February 17, 2015, by James Jupe

Look no further than Nottingham, stay local!

By Sharon Bell, (previous) Associate Director 

Surely all the best graduate vacancies are in London? Not at all – when you start looking, you might be surprised at what Nottingham and the wider East Midlands area has to offer. From small companies with a handful of employees, to large global organisations and everything in between, you might not have to move too far to find the vacancy that is right for you.

Why I stayed in Nottingham

I work in the Careers and Employability Service  at Nottingham. I have worked here for just over three years but originally came here to study management studies with French. It was a little while ago when I graduated – let’s just say that at that time, Jubilee Campus didn’t exist!

When I was a student, there was a big pull towards London … so some things don’t change. I loved studying here, so when I was given the chance to train with one of the Big Four accountancy firms in their Nottingham office I jumped at it. Admittedly I spent a year in Paris first, but deferred the job offer for a year – so always knew when I left after graduation that I would be coming back.

I had friends in other disciplines so when I came back some of them (especially the medics) were still around. Nottingham always seemed like the ideal size; big enough to have a city feel, but small enough not to feel lost. Being a relatively short train ride away from the capital, it was still easy to visit friends in London – but I benefited from cheaper rent and a bigger disposable income.

You don’t have to move away to find your perfect job

As it happened, working for a professional services firm meant that I was often out and about – I found myself working at clients all over the UK as well as Paris, Marseille and Zurich. Since then I have worked for two different organisations before the University – one in Castle Donington, and another in Birmingham – but always lived in Nottingham. Somewhere along the line Nottingham became home.

I spend a lot of time speaking with graduate recruiters. The large organisations are really keen to retain people like you within the region. Smaller companies want to connect with you and show you the potential opportunities available. They may not have sophisticated graduate schemes, but they do have opportunities where you can make a significant difference quickly. For the right people, there are opportunities to use innovation, creativity and make a lasting difference.

There are many options open to you

You can search for opportunities in any area of the country through ‘My Career’, our online jobs board. Within Careers, we are really excited about the opportunities within the East Midlands. So much so, we are supporting the launch of new city-wide graduate scheme offering graduate vacancies across Nottinghamshire. Express your interest here.

Maybe you aren’t sure about staying local?

Why not try an internship; a great way to get a feel for different businesses in the area You can also visit Unitemps, (the University’s part-time recruitment agency) to find out about what opportunities are available locally.

Sometimes the choices can seem a bit overwhelming. Keep an open mind to the opportunities on offer and have a chat with a member of our team.  

Posted in Careers AdviceChoosing Your CareerGraduate Vacancies