Careers and Employability Service
Services for current students

Where to look for vacancies in the UK

Student using a laptop in the library

You've decided that you need to gain some work experience but where do you find vacancies? We've put together a list of places you can start your search so you're not spending hours on Google!

In some career areas, work experience can be difficult to find so talk to our advisers and they can help you identify the best places to look.

Read our blog: 8 Tips for Speculative Work Experience Applications 

 

Internship vacancies targeted at Nottingham students

The internships advertised on MyCareer are from recruiters targeting Nottingham students and graduates. We advertise around 1500 work experience and internship vacancies every year.

The internships cover 30+ career areas so login now to explore what's on offer.

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Subscribe to Jobs by email to receive the latest vacancies every fortnight based on your career preferences direct to your inbox.

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Exclusive schemes for Nottingham students

To find out about all the work experience programmes at the university, visit:

What's on offer at Nottingham?

Work experience vacancies in the UK

What is a jobs board and how do I use them?

What is a jobs board?

Jobs boards are to recruitment what Ebay, Amazon and Etsy are to e-commerce. If you were an employer, would you rely on candidates visiting your careers webpage if you could reach thousands (if not millions) via a third party site?

Most jobs boards allow employers to post vacancies for free, but sponsored adverts appear higher in search results. This means that candidates who are prepared to venture beyond the first couple of pages are likely to be rewarded with some hidden gems.

How do I use them?

Some jobs boards are extremely broad in scope, while others focus narrowly on individual sectors or types of role (for example, graduate schemes and internships).

Before diving in, identify up to three jobs boards that fit your job search requirements by visiting their websites and reading user reviews online. Any more than this and your job search will quickly start to feel like a chore.  

As with all online searching, you get out what you put in. It takes time to find the right combination of search terms. If your initial searches return lots of vacancies:

  • cut the list down by applying multiple filters (such as location, contract type, salary range)
  • keep a list of keywords that appear repeatedly in interesting job adverts and use them in various combinations to run more targeted searches

Take some of the stress out of job hunting by allowing vacancies to come to you. Creating a free account with one of the big national jobs boards (for example Indeed, Glassdoor and TARGETjobs) and downloading the app will enable you to view, save and apply for jobs wherever you are. You can also choose to receive daily or weekly alerts which suggest vacancies based on your search activity and application history.

 

Nationwide vacancies

 

Programmes supporting under-represented students to gain work experience

10,000 Black Interns Programme - internships in investment management for the black community

Ambitious about Autism - opportunities for students on the Autistic Spectrum

Blind into Business - support for blind or visually impaired students and graduates

Change100 - internships for students and graduates with disabilities or long-term mental health conditions

Civil Service Diversity Internship Programme - spring and summer internships directed at BAME and economically disadvantaged students

Creative Access - helping under-represented communities to enter and thrive in the creative industries

Disability Connect - a reverse mentoring scheme providing businesses with a disabled mentor to increase their awareness of disability and disability issues in the workplace

EmployAbility - opportunities for disabled and dyslexic students and graduates, and to ease the transition into employment

Evenbreak - supporting disabled students and graduates

Girls Talk London delivers award-winning programmes that support female students who wish to work in Technology

Migrant Leaders - aimed at first and second generation young migrants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds due to the disadvantage migration causes

Rare - a programme for students from disadvantaged backgrounds where you can gain access to free coaching, interview advice, news and events

SEO - to support students from ethnic minority or low socioeconomic backgrounds  secure internships and graduate roles with top employers

Stonewall - to support LGBTQ+ students in finding roles within inclusive organisations 

Sutton Trust Pathways (Law only) - an undergraduate programme for students from under-represented background that includes a residential, mentoring and work experience

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2023

upReach - work experience opportunities to students from disadvantaged backgrounds

Windsor Fellowship Programmes - internships and students from BAME backgrounds

 

Find your own placement

Not all vacancies are advertised, therefore you may need to approach companies to find out if they are able to offer any opportunities.

You can do this by:

  • using a company's website, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter pages to find out who to contact about vacancies 
  • sending a tailored letter and CV enquiring about a short-term work placement or a few days work shadowing

  • getting in touch with contacts you have made through networking including using LinkedIn
 

 

Careers and Employability Service

University of Nottingham
Portland Building, Level D
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 3680
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 3679
email: careers-team@nottingham.ac.uk