Careers and employability

Find information and advice on how to increase your employability, including extra curricular activities and employer events.
Careers and employability

Who we are

Providing quality and impartial information, advice and guidance, we're here to help you make informed choices about your future - so that you can reach your full potential. We work with our academic departments to help develop your employability, actively promoting strong links with employers.

What we offer

Our service is for all Plymouth University students (undergraduates and postgraduates of all years and subjects of study) and alumni for up to three years.

We're here to help you with:

  • Placement and work-based learning opportunities
  • Career direction
  • Postgraduate study options
  • CV or application checks for specific graduate or placement roles
  • Interview techniques, advice and mock interviews
  • Course change/withdrawal support
  • Support with extra curricular activities.

How we do this

We want to make helping you a cinch. Which is why you can engage with us in a number of ways:

  • Drop-in sessions both in your faculty and centrally on campus
  • One-to-one appointments
  • Our online portal and enquiry service
  • Workshops and career sessions as part of your timetable.

And we know engaging with employers is key to understanding what they want in a graduate. Which is why we put on careers fairs, bringing a raft of high profile and local employers to campus to meet you.

View our Employability Service Events calendar to find out more and to book your place.


Drop-ins

Come along to one of our drop-in sessions and get help without the need for an appointment. At these sessions we can help you with:  

  • Basic CV checks - ideal for initial CV development, concentrating on layout and structure
  • Career direction - discussing your career and pointing you in the direction of further self-research before you make a careers adviser appointment
  • Plymouth Award
  • Postgraduate study - guiding you through funding options, course searching, and providing information on routes into teaching.
  • Interview, assessment centre and psychometric test support
  • Work experience and placement, including information on where you can find volunteering work
  • Job searching - helping you make the most of web resources.

Employability adviser appointments 

Book an appointment with one of our employability advisers. You'll get 30 minutes of impartial, confidential advice and guidance. You'll also be able to discuss your employability requirements in more detail, including:

  • In-depth support and guidance for all topics covered in our employability drop-in sessions
  • Additional CV support for academic and research roles as well as postgraduate study applications
  • Application checks for placements and graduate roles, including developing your personal statement
  • Guidance if you want to change course or withdraw from university - relating to employability.

Workshops and skills sessions 

Throughout the year we offer a programme of workshops and skills sessions - headed by our careers advisers or employers. Develop a well-targeted CV. Shine at interviews. Improve your job searching skills.

Employer mentoring 

Linking you with industry professionals, this programme helps you gain valuable insight into a specific area of work you're interested in. You'll benefit from professional support, too.

Careers fairs 

Even if you don’t have any specific career ideas in mind, a careers fair is an invaluable opportunity to talk to professionals from a range of industry areas. You'll gather information which may help you make important choices in the future.

Employability competitions

Do you relish a challenge? Our employability competitions are a mix of interactive games and business challenges. Some of the competitions are run by specialist organisations, others are hosted by companies looking for their next graduate recruits. You'll get hands-on experience in many areas, including marketing, design, journalism, project management - even setting up your own business or social enterprise.

Enter the Hot Seat interview competition for the chance to be interviewed by a wide variety of industry professionals. Receive feedback on your interview technique and win cash prizes.

Get involved with Flux, a fast-paced competition where you'll set up a business and make plans for that business. Teams of four to six students compete in heats, and the University's winners go on to compete against other university teams at national level.

Our services

Career navigator

As a current student you can access all our careers support, employer vacancies and general information using our career navigator.

You will need a Plymouth University username and password to log into this.

Log into career navigator

Student jobs

Students, are you looking for part-time work? Recruiters, do you want to find the best talent? We can help.

Learn more about student jobs