Computer Science

In addition to your subject-specific knowledge, your computer science degree will equip you with a range of transferable skills including:

• high levels of computer literacy
• numeracy
• practical problem solving
• the ability to analyse and interpret data
• written and oral communication
• technical writing
• critical thinking
• creativity
• computer and technology knowledge
• organisational skills
• the ability to work methodically and accurately.

Due to the range of career options and sectors open to you, it is important to consider your options early on in your course and look for opportunities to gain relevant experience and skills.  As well as improving your CV, gaining experience can also help you to make choices about your future career.

Work experience

Depending on what area of work or role you might be interested in, and where, there will be specific strategies, from speculative applications to formal processes you need to be familiar with. Gradcracker offers specific IT internships. 

Also think about completing a year in industry placement as part of your degree.

Work experience - what, how and when

Year In Industry

The industry year lets you take what you've learned and apply it to real projects in industry. Placements are usually paid and can even lead to a job offer before you've graduated. Please speak to the Careers team or your School of Computer Science personal tutor if you are interested in completing a year in industry.  

Find out more

Relevant project work

Experience beyond the curriculum is encouraged by the School of Computer Science and valued by employers. There are a number of school-led modules designed to give credit for your own independent programming projects, work experience or teaching experience which are assessed and validated by the school. Employers will be keen to hear about the practical, project-based modules that you have completed, for example, second year group projects.

Employers are always keen to hear from students who are passionate about technology and create code outside, as well as inside, their academic work. You could get involved with student societies such as Hacksoc or undertake some technology-based volunteering work. Coding for your own projects will also be useful experience and can be added to your CV.

Nottingham Internship Scheme

Optional placement year

If there’s a particular area of career interest that you’d like to explore an optional placement year could help you. As you’ll get under the skin of an industry, organisation and role to make better-informed decisions about your future career. It’s also an opportunity to build professional skills and ease the transition into working life.

Volunteering

If you’d like to try different areas of work, gain relevant work experience and want to gain invaluable experience (especially within competitive sectors), volunteering could be a way for you to achieve this.

Nottingham Advantage Award

The award offers a multitude of ways in which you can build your employability skills including working with external organisations, learning a language or undertaking a work experience opportunity.

Nottingham Advantage Award

Students' Union

Get involved in relevant Students' Union societies Hacksoc and Compsoc or you may prefer to get involved with something completely different.  You will be able to build your transferable skill set as well as have something extra for your CV.

Students' Union

Part-time work

You could build your communication, commercial awareness, problem- solving and teamwork skills through part-time jobs. Unitemps is our recruitment service for part-time and temporary work on campus and in the local area.

Search for jobs on Unitemps

The majority of University of Nottingham computer science graduates enter roles within the IT sector although some will use their IT knowledge to move into careers such as consultancy, finance or banking.

Each year between about 10% of University of Nottingham computer science graduates choose to continue with their studies onto a taught masters or PhD qualification.

Further study options at this level have included

• Computer Science and Entrepreneurship
• Finance and Investment
• Information technology
• Computer Science
• Business Analytics. 

Some students progress after graduation to a PhD or Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) in Computer Science

Careers in software development

Gaming careers

Cybersecurity

Internet of Things (IoT)

Digital marketing

Prospects - what can I do with my degree?