Post-16 Transitions: a Longitudinal Study of Young People with ...

5.3.3 Method of jobsearch and advice received
Friends and family played an important role when looking for
work/placements and almost half of young people in work or
training said they had found their job through these personal
(and informal) contacts (Table 5.17). Almost one-fifth of young
people had applied to employers directly in order to find their
current job whilst one in ten had found their job/placement by
applying to an advertisement in the newspaper. A similar
proportion (nine per cent) of young people in work or training
had visited the Careers Service or Connexions in order to find
employment (eight per cent of young people in Connexions
areas and ten per cent of young people in non-Connexions
areas).
Not surprisingly, given the informal nature of most of their job
search activities, almost half of all young people in work have
cited their parents/carers as the most helpful source of advice
when looking for work. Friends and partners were reported to
be the most helpful by just over one in ten young people
currently in work or training, whilst a similar proportion said
that the Careers Service or Connexions personal adviser had
been the most helpful to them in their jobsearch. Once again,
similar proportions of young people in both Connexions areas
and non-Connexions areas reported this to be the case.
Table 5.17: Method of job search
N = %
Through friends or family 279 47
Applied directly to employers 104 17
Applied for jobs advertised in newspapers 53 10
Visited a Careers Service/Connexions Service 59 9
Visited a Jobcentre 32 5
School or college careers service 28 4
Training and Employment Agency Office 24 4
Through work experience/part-time work 17 3
Yellow Pages 7 1
Visited a Jobmarket 3 1
Tutor at college 4 1
Other 10 2
N = 588
Note: All percentages are weighted percentages, unless otherwise stated
Source: IES/MORI 2003
Post-16 Transitions of Young People with SEN: Wave 2 75