Careers and employability

Graduates from University of Staffordshire are rated among the most employable in the UK, in fact, we've been rated in the Top 10 for Career Prospects in the WhatUni Student Choice awards 2023.

Our strategy of incorporating employability into all teaching modules is having a positive impact. Students on all of our courses have the opportunity to complete work experience, volunteer and work on real-world projects. This gives them the confidence, experience and connections to improve their prospects after university.

World of work

We make it our mission to prepare you the world of work no matter the industry you want to break into, and we talk regularly with our network of business partners so that we know what they are looking for.

Launching you into the world of work is not something we leave to the final weeks of your degree. In fact, it’s at the heart of everything we do and starts from the moment you arrive. We strive to provide you with a range of essential, transferable skills so you can apply your knowledge to a range of roles and opportunities.

We carefully build these skills into our courses, meaning you will have the opportunity to gain communication and leadership experience through teamwork, practice delivering presentations, develop problem solving and critical thinking abilities, and many more strengths that employers look for.

You’ll also get the chance to take part in a work placement, whether as part of your course, as a paid internship, a short term placement, or voluntary work outside your studies. Work experience may be closely linked to your course, or you could choose a broader experience outside of your studies to develop your employability skills: we even offer work placement opportunities abroad.

Our industry connections

We understand that it’s sometimes hard to get your foot in the door of your chosen industry, which is why we’re proud to give you access to our wealth of connections with regional, national and international organisations.

And it’s not all about work experience placements either (though we highly recommend them!); we talk regularly with our network of business partners so that we know what they are looking for. We also regularly invite them to events where you can network and forge connections, or to give talks during your classes so you can hear about the experiences of real people in industry. 

Here's just a sample of some of the organisations where our students have undertaken placements, or gone on to work after graduating.

Careers and personal development

Our Careers service makes the very most of all our connections and is bursting with knowledge, training and, most importantly, links to industry. 

Our team in Careers will give you access to:

• One-to-one advice with experienced careers coaches.
• Guidance on interview techniques, CV writing and job applications.
• Help finding a 12-month placement year opportunity between your second and final year on applicable courses.
• Access to Unitemps, our in-house recruitment agency – providing a range of paid work on campus and with local employers.
• Our annual employability and enterprise festival, which brings over 140 employers onto campus.
• Work shadowing opportunities in difficult-to-access professional areas.