Employer engagement opportunities

Raise your profile to attract our enthusiastic and diverse students
Employer Engagement OpportunitiesAttract the brightest talent - supporting you to access our students and graduates

Contact one of the team today to discuss how we can support your recruitment needs or how we can help raise the profile of your organisation on campus:

Telephone: +44 1752 587729

Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

A warm welcome from the Employer Engagement Team

Connecting employers with our talented students and graduates
Our dedicated Employer Engagement Team work in partnership with employers, offering a tailored service depending on your business requirements and objectives.
Explore this page for an overview of our activities and we look forward to talking these through with you in more detail. With a wealth of experience between us you are in safe hands and we’re here to help.
If you would like to find out more about any of these activities, please contact us.
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

Discover employer events and activities

Advertising vacancies
myCareer is our online platform where you can advertise your paid vacancies free of charge to all University of Plymouth students and registered graduates.
The types of vacancies you can advertise through this service include:
  • part-time/casual roles
  • short-term internships
  • placements/year in industry
  • graduate jobs/schemes.
Voluntary roles with registered charities should be emailed to volunteer@su.plymouth.ac.uk
Please see our vacancy terms and conditions for more details.
Many students and graduates seek roles with employers whose values align with their own. To capitalise on this, ensure your vacancy mentions your values, ED&I policy and make it clear if applications are welcomed from international students.
Log on now or register for an account to add, preview, update and delete your job postings as required.

Promote your vacancies through myCareer

Career Conversations
Helping our students increase their commercial and sector awareness is part of our over-reaching aim to increase their employability. For 2024/25, we are launching our Career Conversations series with business professionals, covering areas of interest to students from a wide range of courses. These recorded sessions will cover sector insights and general employability topics, as opposed to highlighting specific organisations or graduate schemes offered by an individual employer.
The format is flexible, depending on the subject being covered and what you feel would work best for your Career Conversations recording. Examples could include a short presentation, a Q&A style with a Careers Host, insights from recent graduates working in the sector etc. Each recording will be bite-sized, lasting no longer than 20 minutes. Recordings will be via Zoom, but if you have the facilities to create an interactive recording on site, then we would welcome different video formats.
If you would like to find out more and discuss possible topics of interest, then we would welcome a phone call to chat this through in more detail.
Please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

Careers fairs
Exhibiting at a careers fair is a great way for businesses to raise their profile and promote opportunities directly to our students. Situated in our spacious Rolle Marquee , our careers fairs provide the ideal arena for you to meet and talk to a wide range of students from varying courses and all stages.*
Dates for 2024/2025 careers fairs
  • Part-time Jobs Fair: Wednesday 2 October 2024, 11am–2:30pm
  • STEM Placement & Graduate Careers Fair: Wednesday 6 November 2024, 11am–2:30pm
  • All Sector Placement & Graduate Careers Fair: Wednesday 13 November 2024, 11am–2:30pm
  • Southwest Placement & Graduate Careers Fair: Wednesday 19 February 2025, 11am–2:30pm
  • Geo-Environmental Placement & Graduate Careers Fair: Wednesday 26 February 2025, 12-4pm
  • Summer Opportunities Fair: Wednesday 5 March 2025, 12–2:30pm
*Aside from the Part-time Jobs Fair, students from nursing, midwifery, health professions, medicine, dentistry and teaching do not generally attend our careers fairs due to the nature of their courses. Contact us to discuss alternative ways of reaching these cohorts.
If you have any questions, please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

Raise your profile at one of our careers fairs

Careers Mentoring Programmes
The Mentoring Programme is an employability related programme, which has two specific objectives: raising aspirations and improving employability. Mentoring provides a fantastic opportunity to share relevant career sector and employability focussed advice and guidance.
But why become a mentor?
  • to give back to the next generation
  • to provide advice and guidance
  • to share knowledge and support others
  • to maintain and develop networking links
  • to gain new perspectives and fresh ideas
  • to develop your own CPD.
All we ask is that you can offer 4 sessions across a 6-month period.
On completion of the programme, you will receive a Career mentoring programme digital badge, showcasing your commitment to your personal and career development. Learn more about the benefits of digital badging .
All our programmes include optional training, events, a digital handbook and support throughout. For more information, please see our become a mentor on the Careers Mentoring Programme page.
For more information, please email: mentoring.careers@plymouth.ac.uk

