Careers and Employability
At UWS London we pride ourselves on offering personalised support to our students and graduates helping them to find employment during their studies and careers when they graduate. We understand that our graduates need to stand out and have not only strong qualifications but the skills and mind-set to match. Our location in one of Europe’s busiest cities provides our students with fantastic opportunities for work experience and jobs.
UWS has a strong focus on employability and we have a careers team that will provide you with the advice you need and direct you to the support and opportunities available.
Places to look for job opportunities
Support that we offer
UWS London Micro-placement Scheme
UWS London has created an opportunity for local businesses to make use of the talent available within its student body and provide students with the chance to gain hands on experience in real life projects, enhance their transferable skills and become more employable.
Paid opportunities which can be from as little as just one week to longer depending on the project and scale of the work.
How students can get involved
The Micro-placement programme will run in October and March. Students can register their interest in applying to the scheme by filling out this form. Once accepted onto the scheme students will be able to take part in a skills development programme and once they have successfully completed the programme they will be able to upload their CV onto the UWS London Student Talent Portal.
The skills development programme is offered by the UWS Careers team to support communication, time management and problem solving skills. Successful completion of this programme is key to taking part on the scheme.
Students can also receive support from a mentor who will act as a point of contact and offer advice and guidance. Mentoring would be most beneficial to those students who have little or no work experience.
What types of placements are there?
Projects vary but could include social media work, website design, or project management of a small project.
Why should students apply?
- Provides real life work experience
- Develops key skills
How employers can get involved
Employers can register their interest in the scheme and talk to one of our advisors who will then ensure that they have login details to the UWS London Student Talent portal.
Once on this portal they can either look through the CVS online or post a project that they would like to find a short term placement for.
Find out more about why micro-placements are of value to employers and students.
UWS London Mentoring Scheme
The UWS London mentoring scheme matches students with people in industry, public and private sector organisations. It is a great opportunity for our International students to gain professional insights into working in the UK and other countries. If you choose to take part in our mentoring programme you will be matched with a mentor who can help you to reach your full potential and provide you with a positive role model.
5 benefits to having a mentor
Applications will open in Sept and January for all masters’ students.
While traditionally mentoring is on a 1:1 basis, at UWS London a group mentoring approach will be taken and enable you to develop a strong network of peers that you can also seek support from.
Becoming a mentor
Would you like to use your knowledge, experience and motivation to help a UWS London student develop and achieve their full potential?
Our mentoring scheme enables professionals from all sectors to act as role models to our international students, providing them with advice, and help to shape their goals in a constructive and supportive environment.
What do Postgraduate students want from a mentor?
- Someone who can provide industry contacts or leads
- Someone who is open and honest
- Someone who is a good listener
- Someone who can offer real insights through their own experiences, particularly around working in the UK
- Someone who can provide guidance on how to apply for a specific role
All of our postgraduate students are from international backgrounds. While they have strong academic knowledge, and ambition they may not have the communication skills expected within the workplace.
What makes a good mentor?
A good mentor is someone with a genuine desire to share their knowledge and experience with someone starting their journey in the professional world. Mentors are often highly successful in their own careers and have a genuine desire to support growth and acting as a role model. Given the international backgrounds of our students we are particularly keen to recruit mentors who are culturally diverse. If you are interested volunteering your time to become a mentor please complete our application form.
What do we expect from our mentors?
- 1-2 hours per month
- Experience of navigating organisational environments and being prepared to tell the story
- Taking part in a brief workshop with other mentors (ideally this would be an evening on campus with light refreshments, but it could take place online
- Meetings with mentees can take place face to face or online but ideally one face to face meeting would be ideal, preferably at the mentor’s place of work.
Benefits to being a mentor
Being a mentor brings a number of benefits some of which are listed below:
- Learning to communicate differently
- Gaining a different perspective from the mentee
- Giving back and nurturing talent
“A mentor provides support by offering information advice and assistance in a way that empowers the mentee” — The mentoring manual, Julie Starr
“The greatest benefit I’ve received from this experience has been learning different perspectives from my mentee, and being able to bring that into my work” — CIPD mentor
Volunteering at UWS London
Volunteering unpaid activity supporting not-for-profit organisations. Volunteering is important as it helps the community, and connects people. One of the better-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Unpaid volunteers are often the glue that holds a community together. Volunteering allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place.
Why volunteer?
Volunteering is a fantastic attribute to add to your CV, as employers can see that you are community minded, and that you have built up your skills. Volunteering is also a great way to make new friends, and also build up that all important network of contacts.
Become a part of the community
Make a difference and stand out
Make friends and network
Boost your skills and confidence
Volunteering can be a weekly commitment or involve short term projects. You may find yourself working in the community or building a website for a voluntary organisation.
How can you become a volunteer?
We work with local volunteering teams in Tower Hamlets and Newham to help you find volunteering roles that meet your development needs and help you to engage with the community.
Types of jobs available can be found by looking at this London Government Website. If you are interested in finding out more, register here.
Getting the most from volunteering
- Ask questions.
- Speak up if you think your skills are not being used.
- Make sure that you know the expectations.
What sort of roles should I look for?
The important thing when volunteering is to look for roles that you think you would enjoy and you know you would be good at. Perhaps think about the following:
- Do you want to be in a team or be on your own;
- How much time to you have to spare;
- How much responsibility to you want;
- What skills do you have to offer;
- What skills would the role help you to develop?
Skills involved in volunteering
(Adapted from: https://www.vcth.org.uk/include-volunteering-on-your-cv/)
Employability Award Scheme
What is it?
The UWS London Employability Award has been designed for our taught postgraduate students, enabling them to gain recognition for their experiences and skills development throughout their studies, extra-curricular activities and work. In completing the award students are more confidently able to recognise and articulate their skills effectively. It is a way you to demonstrate the personal and professional development you can gain from your involvement in activities above and beyond your academic studies.
Resources are provided to support students throughout and you are encouraged to use the Careers Service for help and advice. You will be able to reflect on the activities through OneNote.
Why take part?
UWS London is invested in supporting its students in securing a great job when they graduate, helping them to enter the highly competitive job market that exists currently. Recent graduates need to stand out and have a CV that shows how they are engaged in their studies, and take part in extracurricular activities.
The key benefits to students on completing the award are to help build employability and motivate students to take responsibility for their own career. Learning gained via the award programme can help increase student satisfaction and ultimately have a positive effect on graduate outcomes.
Business Enterprise Scheme
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship are key aspects of the UWS London Employability framework.
The UWS Greenhouse Incubator Programme runs two times a year in September and February. You can send in an application to London@uws.ac.uk at any time but applications are only considered in December and in July.
To be considered for the September cohort you must apply by the 26th August marking the subject heading UWS Incubator application. A series of events with a UWS entrepreneur adviser will take place in May if you need help with the application. The application should outline:
- Your business idea and how it will support at least one of the UN sustainability goals
- What will make your business stand out
- Why you want to join the programme and how it will help you to get your business notices
- What will you bring the incubator
Our UWS Enterprise Mentors
Alan Pooley
Yagmur Albayrak
Mark Huxley
Working with us
Access our expertise, talent and support . Whatever help you need you can come to us. We have experience in supporting organisations from a variety of sectors across the capital.
Knowledge transfer partnerships
We have a successful track record of working with businesses in grant-funded partnership projects.
Working with our students and alumni
Our students and graduates offer a range of skills that local businesses can tap into.
