Studying towards the right qualifications is a huge part of achieving your aspirations – but there’s so much more you can do to make the best possible start in your career. That’s why we’ve developed a learning community that’s full of extracurricular opportunities and support to make you career-ready – wherever you want that career to take you.
In addition to courses developed in collaboration with industry, you can take advantage of career support services, and networking events.
It’s all about expanding your horizons – from the day you start, to your graduation, and beyond.
Work placement opportunities
All our undergraduate degrees and many of our postgraduate degrees offer the opportunity to undertake a work placement as part of your studies.
Securing a placement brings with it many benefits – real-world experience, excellent networking opportunities and insight into your chosen industry – all of which will help you stand out. But it will be competitive. You’ll need to demonstrate confidence, creativity, determination and resilience to secure a great placement. Ultimately, it will be your responsibility to find and organise your placement, but we’ll be on hand to support you throughout this process.
And for many of our students, the hard work pays off as they return to their placement company or organisation in their first job role after graduating, having demonstrated their ability while on placement.
Placements explained in more detail Read students' placement stories
BU student Jack
on his placement at Scouty – a photo and film shoot location company:
Stand out moments at Scouty have to be securing locations that have been used in big feature films and TV shows. This includes Chatham Historic Dockyard (Bridgerton and Les Misérables) and Temple of Peace (Doctor Who and Sherlock).
Careers support
From your first day at BU to up to three years after you graduate, you’ll have access to a wide range of career support to assist and guide you on your journey.
From our experienced and friendly Careers team and faculty placement staff, to our careers portal, MyCareerHub, we can help equip you with the skills and experience you’ll need to make your mark.
Throughout the year, we host a range of face-to-face and virtual events. These include recruitment fairs, part-time job fairs, weekly career workshops and employer events. All are designed to introduce you to a variety of companies and make that all-important first impression.
In particular, our 'Focus on your Future' events take place every October for all BU students and over the summer months for final year students. They are a great opportunity to either start thinking about possible career options or to fine-tune your employability skills before you graduate.
The BU Skills Development Programme
One of the ways that we help you to get career-ready is through our Skills Development Programme.
As the name suggests, it's all about developing your personal and professional skills alongside your degree – enhancing your employability, confidence and overall ability.
Based on our research into the most in-demand skills in today's job market, we've grouped skills into nine different areas. Choose from interpersonal and collaborative skills to creative and innovative skills, lifelong learning skills to global citizenship skills and much more – all at a pace and time that suits you.
What's more, you will be able to complete the skills' activities both on-campus and online, through tailored LinkedIn Learning pathways (where you'll be awarded LinkedIn Learning certificates that you can showcase on your profile) and MyCareerHub.
Discover more about the programme
Jenna from the Careers team gives an overview of our Skills Development Programme
Working with industry
We have excellent relationships with many local, national and international companies and, as a result, we can tailor our courses to meet industry needs. Many of our courses are accredited by professional bodies too, meaning your degree is recognised by potential employers as being professionally relevant and up to date.
When it comes to valuable industry insights, a large number of our staff have worked, or are still working, in the industry that they lecture in, bringing the knowledge and understanding of best practice and latest developments into your lectures and seminars.
What’s more, lots of our courses offer the opportunity to train with industry-standard equipment and in industry-standard facilities so that you’re familiar with how things work in professional settings – meaning you can hit the ground running when you graduate.
More ways to get ahead and stay ahead
Placement stories
Read about MSc Biodiversity Conservation student Mollie’s placement at Hengistbury Head
Learn about MSc Sport Management student Yisi Lu’s experience at Adidas
From teaching in Sri Lanka to Evelina London Children’s Hospital – read Charlotte’s story
Meet BSc (Hons) Environmental Science student Zach, founder of Bali Reef Conservation
See all of our placement stories