A two way process

Employer promotional activities
Careers fairs may not be the right activity for all organisations; we have therefore developed a range of alternative options.
Employer in the Foyer drop-in stands
For those who wish to talk to a wide range of students and/or are looking to recruit to a number of positions, our ‘Employer in the Foyer’ drop-in may be a good option. Your drop-in stand would be located inside the Charles Seale Hayne Library entrance foyer, and adjacent to the Student and Career Hubs. This location positions you perfectly to informally engage with our students as they move in and out of the building.
Bookings can be made for Tuesdays or Thursdays through October/November and February/March. The cost includes the provision of a table, chairs, and the marketing of your stand. We invite you to bring pull-up banner(s) and any materials you may have. To get the most out of this activity you need to be proactive in engaging with the students as they pass by.
Price to exhibit is based on company size:
  • Charity, Not-For-Profit, Micro (less than 11 employees) £50 + VAT [£60]
  • SME (11-250 employees), Professional Bodies £75 + VAT [£90]
  • Organisations with +250 employees, Recruitment Agencies, £100 + VAT [£120]
Contact us to find out more or complete a booking request form, we will aim to get back to confirm within 5 working days.
Presentations
Speaking directly to our students in a more formal classroom setting is possible, however this activity is not as popular with students as it once was. We are happy to discuss your ideas and help decide if your talk will resonate with students.
More and more organisations are now conducting presentation activities virtually and to universities collectively rather than individually. We are happy to consider promoting these events if they are relevant to our students, not comparable to the sessions we offer, and there is the capacity on our events calendar to add them.
Please contact us to discuss and for us to advise you.
If you wish to present to a specific course in a lecture, please refer to the 'Linking with the Curriculum' section.
Bespoke activities
Organisations come to us with bespoke activities which we are always happy to accommodate. In the past we have hosted outdoor gazebos and coffee carts. Get in touch with us and we will work with you to find the best space on campus for your unique activity and promote your presence.
If you are interested in any of the above activities, please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

Internships
An increasing number of students and employers are seeking/offering shorter internships (between 1–3 months). Internships are an appealing option to students who will not always be able to undertake a year-long placement but want to build work experience and key employability skills. They are popular with employers because a lot can be achieved in a short, focussed, and cost-effective time. The internships team can assist with advertising and promoting short-term internships.
In addition to this, we host our own Careers Service internship schemes and work with organisations to generate mutually beneficial opportunities for both our students and internship hosts. More information on these can be seen below.

Micro-internships

Each year we deliver a micro-internship programme open to undergraduate students from all courses and stages. The micro-internships are voluntary work experience that will last between 3–10 days (maximum 37 hours per week). It is a great way for a business to benefit from our talented students who will assist you with a short project or a collection of defined tasks. The students gain the chance to explore sectors, develop confidence and enhance their employability skills, before securing a placement year or graduating into the world of work.
The dates for 2024/25 are:
  • Winter cycle: 25 November – 13 December 2024 (deadline to receive projects, 9 October, part-time only, max. 20 hours per week.)
  • Spring cycle: 7 April – 25 April 2025 (deadline to receive projects, 19 February)
  • Summer cycle: 9 June – 7 August 2025 (deadline to receive projects, 23 April)
To register your interest, find out more or discuss project ideas please email internships@plymouth.ac.uk.

I was delighted to host two Research Assistant Interns this year to assist me with a longitudinal research project. I really appreciated the time and effort the Interns spent on this project and the skills they bought and developed. It was a pleasure to see them develop confidence in their research skills and participate in transcribing, analysing data and finding interesting themes. I would thoroughly recommend working with Interns as they bring a sense of energy, enthusiasm and fresh insights.”

Dr Louise Webber, Plymouth Institute of Education, Summer 2024

There was a small amount of admin to set up the internship, and the usual new starter induction requirements. But it really was a delight to have someone new, with fresh perspectives in the office. By the end of the internship the work they produced by far outweighed the initial administrative cost of taking them on. The internships team handled the recruitment and they did a fantastic job! I would highly recommend this opportunity to other businesses and students.”

Samantha Hammond, Westcountry Fabrication Ltd, Summer 2024

Funded internships

The Careers Insight Programme is our funded work experience scheme, with a WP (widening participation) focus. We match a host organisation with a student intern, to undertake a clearly defined, 100-hour project.
A single bursary payment is made directly to the student, coordinated by the University, at the end of the experience.
The scheme is open to students who are defined as under-represented by the Office for Students (OfS); and we are keen to hear from potential hosts who have a strong belief in equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). To find out more about the criteria of the Careers Insight Programme, please see our social mobility page.
To further explore our internship opportunities…
Lois Dyer, our Employer Engagement Officer specialising in internships and short work experience opportunities, will be happy to provide more information and answer any questions. You can contact Lois on internships@plymouth.ac.uk

