No, you don’t!

The decision you make over the coming months or after graduation is based on your current situation, interests and skills, and the opportunities open to you.

Our interests develop, new opportunities arise, and situations change so it is not unusual for people to move between professions or specialisms as their career develops.

Come and talk to us about your next step and when you've graduated, you can still use all our services.

Lots of students are unsure about what they want to do in the future. Some students have no ideas and others have multiple ideas which can feel overwhelming.

We can help you generate job ideas or narrow down some of your ideas based on your skills, strengths, and interests.

On our choosing your career pages, look at the scenarios and select the one that best fits your situation to find out how what you can do next and how we can help.

Our subject pages highlight the career options with your degree and you can book an appointment to explore the destinations of graduates from your course using Graduate Outcomes information.

Our advisers can help you every step of the way, book an appointment and get started.

You will have had occasions previously when you've had to juggle a number of activities at the same time. This is another time where you need to work out what you're comfortable with doing.

The application for some jobs can be lengthy involving applications forms, psychometric tests, interviews and assessment centres but for others, it may involve updating your CV and attending an interview.

If you want to focus on your course, then do so. You may miss out on some opportunities, but you can always apply for them next year. Many graduate schemes and postgraduate taught courses are open all year round so you can apply after you've completed your studies.

Why not talk to an adviser and check out our career wellbeing advice.

During your final year, if time permits, you have a range of options open to you at Nottingham from getting involved in the Students' Union or exploring the modules on the Nottingham Advantage Award to getting a part-time job, volunteering role or work experience placement.

Find out more about your options in our careers guide, begin!, in the gaining experience section.

If you don't have time, you can build your skills and gain experience after you graduate and we're still here to help you as we offer lifetime support.

There are a number of ways you can find out about different careers and it's a good idea to use more than one.

1. Desk-based research: Use our A to Z career paths pages written by our careers advisers with specific content for UoN students. If the career isn't listed, try the Prospects website
2. Check our job and sector insight events: We invite UoN alumni and other professionals to share their career journeys with you
3. Organise some work experience or work shadow someone: Try out the role to see if it's right for you and talk to those currently in the role.
4. Create a LinkedIn profile and explore organisations, job roles and connect with UoN alumni. If you connect with an alum, make sure you have questions prepared to make the most of their time.

Your degree subject does not always determine what career you go into. Even if you are studying for a vocational degree such as engineering or computer science, you may decide to explore careers beyond your subject.

You can apply your transferable skills developed during your degree to a wide range of career areas.

Depending on the career you want to enter, you may have to undertake a conversion course (for example, for a legal career) or study for a master’s or PhD. Alternatively, your employer may support you to get a professional qualification while you are working for them.

Check out the routes into careers that interests you and talk to an adviser.

It's important to find out the routes into the jobs that interest you. Read the advice in the previous two answers.

We recommend you start looking for graduate vacancies using the following sources:

• MyCareer - our jobs board advertises hundreds of graduate roles from employers looking to recruit you. Take a look at some of the latest vacancies and login to see them all. You can access MyCareer on your phone using the MyNottingham app - click on the Careers tile
• Subscribe to Jobs by email and you can receive vacancies direct to your inbox. 
• Graduate vacancy websites  - we list the key websites listing graduate vacancies plus organisations who can support under-represented groups
• Specialist vacancy sources - use our A to Z Career paths pages to identify specialist job boards

If you can't find vacancies for the role you're interested in, book an appointment or call into a drop-in session to talk to a member of our team.

It depends on the course. For some courses such as medicine or teaching, you apply through a clearing house and there are specific closing dates.

For most postgraduate taught courses, you will apply to the university. Popular courses attracting a large number of applications may close early when the institution has filled their places. In some cases, this can be as early as Christmas before the course starts the following year. For others, applications will be accepted right up to the start of the course.

There are set deadlines for some Doctoral Training Programmes but for other PhD opportunities the closing date for applications will be stated on the vacancy advert. If you are postgraduate taught student, check out postgraduate application timelines webpage.

Find out more about your further study options and funding.

It is entirely up to you if you want to tell an employer about a disability and if so, how much information you want to share. Any information you provide to the employer will only be shared with people directly involved in the recruitment process and not to the wider organisation.

You can ask for adjustments at every stage of the recruitment process so that you are not at a disadvantage.

Find out more about applying for job roles if you have a disability. 

Taking time out after your undergraduate degree or postgraduate course can offer great personal and professional opportunities.

You might take anything from a couple of months to over a year – how long isn’t important, it’s how you spend it. 

Go to our taking time out webpage to explore this option, consider what it might mean for you and be inspired.

Whether you're an EU or an international student, it's important to be aware that your right to work in the UK will depend on your visa.  

Getting involved and developing your skills through work experience, volunteering and extracurricular activities is a great way to stand out to potential employers.

Take a look at our international students' webpages for advice on working in the UK after your studies, what employers look for and help with making job applications.

On our How do I get a graduate job in the UK webpage check out two key resources: Target the right UK employer from eCareersGrad and Student Circus for job vacancies.

We recommend you start with:

MyCareer, vacancy board

During 2023/24, we advertised 845 overseas vacancies based in 62 countries on MyCareer. These vacancies were from employers targeting UoN students and graduates. Subscribe to Jobs by email to get the latest jobs or internships direct to your inbox.

GoinGlobal, international careers database

We subscribe to GoinGlobal so it's free to UoN students and graduates.

• 42 country guides from Argentina and Japan to the United States and Vietnam. Each guide contains job search resources, resume/CV guidelines, hiring trends, industry overviews, professional and social networking groups, work permit and visa regulations, financial considerations, interview tips and cultural advice.
• 32 global city guides from Amsterdam and Delhi to Shanghai and Vancouver plus 47 US city guides
• Job and internship vacancy database of 16 million employment listings updated daily

• Access to CultureWizard - compare your culture profile to 160+ other cultures and learn how to adapt your style to culturally-acceptable norms

• Directory of US employers who can employ international talent via the H1B visa

Log in to MyCareer to access GoinGlobal