Make sure you read our OU Labour Market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,61],"tags":[99,112,62],"class_list":["post-8714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-job-search","category-jobs","tag-job-searching","tag-job-hunting","tag-jobs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8714"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8731,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8714\/revisions\/8731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}