Linking with the curriculum
Supporting employability development
As part of the Careers offer within the curriculum, our Careers Consultants design and deliver a range of activities where the input from professionals is a key component. There are various ways to engage with students, such as speaking on a panel in person or virtually, setting a challenge relating to your business for the students to solve or networking with the students for them to practice that skill.
Regular activities include the Careers in Psychology Conference, Biological Sciences Panel, Business & Marketing Challenge, and the Maths Conference.
Presenting
Organisations often ask if they can link with specific courses or subject areas to deliver a targeted talk. One of the ways to do this can be through a timetabled session in the curriculum, either with our Careers Consultants, Placement Officers or we can link you directly with an academic. You will work with the person delivering the session to plan your allocated time slot and content to enhance the session.
Please note, these sessions are very limited and will be offered to those who will be of most benefit and interest to the students and will enhance the subject being delivered.
If you have any questions, please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

Placements
A placement (also known as a placement year, sandwich-year, year-in-industry and work-placement) is an excellent opportunity for an employer to welcome an undergraduate student into their team for up to one year. Plymouth has a long history of supporting businesses (big and small, locally, nationally, internationally) with recruiting undergraduates into placements and will often use this effective talent mapping recruitment method for filling graduate level roles.
Key benefits to a placement host:
  • identify talented individuals early
  • bring in fresh and innovative ideas
  • bring in a new perspective
  • extra resource for busier times
  • no long term commitment
  • helps to raise the profile of your business within the student network
  • students can complete part time hours in the final year.
We have a dedicated team of Placement Advisers, providing you access to our students' current knowledge and enthusiasm and giving you a fresh perspective on the talent available. If you would like to find out about recruiting a student on a placement as part of their degree programme, please:
And speak to:
  • Lindsey Marshall: Employer Engagement Officer specialising in placements for psychology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, biological and marine sciences.
  • Nikki Reid-Foster: Employer Engagement Officer specialising in placements for built environment, business, tourism, events, digital arts, design, sociology, anthropology, law, criminology, English and history.
  • Andrea Kemp: Employer Engagement Officer specialising in placements for computing, maths, engineering, environmental science, geography and geology.
  • • Claire Lilley, Myla Serdiuk and Haydon Anstis: our brilliant Employer Engagement Assistants.

Skills development activities
BOOST
Open to students from all courses and stages, Boost challenges students to work in teams to solve a real-life business challenge set by the partnering organisation. It has been designed to support students develop key employability skills and provide an opportunity for organisations to engage with students in a unique environment that differs from traditional recruitment events. This is a great way to see students working in a team, undertaking workshops linked to the challenge, networking, pitching, leading a group and actively using their key transferable skills.
If you have an idea for a Boost challenge or would like to talk to us about collaborating on a skills development activity, please get in touch.
“The Boost event provides an opportunity to work with others in developing and proposing a solution to a real business challenge. Our subject matter experts will provide some great guidance around some of the key topics such as marketing, project management and finance, which will impact your decision making; skills you will also need as you move into the employment market, whatever your background. You will have the chance to collaborate in a team and use and develop your creative skills! It’s a lively and fun day and provides some great networking opportunities with some of Babcock’s SME’s.”
Rosie Prout, Early Careers Manager, Babcock International
Skills sessions
If you have an idea for a particular skill development session you would like to offer to run, please get in touch. Your session should complement without replicating sessions we already offer internally or could be pertinent to specific industry sectors which would then enhance our students' knowledge and expertise.
Recent LMI indicates that students feel they would like more support with building confidence, improving communication, commercial awareness, self-motivation/awareness, and resilience. (Rate My Placement 2024 Student Research survey).
If you have any questions, please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

