Need a new job - do I target specific employers or just generally apply for jobs?

[BillyJoel]

I need to change my job and employer in the next 5 months. My profession is quite specific but I could do it in one of many companies or organisations. I know probably my favourite 8 organisations I really want to work for. Do I contact their HR department directly to see what may become available? Or do I contact the departments directly as they may have some plans for the future that I can be part of (maybe they have not yet contacted their HR about it)? Or do I go through an agency as they may be able to sell me better than I can sell myself? Or do I how apply for jobs now with these organisations for jobs that are not ideally suited to me, just to get my CV in front of them? If I do this and am rejected, is this a negative moving forward?
Can any HR or agency mumsnetters let me know the best approach - I don't want to blow it !
Any ideas or suggestions welcome. Thank you!

I think it totally depends on the industry and how they recruit. All jobs in my sector (central govt/civil service) are advertised and filled through fair and open competition. There are a few temporary opportunities available through agencies, but these tend to be for PA roles, or possibly very specialist roles where we don’t have enough in house expertise.

What’s your industry, as then hopefully someone from that sector can advise?

Most employers will only look at cvs when they specifically advertise a job. Even then the cvs are in the hundreds for one role. For me if I’ve seen a cv before (even at a glance) I tend to overlook it as already rejected. Therefore work on making you cv stand out, but clear and concise, no one cares about your weird hobbies. Only apply for jobs you really want

Thanks Wigeon. So do you have any idea of upcoming vacancies before they are advertised? Would senior managers be prepared to discuss future possibilities with me before they are advertised. It is quite a narrow field (too outing to say what) and so it may suit us both to discuss future plans.

Thanks Alice. Sounds like good advice. Do you ever use agencies? Would you send a CV on spec, with no job being advertised? As jobs may be few and far between in my field, my plan of having a few simultaneous offers to choose between might not quite work out...

@BillyJoel we personally don’t use agencies, they cost more and it’s not needed in a specialised field with more grad students than jobs. And sorry but I do ignore cvs unless we have a job opening. Again more potential recruits than jobs even needing to be a graduate

Thanks Alice. I may be in the opposite position as there are possibly fewer applicants than jobs. I am 20+ years in the job after doing the degree in the same job.
I am thinking that I really want the most suitable job, but they are not all going to come up at the same time, and so in reality I might just end up taking the first one if I wait to apply. Whereas I could wait as there is no urgency to change jobs just yet. What do you think ?

Do I just keep watching the vacancies In my chosen companies?

I would certainly discuss any likely upcoming vacancies in my team with anyone interested but 1) most jobs are advertised to existing civil servants only and 2) there’s no real advantage in speaking to me in advance as they are all advertised and we genuinely do sift applications based on merit (I got 84 applications for a recent job I advertised...).

However, in your situation it does sound like it might be worth sending speculative applications, if there are usually more vacancies than applicants - you’ve got nothing to lose, and if it’s a waste of your time they will either not reply, or reply to say that they don’t keep speculative applications on file.