We’ve been awarded 5 QS Stars for Student Employability (2023), so we know how to prepare you for life after your degree. That means you'll leave us as a highly desirable graduate, ready to take the next steps in your career.

Our Careers Service – one of the largest and most innovative in the UK – could help you secure the best start to your professional life and support you for up to three years after you graduate.

Read on to find out about the resources, services and advice you could access to achieve your career dreams if you join us.

Contents:

1. Where can I get career advice?

2. What career services and advice are available?

3. What kind of tailored support is available to university students?

Where can I get career advice?

Our Careers Service is based in our King’s Gate building on campus. It's available to all full- and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Key to accessing our careers support is the MyCareer portal – a fantastic resource for booking career appointments, signing up for events, searching for work experience, and part-time/graduate jobs. So, if you join us, make sure you don’t miss out and sign up to MyCareer straight away.

What career services and advice are available?

How can we help you? Let’s list some of the ways:

• Careers modules. Add to your degree and gain valuable skills, experience and academic credit, through careers modules completed during term-time.
  
  
• Build employability skills. Develop your employability skills and shape your future with our Graduate Framework. You can also access professional development opportunities through our ncl+ Award scheme.
  
  
• Career planning. Discover different careers with our Occupations platform, access practical advice on how to research your options and learn to match your skills and values with what you want to do after University.
  
  
• Marketing your skills and experience. Be supported to write eye-catching CVs, covering letters, job applications and personal statements for further study. Access practical advice on your internet footprint and how to set up a LinkedIn profile that works hard to showcase your skills.
  
  
• Interview and assessment preparation. Access resources to help prepare for job interviews, psychometric tests and assessment centres. Use our video interview tools to practise your interview techniques and find out what to do when you secure that dream job offer.
  
  
• Placements, internships or work experience. Get help to build your work experience through internships, placements, work experience and work shadowing. 
  
  
• Building contacts and network. Learn how to network like a pro with advice on how to make useful contacts. Connect with our graduates through our alumni LinkedIn group, find out what they did after graduation and what it’s like to work in a particular industry.
  
  
• Meet recruiters and training providers at our employer presentations and recruitment events. Every organisation is different - attending our employer events is a great way to gain an insight into their culture and values, find out more about their opportunities and get useful tips to help you make a strong application.

• START UP. Want to start your own business? Then our START UP team can help with access to one-to-one coaching, workshops, peer-learning and support groups, grants, funding advice, and free co-working space.
  
  Our advisers have first-hand experience of being self-employed and running a business and are well-connected to our regional and national network of entrepreneurs. There are currently over 200 START UP-supported businesses trading. Between them, they've a combined annual turnover of £155 million and have created 1,140 jobs.
  
  Our START UP Founderships scheme is an intensive package of help and support to get your business ready for launch. As well as START UP support, you’ll receive a stipend to cover your living costs so you can work on your business full-time, and access to funds to drive your business development. Find out more about our START UP success stories.
  
  
• Finding work. We offer advice and support on finding graduate jobs and part-time work to fit around your studies. We also run a Jobs on Campus scheme (JobsOC) that could help you find work with us in a variety of roles, including administration, customer service, library assistance and event support. 
  
  
• Volunteering. Get advice on finding volunteering roles, including virtual opportunities. Some careers are difficult to get into without previous volunteer experience, so this is your chance to not only work in a field you’re interested in, but also make valuable contacts.
  
  
• Virtual opportunities. Covid-19 has changed the way many people work and there are now increasing opportunities to work, gain experience, or improve your skill set remotely.
  
  
• Careers events. Throughout the year our events complement our support, with masterclasses, opportunities to meet recruiters and training providers, employer presentations and more, all geared to help you prepare for the world of work.

What kind of tailored support is available to university students?

Because your needs can be different, particularly at different stages of your University journey, we tailor our support to suit you.

International/EU students: workshops, information and resources provide tailored career advice for international students. Our International Student Pathway will help you build your career in the UK, including guidance on the Graduate visa allowing you to work in the UK for up to two years after graduation.  

Our China Career Gateway programme prepares our Chinese students for the UK and Chinese job markets, and we’ve teamed up with specialist recruitment platform Lockin China which features graduate vacancies.

Postgraduate students: you’ll have access to all our career resources and activities during your studies and for up to three years after graduation. Our three faculty graduate schools offer innovative postgraduate training programmes and our PhD students have a dedicated careers adviser for their faculty who can offer one-to-one support.

inclusive support: job application advice, recruitment and workplace adjustments delivered in partnership with disability inclusion specialists EmployAbility.

We hope you have found this blog useful. For further information about our Careers Service, explore our dedicated Careers pages. You can also read about our careers offer – from student stories to graduate tips and advice – in the careers section of our Experience blog.