Skills to get you noticed

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Here at Huddersfield, we help current students and graduates prepare for self-employment, freelancing and starting their own business. Taking the first step towards running your own business can seem like a real challenge. We're here to support you right from the beginning to help you grow your seed of an idea into a successful business.

Support for students and graduates

Our Enterprise Team supports students and graduates to set up businesses and to meet other like-minded peers during their degree or after they graduate. They are based in the Enterprise Hub - a fantastic modern facility for start-ups housed in the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre. The centre offers free hot desk office facilities, one to one business advice and support, and a range of business facilities such as landline telephones and bookable meeting pods.

When it comes to choosing a placement while you are studying at undergraduate level, the conventional route is not your only option. If you think you've got what it takes, you could choose to set up and run your own business during an Enterprise Placement Year.

The University also offers a range of enterprise-focused degrees and one to one and group support to help students develop their ideas into successful businesses ventures.

Starting your own business

The Enterprise Team will support you when starting your own business by providing business advice and support, funding opportunities and office facilities. Its series of Enterprise Events is an ideal starting point for those who want to increase their enterprise awareness. These events offer advice on writing a business plan, researching the market, developing a brand and essential networking skills. The Team will work with you to help you make a success of your business. 

Following an initial chat with a Business Advisor you can apply for on-going support and access to the Enterprise Team’s services through Enterprise Support. Enterprise Support is open to UK/EU current students of the University and graduates within five years of graduation who have viable business or self-employment propositions and can evidence high commitment and enthusiasm for their business idea.

For more information, or if you have any questions, visit the Enterprise website or get in touch by emailing enterprise@hud.ac.uk.

Apply for Enterprise Support if you have the enthusiasm and ambition to start out on your own.

Careers and employability

We know you're coming to university to undertake your course, meet new people and broaden your horizons. However, we also help you to focus on life after you have graduated to ensure that your hard work pays off and you achieve your ambition. We offer all our students careers advice for life, meaning you can access support for the duration of your career.

Careers advice and support

The Careers and Employability Service is here to help you find work opportunities and to apply. Our team will give you one-to-one guidance to help you work out your career options and provide you with information, advice and guidance. Some of the resources that you'll get access to when you join us include:

• Career development workshops – receive input from employers and careers advisers to develop your skills and experience around what they are looking for
• Professional work experience – internship and placement opportunities
• Employer events – we hold regular career fairs that are great for making contacts and discovering opportunities from local and national companies
• Career resources – contain all the information, reference materials and interactive tools you need to support you in your career planning

Our approach to guide you to become an employable graduate, encouraging you to get involved with activities that could help you stand out in the jobs market through a concept we call EmployableME. Your EmployableME journey starts the very minute you begin University and continues throughout your working life. As soon as you're a student here, we'll be looking out for ways to help you get a fulfilling and rewarding job. We can also help you with identifying transferable skills if you are looking for a career change.

Careers online

We also offer a number of online resources. The Careers and Employability resource hub, MyCareer, is a home to the JobShop, where you can access hundreds of vacancies from organisations that want Huddersfield's students and graduates. MyCareerPlus features useful tools such as an interview simulator, help with psychometric tests, assessment centres and a number of employer videos, providing a valuable insight into employers' perspective on key aspects of what they're looking for.

MyCareer Resource Hub is an online resource for graduate opportunities and information about different industry sectors, allowing you to search for opportunities based on what your area of interest is and to gain sector-specific information. Our employment market statistics are another valuable source of information that can give you an idea of what other people from your course have gone on to do after graduating.

What our students think

What our students love about Huddersfield is that there's a real focus on practical career advice, emphasis on work placements and a variety of opportunities for students.

The University's JobShop advertises jobs that are ideal for students. They can range from working in retail, to the Students' Union, and even working in the University Library as a Student Helper.

Andy Rhodes, Sports Journalism BA(Hons) student

For more information or if you have any questions, visit the Careers website, follow us on twitter: @HudUniCareers, or get in touch at careers@hud.ac.uk.