BOOST in action

Sponsor our women’s development programme, Bounce!
Bounce! is a free two day personal and professional development programme aimed at current University of Plymouth students who identify as a woman.
The aim of the programme is to build:
  • confidence in recognising their skills and strengths
  • personal power
  • assertiveness and impact when speaking
  • sense of mindfulness and wellbeing
  • ability to make personal and professional connections.
It’s interactive and each day guest speakers join the group to share their own experiences and invite participants to ask them questions.
What are the benefits of sponsoring Bounce!
We deliver Bounce! three times a year and participant feedback confirms that many have benefited greatly from the two day programme.
As a sponsor you will …
  • contribute to building a talent pool/ pipeline of confident and ambitious women
  • access students who may not yet have considered you as an employer
  • raise the profile of yourself and/or organisation on campus and engage with the University in a unique way; featuring on the website (logo, organisation details) and associated marketing materials
  • contribute to your organisation’s corporate social responsibility and diversity/ inclusion strategy outside of graduate recruitment initiatives
  • offer your staff a unique staff development opportunity by being one of our guest speakers. A guest speaker slot involves talking about professional journeys (opportunities and challenges) along with sharing tips gained along the way.
What sponsorship is available?
Whether you are a sole trader, SME or larger corporation we would love to hear from you and discuss your potential involvement. Take a look at our current sponsorship opportunity below or contact Bounce! Lead facilitator Sarah Plunkett .
Involvement:
  • being/ providing a guest speaker
  • providing funding for an afternoon tea celebration event where all participants are invited to network
  • providing mentors who can support students attending the programme with their developmental journey (optional).
Benefit:
  • company logo and description featured on the website
  • guest speaker featured on the website
  • an opportunity to have your promo banner up in the room (featuring in the back of photos)
  • an opportunity to provide marketing materials in packs
  • an opportunity for staff to come to the networking lunch in order to meet and network with participants
  • an opportunity to feature in the employer newsletter going to all our registered employers, to showcase your support and engagement with the University.
Indicative cost:
£550.00
To attract the best applications, you need to make your organisation the one of choice by showcasing your core values. When asked, students highly rate diversity, flexible/hybrid working and sustainability.
The Employer Engagement team have brought together resources to help inform you.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) – be an organisation of choice!
The University recognises that by valuing each other’s varied contributions we can all achieve more. That is why we support a diverse community through our equality plan, which recognises the good work we’re already doing to support under-represented groups of students, whilst setting new challenges and goals for the future.
For the Employer Engagement Team, there is a strong link with many organisations we work with, who have a current focus on EDI and are embracing a range of ways to increase their social diversity. For some organisations, they will already be very comfortable with EDI. For others, this may be a subject they are less familiar with or are at the early stages of embedding within the organisation’s culture and strategy.
Regardless of where you are with your EDI journey, we are here to help! We have developed a useful Good Practice Guide , beneficial to all of our organisations. As well as providing an overview of EDI and the benefits it can bring to an organisation, there are also some top tips and easy steps for embedding EDI within your organisation.
We would be happy to chat this through further with you:

Recruiting international students – easier than you think
Plymouth is proud to have a diverse and growing international student population and this mix of different cultures brings many benefits to our vibrant and inclusive University campus. Upon finishing their studies, many of our international graduates look to continue their career in the UK and will be proactively looking for employment opportunities. Recruiting an international graduate is much easier with the new Graduate Visa not requiring the employer to be a sponsor, as well as a simplified Skilled Worker Visa option.
“Employers with a diverse workforce benefit from higher profits (CBI), increased innovation and creativity and enhanced brand appeal.” (Forbes)
Employer recruitment guide: To help demystify the process of recruiting an international graduate, here are two excellent resources available to you (for free), compiled by the International Student Employability Group.
  1. Employers Guide to Recruiting International Graduates (an infographic resource detailing the information on the ‘Graduate route’, the ‘Skilled Worker route’ and ‘Benefits to Business’.
  2. Recruiting International Graduates, a Guide for Employers (a more detailed written guide).
Top tip: Stand out from the crowd and make it clear within the wording of your job adverts, job descriptions and relevant company webpages that you welcome applications from international students, for graduate level positions. Simple but effective.

SME business support
We recognise that SMEs may face different time, resource and budget challenges compared to larger organisations, when it comes to recruitment. Our team is here to listen and advise you where we can, and although all the activities listed elsewhere on this webpage are open to all types and sizes of business, we have several initiatives in place to make our activities and services more accessible:
  • pricing based on organisation size/type
  • free vacancy promotion on our online portal myCareer
  • opportunities to be a part of our online panel events, helping raise your organisation’s profile to our students
  • advice on salary for placements and graduate roles
  • for those organisations who are located in the South West, we host a South West Placement & Graduate Careers Fair in early Spring.
Stay in the loop
Consider signing up to receive emails from these local business groups to hear about funding opportunities, training and more:
Local Chamber of Commerce groups are also worth considering joining.
If you have any questions, please contact the team:
Email: employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1752 587729

The most popular region for University of Plymouth graduates to live and work

Engaging with other University services
As well as working with the Careers Service, your organisation could benefit from connecting and collaborating with the wider University. There are numerous ways to benefit from our resources and expertise including accessing equipment and facilities, connecting with our research and engaging in professional development. Examples include:
  • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)
  • Degree Apprenticeships
  • R&D Solutions Fund
A wide range of business services can be explored via Enterprise Solutions .
 

Employer Engagement Team