University of Manchester Careers Blog

Congratulations on your graduation! We hope that you have a wonderful time celebrating your achievements.

Now that you have come to the end of your degree, you may be thinking about your next steps. Whatever you want to do, the Careers Service is here to support you for up to two years after you finished your degree. So whether you are applying to graduate jobs, looking for a PhD programme, or need advice on your career options, we can help! Stay in touch to hear about events and opportunities too.

What to expect after graduating

After you graduate, it is normal to feel a mix of emotions: you might feel sad about the end of your degree, excited about your career plans or uncertain about your next steps. However, remember that you are not alone in this and that your friends and course mates likely feel the same way. After graduating, you might stay in Manchester, or you might move home or to a new area, but the Careers Service is here to help wherever you are in the world, with a mix of virtual and on-campus support.

If you want some inspiration for your next steps, watch and read our graduate stories to learn about the experiences of other University of Manchester graduates after they finished their degrees. Explore our graduate career stories and read some of our graduate guest blog articles now.

Careers support for graduates

The Careers Service supports graduates for up to two years after the end of their course. This means you will continue to have access to:

· CareerConnect, including vacancies and opportunities, events, pathways and appointments. Make sure you sign up for your graduate account

· On demand resources such as Shortlist.Me and CareerSet

· The Careers Service website

· Blog articles and recordings on YouTube.

If you are searching for a graduate job, we are here to help you with every stage of your job hunt. On our website, we have lots of resources to help you find graduate job opportunities, and we also have our own graduate internship programme, Manchester Graduate Talent, where you can find graduate jobs in the university and at organisations in Greater Manchester. When you are ready to apply, we have advice to help you write your CV, applications and cover letters, and prepare for interviews, assessment centres or psychometric tests.

If you have already secured a job, congratulations! Now is the perfect time to develop any skills you will need in your new role and network with your new colleagues. You might find our advice on preparing for the workplace helpful to ensure you make a good first impression too.

If you are thinking about further study, you may be connecting with academics, exploring different courses or programmes, researching funding opportunities or writing applications. Our considering further study pages can help you with finding courses and funding. We also have specific advice for further study applications and interviews.

Don’t worry if you have other plans too! Whether you are interested in volunteering, want to freelance or start your own business, or you are planning to take a break between studying and your next steps, we are here to help. If you don’t know what you want to do, we can help you understand the options available to you.

Staying in touch

As a graduate, you can stay in touch with the Careers Service in several ways:

· The Recent Graduate Careers Network on LinkedIn. We share events, opportunities and resources in this group regularly and you can also connect with other graduates.

· Social media. The Careers Service uses Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to promote events and opportunities. Follow us to keep up to date with what we are doing!

· The alumni newsletter. Once you have graduated, you will start receiving the alumni newsletter twice a month. This newsletter is full of news and updates from across the university and includes career support and opportunities. · You can also get in touch with us via webchat or by using queries on CareerConnect.

You are also now a member of the University of Manchester alumni community. As alumni, you have access to events, volunteering opportunities and network groups through the alumni department. You can find out more about the resources available to alumni on the University of Manchester alumni website.

So whatever your plans for after graduation, remember that the Careers Service is here to support you for up to two years after you finished your course. Have a look at our graduate pages for more information about the support available to you, to explore stories from other graduates and to get started with your next steps, and don’t forget to sign up for your graduate CareerConnect account too.

Written by Samantha Oates-Miller, Career Insights and Graduate Support Assistant