Where to look for opportunities

There is a wealth of websites available to search for work opportunities, as well as a wide variety of types of experiences to explore.

Visit our web pages to find out more about these types of work: short-term internships, part-time casual work, voluntary work; a Placement year or study exchange; or a graduate role once you have completed your degree.

Below are some suggestions of where to search for a range of different work opportunities. For more link, visit our Global opportunities web page.

Websites

These websites offer a great range of opportunities from short-term internships to placement and graduate roles or schemes.  You can filter by location, job type or industry and most can set up regular notifications to your chosen email so you find about new jobs as they are posted!

  • Target Connect - Loughborough University's own vacancy system has thousands of graduate jobs, placements, internships, part time work and voluntary roles a year. Please note, whilst we do our utmost to evaluate each role advertised via Target Connect please assess each opportunity carefully and consider whether or not your personal circumstances will be affected by taking up the opportunity. Whilst we have made every effort to check the roles advertised, we cannot always guarantee their authenticity.
  • Loughborough Uni website
  • TARGETjobs
  • Prospects
  • Gradcracker - STEM related roles
  • Bright Network
  • Milkround
  • Handshake

Recruitment agencies

Agencies help companies advertise positions. They can also help match you to roles based on your skills and competencies. You will likely be asked to give the agency a CV and covering letter and also meet with them to discuss your plans and options. Find out more about using recruitment agencies on the Prospects website.

Speculative applications

Contacting companies to enquire if they have any opportunities can demonstrate initiative, keenness and a proactive nature – all great traits for any successful employee – and they might just give you a chance to secure a role which isn’t even being advertised. 

You can seek unadvertised roles in a number of ways, and below are a few suggestions:

One of the fastest and most accessible ways to network is online and LinkedIn is a great way to follow companies and keep up to date with what they are doing.  You can also find contacts to reach out to and network with, which may increase the chance of a new connection making some helpful introductions.

Further advice on setting up your LinkedIn profile, and using it for online professional networking, is available in The Ultimate LinkedIn Cheat Sheet and from LinkedIn.  Watch out for Loughborough Uni events too that provide advice about using LinkedIn.

Recruitment agencies often use LinkedIn as a way to find talent too, so make sure your profile is updated on LinkedIn so you can get noticed!

There are several employer directories and listings available to help you research potential employers to approach:

Loughborough campus is home to LUSEP - a collective of over 90 organisations from start-ups to global organisations. They advertise roles available – take a look to find out more.

There are also numerous business parks all over the UK in all cities and towns. Search for local business parks, visit the area and see if there are any companies that take your interest. You can then contact the organisations and ask for work experience.

  • Auticon career openings – for autistic job seekers interested in IT
  • Change100 Internships - Provides paid summer work placements, professional development and mentoring for students and recent graduates with any disability or long-term condition.
  • Disability Confident Employers – job listings with employers in the Disability Confident Scheme (not just Graduate roles)
  • The Diversity Dashboard - roles from employers who are specifically seeking to recruit individuals from underrepresented groups.
  • MyPlus students club – Events and jobs for disabled students and graduates
  • Enna Jobs Board – for neurodivergent applicants
  • Evenbreak – accessible job site for disabled job seekers (not just graduate roles)
  • Schemes for Talent – a list of schemes for people wanting to work in film, television and media
  • Stonewall Top 100 Employers 2022 compiled from the Workplace Equality Index – the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.