Careers and employability

Employers are looking for graduates who seek life-changing experiences and opportunities to grow throughout their time at university, enabling them to become independent thinkers who are ready to make an impact.  

At the Business School, with our dedicated Employability and Opportunity team, we help you to develop the skills and experience that will boost your CV and make you stand out to top graduate employers. Think of us as a springboard to your future.  

During my time at university, I've joined Enactus Society (consulting with small businesses), sat on the Business Society Committee (Vice President), volunteered as a PASS mentor, worked as a brand ambassador on campus, and completed a placement year at Nestlé.

Make an impact on your career

• Optional years – all our courses include the opportunity to extend your degree to spend a year in industry or studying abroad. These are brilliant ways to enhance your study and future career prospects by gaining valuable learning experiences. 
• Summer internships – for those looking for a shorter work experience, we can offer you support to find summer internships. 
• Mentoring – our Nurturing Talent Mentor Scheme connects you with professionals from industry. 
• Meet employers – we run a range of workshops and employer-led events, giving you helpful insight into how to stand out in the graduate employment market. We are the 4th most targeted university by the UK’s top graduate employers (High Fliers report, The Graduate Market in 2024).  
• Improve your entrepreneurial skills – the University of Leeds Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies provides practical support, materials and guidance to those who are interested in gaining new skills and improving their enterprise background. SPARK support students who are thinking about starting their own business. 
• From study to work – This specialist second year module 'From Study to Work', builds your understanding of the skills required to secure work placements, summer internships and graduate job opportunities and to prepare for a professional career ahead.  Plus, it will help you recognise your personal, professional and academic development, and to articulate your skills and knowledge to employers when applying for their roles.  
• Global Industry Project – This is a two-week virtual work-based learning programme, where you and other students will be teamed with an organisation outside of the UK. Each team receives a project brief from an employer based on best fit. You will work virtually and collaboratively to research and present recommendations for a real organisation in a professional final report. The aim is to grow your employability, career, insights, cultural consciousness, and to provide you with an opportunity to apply theory to practice.
• The University of Leeds Careers Service – you’ll also have access to the University’s award-winning Careers Service - one of the largest in the country - which includes access to My-Career, an online resource and database of thousands of internships, placements and graduate vacancies.  This includes vacancies that are exclusive to University of Leeds students too. 
• Other Business School opportunities – you can enhance your academic learning and work-related skills through participation in our Peer Assisted Study Scheme (PASS), by becoming a course representative or ambassador, undertaking a research summer project or joining a volunteering scheme.  

Professional relevance 

We work closely with employers and industry experts to ensure that our courses are relevant to the evolving business world. Employers regularly deliver presentations and workshops and many of our courses are professionally accredited - giving extra value to your degree.  

Accreditations and exemptions

• Our BSc Accounting and Finance offers significant exemptions from the main professional bodies in the field, including ICAEW, CIMA and ACCA 
• We are one of only a handful of institutions to hold CIPD accreditation for our BA Business Management and the Human Resource  
• Our International Business courses are accredited by the Institute of Export 
• Our BA Business Management with Marketing and BSc International Business and Marketing are accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)  
• Our BSc Banking and Finance is accredited by the Chartered Banker Institute (CBI) 

See more of our accreditations.

90% of UK-based graduates are in employment and/or further study within 15 months of graduation. 91% of UK-based graduates in employment are in graduate level employment such as professional or managerial work within 15 months of graduation. 

Q-Step initiative

Top employers have identified a shortage of social science graduates with the quantitative skills needed to analyse data and evaluate research evidence. Q-Step is a well-established national programme aimed at addressing this need.  

The University of Leeds Q-Step Centre has developed a range of ‘With Quantitative Methods’ pathways, modules and other extra-curricular opportunities for students across the social sciences to develop their data literacy skills and enhance their employability.  

How does it work?  

You apply for the course as normal. In your first year you can then choose to enrol for special quantitative-based modules, such as Understanding Data in the Social Sciences. If you pass these modules, further Q-Step modules will be available in your second and final years.  

How will it help me?  

Taking Q-Step modules will help you develop the vital quantitative skills sought by employers whilst allowing you to maintain the subject focus of your degree.  

The University of Leeds has an outstanding reputation for quantitative social science and is home to the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, a prestigious UK Research Council Centre for big data analytics in both health and consumer behaviour. This expertise, along with our links with industry and government, will help to inform your teaching on the new modules.