How do people go about looking for a job? Job centre and temping agencies for blue-collar workers, personal contacts and social media for executives

In 2016, 4.2 million people report that they have actively sought employment, in most cases paid employment. Two thirds are unemployed, a quarter are already in work but are looking for another job, and a small proportion are inactive (6%).

People seek paid work in various ways. Almost all trawl through job offers. Many also go through a job centre or temping agency, or ask personal or professional acquaintances for help. More than two thirds of jobseekers send out unsolicited applications to potential employers. Around a third use social media to advertise the fact that they are looking for work.

Young jobseekers are more likely to send out unsolicited applications than their elders. Executives tend to use social media more, or their personal and professional contacts. Blue-collar workers are more likely to go through job centres or temping agencies.

The most frequently used jobseeking techniques are not necessarily the most successful: Over 40% of those who have been in paid work for less than a year say that they landed their job through their own personal initiative or through an unsolicited application.