Introduction to the UK job market

Navigating the UK job market for the first time can feel overwhelming, especially with unfamiliar vocabulary. To support you, the Careers Service has created this glossary to explain key terms: Common vocabulary used in the UK job market .

Here are a few of the main differences in the job market you may experience in the UK.

What do UK employers want?

Focus on skills

  • UK employers focus upon your skills and qualities when hiring. They often define a set of skills they are looking for and ask you for examples that show you using these qualities.

  • Employers are looking for you to demonstrate skills, but they don't have to be from formal internships or even paid work. It is a competitive process, so you do need to use your time at University effectively, try volunteering, joining societies, or peer mentoring to build and show your skills.
  • There are more jobs suitable for “any degree background”. Unlike many countries, lots of UK employers are open to applicants from any degree discipline for a wide range of jobs. For example, accountancy is often open to biologists, engineers or any other discipline, as well as business and finance students. You still need to show your interest in, and knowledge of the type of work – even better to have some work or voluntary experience – but don’t let your degree discipline restrict your UK job search.
  • If you have not yet had the opportunity to gain work experience while you study, you could consider using part of your 2-year Graduate Route visa to gain experience in the UK, then apply to those competitive programmes later. Most graduate employers accept applications from graduates up to a year or two after graduating.

Business English

Using your time at university to develop your English language skills and confidence will help you to make your experience here as enjoyable as possible and will also be crucial in making you a strong candidate when applying for job roles in the UK.

UK recruiters are looking for applicants with excellent English language skills. This is because almost every role involves communicating with clients and colleagues alike on a really wide range of topics from personal issues to complex matters relating to company projects. Feeling confident in talking fluently to colleagues and clients is known as having ‘business-level English’ and could be an important contributing factor to your chances of not only securing work in the UK but also feeling confident in the workplace as well.

See below for some tips on how you can develop your English language skills and confidence:

  • Immerse yourself in the English language. Try to experience as much English language-based culture as possible. For example, you could sign up to a local library to borrow fiction and non-fiction books, including audio books and e-books. Listen to English language music and podcasts, and watch English language TV programmes as well so that you can experience as many different conversation and speaking styles as possible.
  • Familiarise yourself with the UK job market. Every career and sector will involve words which may not be familiar to people who haven’t worked in that area previously, but employers will expect you to be familiar with key terms related to the tasks and projects that they undertake. Start with familiarising yourself with general terms connected to the UK job market by working through the ‘Introduction to looking for work in the UK’ section of our ‘International Students: Visas and the UK Job Market’ pathway on CareerConnect.After that, if there’s a specific sector that you’re interested in, check out the sector pages on the Which Career section of this website. Each sector page includes an introduction to the sector and links to profiles of common jobs within that sector, which will introduce you to key terms such as job titles and responsibilities. After that, visit the websites of companies that you’re interested in working for. Read about their values, latest projects and the types of careers that they offer, so you can familiarise yourself with the language that they use so that you can incorporate it into your applications for work with that company.
  • Get involved! Look out for opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds and cultures around campus. Joining a society or club or participating in a volunteering event is a great way to meet people from different backgrounds, acclimatise to the city and develop your language skills. For example, University’s Language Society runs Language Exchange events, where you can improve your confidence in another language in exchange for teaching someone else about your own. Also, come along to Careers Service events and workshops to meet other students, talk to employers and to speak to Careers Service staff.
  • Get experience of UK workplaces. Gaining work experience through part-time work, internships, placements or work shadowing can also be a great way to introduce yourself to UK workplace culture whilst gaining some valuable experience for your CV. Check out the Jobs/Experience section of this website for more information on the different ways to gain work experience during your time at university.
  • Practise, practise, practise! The above tips will allow you to practise your English language skills and develop your confidence but there’s also lots of support available at the university to help you develop your language skills. The University Centre for Academic English runs courses to help you to develop your confidence in writing, grammar and speaking and the Library’s My Learning Essentials programme includes workshops and online resources to help you with your writing and oral presentations.If you want to develop your language confidence in the job application process, take a look at the Careers Service’s Pathways. Our pathways our online learning modules full of resources relating to every stage of the application process. Want help with using powerful language in your CV? Use our ‘Get CV Ready’ pathway. Want to practise speaking about yourself and your skills in English so you feel confident for interviews? Try our ‘Get Interview Ready’ pathway. For a full overview of all of our Pathways, see here.
  • Celebrate your achievements. Although it is important to use the opportunities above to challenge yourself and develop your skills, don’t forget your achievements so far! You’ve already taken the biggest step by choosing to study in the UK, so use the fantastic qualities you already possess, including courage, resilience and curiosity, to make the most of your time with us.

Recruitment practices and hiring‌

Psychometric tests and assessment centres

These are common for application to graduate schemes. You can expect a multi stage application and selection process taking weeks or months.

Tests to see if you understand UK workplace norms and “etiquette” (situational judgement tests) can be tricky for international students without UK work experience.

Job fairs

Large UK employers like to attend university job fairs and events, meet students and talk to them about their opportunities. They are a good way to find out more about the jobs available and ask your questions.

Some fairs focus on a sector such as science and engineering, whilst others are more general. However, employers at general fairs also welcome approaches from technical graduates (either for business/general roles, or for technical roles such as IT) while employers at technical fairs normally have posts (such as HR or marketing) for non-technical graduates.

Recruitment fairs are only a very small part of the UK recruitment market. Most employers do not visit fairs, particularly:

  • Smaller employers - they may not need to recruit many graduates so it’s not worth visiting lots of university recruitment fairs.
  • Very specialist employers – the chances of finding a specialist in their field at a large graduate fair are low. They might prefer to target specific courses through academics or the Careers Service.
  • Employers in some very popular sectors – if employers already attract more than enough excellent candidates, why would they attend a fair to try to attract more? That’s why you are unlikely to see employers in the media, arts, policy/think tanks, charities etc at fairs.

Preparing for a fair

  • Do some research prior to a fair to see who the employers attending are and what types of roles they recruit for.
  • Employers will require you to make a formal application after you attend if you are interested, they don’t make job offers at fairs. This helps them to ensure every applicant is treated fairly. However, we would recommend your LinkedIn profile is up to date before a fair so that you can provide this information and link with employers.

Types of Graduate work

Graduate Jobs and gradute Schemes

  • Employers with formal graduate programmes (or schemes) start to request applications early, up to a year in advance. October – December is a busy time for job adverts and applications.
  • However, smaller firms hire later in the year, so you will find graduate level job adverts (and closing dates) all year round.

Graduate internships – or temporary jobs?

  • In some countries, graduates would normally start work in a “graduate internship” to gain experience after they complete their course. This is not very common in the UK. If you want to gain more experience after graduating in the UK, it’s normal to apply for a job at a level where you feel you can contribute, but also gain more skills, experience and understanding of the workplace. This may be on:

    • a temporary contract - makes it easy to gain experience and move on to a more demanding job after the contract ends.
    • an open ended (“permanent”) contract – once you have gained experience and are ready for a more demanding job, you can hand in your notice and move to a new job.

Looking for a graduate internship in Manchester?

  • Your best option is to consider our Manchester Graduate Talent scheme specifically for University of Manchester Graduates. You can apply for opportunities as they arise in your final year or just after you graduate. Most are within the University of Manchester and last around a year. These can be done on a Graduate visa.