Work opportunities and career support

The combination of academic excellence and personal skills offered by Sheffield graduates makes them highly sought after in the employment market around the world. For example, Sheffield is one of the top three recruitment sources for the UK's two largest employers of new graduates: Price Waterhouse Coopers and KPMG.

The degree courses on offer at Sheffield provide you with transferable skills much valued by employers. These include interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to work under pressure or as part of a team, good analytical and reasoning skills, time management and presentation skills.

Choosing to study overseas, in a new culture and environment, also demonstrates your confidence, ability to take on new challenges and to mix with a wide range of people from all over the world. These are qualities much sought after by employers.

Work during your studies

If you are studying in the UK you can work up to 20 hours per week during your studies and full-time during the vacations. It is very common to see international students take up part-time work opportunities during their studies. However, as you come to the UK to study your first priority should always be your studies and many students do quickly realise that it is not always possible to combine part-time work with a demanding full-time course. You should also never come to the UK depending on income received through work to pay for your studies.

University Careers Service

The University's Careers Services provides support, guidance and information as well as a vacancy and work experience service to all our international students as well as recent graduates of the University.

From general guidance on how to apply for jobs, how to conduct yourself at job interviews, how to fine-tune your CV to help in general career planning, the Careers Service organises a wide range of activities that will help you prepare for the job market and develop your career during and after your studies.

Jobshop

The Jobshop at the Students' Union is run in partnership with the Careers Service, and one of many job agencies in Sheffield that can help you look for part-time, vacation and full-time work in and around Sheffield. You can search the online vacancy service, browse the notice board for the latest job vacancies including those at the university itself or the Student Union. You can also find work through local newspapers and recruitment websites.

Recruitment and Career Fairs

Each year the University organises several Careers Fairs. During the fairs you can meet and speak to prospective employers that represent many different industries, from consultancy to finance and engineering. Meeting these employers provides you with the opportunity to learn more about the opportunities they have for our graduates, requirements, application procedures, etc. As such the Fairs will greatly help you assess your suitability for the job market in various industries in the UK.

There is also a special Sheffield Legal Fair for those seeking employment in the legal industries.

Sheffield has also been the first University in the UK to launch an annual Virtual Careers Fair where employers from around the world advertise job opportunities to our graduates.

Careers Information Day

An information event where you can talk informally to representatives of over 60 graduate occupations, ranging from accountancy to social work. The organisations are not there to recruit, but to answer your questions and provide you with an insight into different occupational areas.