Employability Placements and Graduate Outcomes

Placements

Year-long sandwich placements have been an option on our degrees for more than 25 years because we know what a positive impact they have, both on students, but also on our business community.  The combination of academic study with sustained work experience is powerful: students with a placement year get a better degree classification on average and have better prospects.  Our relationships with the business community are outstanding – we were awarded the Small Business Charter award by the Chartered Association of Business School.

We have a dedicated Employability and Placement Team who support students from all courses to find the right placement. The team were Awarded the National Undergraduate Employability Award for Best University Placement Service (Supporting under 750 students) in 2021.

The team support students throughout the process from CV checking, mock interviews and mock assessment centres.  We host a number of local employers on campus to conduct presentations and interviews from local, national and international recruiters.  The team continue the support throughout the placement year. Examples of placements can be seen on our Placements page.

Many of our students have an entrepreneurial flair and are interested in setting up their own business and so to support these students, we also offer an Enterprise Placement Year in collaboration with the 3MBic Enterprise Centre. As a graduate from the University of Huddersfield, you will have access to the Enterprise team for five years after graduation.

Volunteering and Student Jobs

Volunteering or becoming a student ambassador in a voluntary or paid capacity is also encouraged in Huddersfield Business School.  Volunteering opportunities can give you the opportunity to work with different organisations, charities and social enterprises. This helps extend your network and gives you new opportunities. The Students’ Union and the University Careers and Employability Service advertises a range of volunteering roles in addition to the subject specific volunteering positions promoted through Huddersfield Business School courses.  

Student and Graduate Internships

Internships are an excellent way to build up experience during your studies to increase your chances of getting that dream placement role or graduate job. Although a placement is the best way to develop your skills, we also offer bite-sized virtual work experience programs that give students a genuine career advantage with Fortune 500 companies such as J.P.Morgan, Redbull, General Electric (GE) and BCG.

Live Projects and Consultancy Projects

Working on live project or consultancy projects gives our students the opportunity to work alongside professionals in the industry, gaining essential contacts, networking skills and real world experience. These types of projects are embedded in a number of our modules, including ASPIRE 2 (taken by Business and Marketing undergraduate students), Managing the Client Event and Digital Campaigns and Communications.

Enterprise Workshops and Activities

Enterprise workshops and activities, such as ICE+, are held across the University and built into the Huddersfield Business School Development Weeks to encourage our students to take part. These projects have worked with various businesses (Gekco, UK Greetings, Skicky, Rugby League Carers) and they result in a paid placement for the winning students. You can read about our Master’s students who won the Enterprise and Employability Challenge during one of our Development Weeks here.

Professional Skills Developed Throughout the Course

The ASPIRE module programme is unique to Huddersfield Business School and developed in 2021. Designed for Business and Marketing students, ASPIRE was launched in s programme will build up your academic, personal and professional skills through a mix of live projects with local companies, reflection, intercultural awareness training as well as help you to take proactive steps towards putting you in the best possible position for your next move.  

Competitions, Qualifications and Memberships

Across Huddersfield Business School there are opportunities for students to take part and compete in subject-specific competitions and qualifications, for example the Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications, Food Hygiene qualifications, IOSH Managing Safety and more. Our Law students have opportunities to take part in international mooting competitions, which you can read about here. Our students have won a number of awards, including one of our international students, who won the Chartered Management Institute’s Final Year Student of the Year prize.  

As a student at the University of Huddersfield, you will study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your undergraduate degree* so that you gain valuable skills and attributes that we know employers are looking for including careers and employability support, well being and enterprise. The Global Professional Award was developed in 2021. 

*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees. 

These opportunities allow our students to upskill their subject knowledge and gain relevant and specific qualifications and recognition.  

Guest lectures feature significantly in the curriculum supporting all courses, for example our Masterclass in Marketing webinar series has featured speakers such as Conrad Bird CBE (UK Cabinet Office) and Jeff Boachie (Digital Acquisition Manager, Shelter UK). Our Future Mobility Lab webinar series launched in April 2022.  

Development Weeks

We set up to two weeks aside each term without normal teaching to allow you to different types of activities and opportunities to allow you to get out of the classroom, take part in field trips, practice your skills and develop your network. Examples of recent development week activities include  

• Field trip to Dark Woods coffee 
• Developing a LinkedIn profile 
• Virtual Internships 
• Graduate Panels where current students meet with recent graduates 
• Guest talks from our professional body partners 
• Law careers fair and mentoring sessions 

Huddersfield Graduate Attributes

Huddersfield Graduate Attributes are the skills we know employers are looking for. We make sure that all course build in opportunities for students to develop their skills. Check out the Huddersfield Graduate Attributes here.

Life after University

If you are considering a different route into employment i.e. self-employed, freelancing and business start-up you can access the Enterprise Support team for 5 years after graduation. Read some case studies of students who have started their own businesses with this support here.  

As a graduate of the University of Huddersfield you have access to the Careers and Employability Service for life. 

There are many opportunities to support other students and your course by joining the mentoring programme, returning to speak at open days, in lectures and careers events.  

You can also continue your studies with us at Huddersfield Business School by competing a Postgraduate Taught or Postgraduate Research [link to new Postgraduate Researchers page] course.