Careers and Employability Service
Services for current students

Sources of vacancies

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There are many sources of graduate vacancies and we would encourage you to use several different ones to find your ideal role.

The sources below cover roles across a broad spectrum of career areas from advertising to telecommunications. Use these as a great starting point and talk to our advisers for further or specialist sources. 

 

Graduate vacancies targeted at Nottingham students and graduates

The vacancies advertised on MyCareer are from graduate recruiters targeting Nottingham students and graduates. We advertise around 4800 graduate vacancies every year.

The vacancies cover 30+ career areas so start your search now:

Login to MyCareer

Get the latest graduate jobs direct to your inbox every fortnight:

Subscribe to Jobs by email

Want to stay local?

Just a sample of the vacancies in and around Nottingham:

 

 

Graduate job boards

What is a job board and how do I use them?

What is a jobs board?

Jobs boards are to recruitment what Ebay, Amazon and Etsy are to e-commerce. If you were an employer, would you rely on candidates visiting your careers webpage if you could reach thousands (if not millions) via a third party site?

Most jobs boards allow employers to post vacancies for free, but sponsored adverts appear higher in search results. This means that candidates who are prepared to venture beyond the first couple of pages are likely to be rewarded with some hidden gems.

How do I use them?

Some jobs boards are extremely broad in scope, while others focus narrowly on individual sectors or types of role (for example, graduate schemes).

Before diving in, identify up to three jobs boards that fit your job search requirements by visiting their websites and reading user reviews online. Any more than this and your job search will quickly start to feel like a chore.  

As with all online searching, you get out what you put in. It takes time to find the right combination of search terms. If your initial searches return lots of vacancies:

  • cut the list down by applying multiple filters (such as location, contract type, salary range)
  • keep a list of keywords that appear repeatedly in interesting job adverts and use them in various combinations to run more targeted searches

Take some of the stress out of job hunting by allowing vacancies to come to you. Creating a free account with one of the big national jobs boards (for example Indeed, Glassdoor and TARGETjobs) and downloading the app will enable you to view, save and apply for jobs wherever you are. You can also choose to receive daily or weekly alerts which suggest vacancies based on your search activity and application history.

 

National job boards

There are hundreds of job boards on the web, use these as starting points for graduate-level jobs:

Bright Network

Gradcracker.com - for careers in STEM

Glassdoor - jobs and reviews of companies by employees

graduatejobs.com

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) – opportunities at the University

LinkedIn Jobs

Prospects

targetjobs

Totaljobs Graduate Zone

Work In Startups

In many career areas there are specialist job boards and recruitment agencies that you should also investigate. Go to our Career paths pages and find sources of vacancies in your chosen area or talk to our advisers.
 
 

Programmes supporting under-represented students and graduates into employment

Read Amrina's blog: Navigating careers: resources for under-represented students

Read our blog: How To Find Out if an Employer Is Genuinely Inclusive

Blind into Business - support for blind or visually impaired students and graduates

Creative Access - helping under-represented communities to enter and thrive in the creative industries

Disability Connect - a reverse mentoring scheme providing businesses with a disabled mentor to increase their awareness of disability and disability issues in the workplace

EmployAbility – disabled and dyslexic students/graduates

Evenbreak - supporting disabled students/graduates

Exceptional Individuals - jobs for dyslexics

Proud Employers – LGBTQ-inclusive employers

Rare - A programme for students from disadvantaged backgrounds where you can can gain access to free coaching, interview advice, news and events

SEO - an organisation to help undergraduates secure internships and graduate roles with many of the top UK graduate employers

Sutton Trust Pathways Plus (Law only) - undergraduate programme for students from under-represented backgrounds that includes residential, mentoring, work experience and application support

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2023

upReach - a range of programmes for students from widening participation backgrounds to build knowledge, soft skills, networks and gain experience

Windsor Fellowship Programmes - a range of programmes that support BAME students and recent graduates with internships and placements

 

Regional job boards

Take a look at the  websites of universities in the area where you want to work as they may have information on the job market and vacancy sources.

Here are some starting points for graduate vacancies around the country.

North of England

North East Jobs

Yorkshire Graduates

South (South West, South East, London)

BrighterBox

University of London Careers Group

Gradsouthwest.com

Midlands and East of England

Cambridge Science Park

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

GradIreland

NI Jobfinder

MyJobScotland - public and third sectors

sIjob.com - jobs in Scotland

 

Using a recruitment agency

Recruitment agencies are a good source of vacancies. Some specialise in graduate recruitment, some in specific job areas and others offer a mix of vacancies. 

Before you use a recruitment agency, please read The Recruitment and Employment Confederation advice on using an agency. You should not pay a fee for the services of an agency as they charge the employer.

 

 

Careers and Employability Service

University of Nottingham
Portland Building, Level D
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 3680
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 3679
email: careers-team@nottingham.ac.uk