Careers and employability

Our courses and services are designed to kick-start your career and boost your employment chances. As a result, our graduates are amongst the most sought after by UK employers.

Students in a Computing Laboratory with staff

Highly-rated careers services and prospects

A student talks to a careers advisor in the Management School

Our careers advisors are always ready to offer help and advice.

One of the top 30 most targeted universities by employers

Lancaster University is among the top 30 most targeted universities by the UK's leading graduate employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2024 report. The UK Graduate Careers Survey, conducted by High Fliers Research in association with The Times, is the largest and most authoritative annual survey.

Top 15 for Work Experience 2024-25

We have been ranked 14th in the UK for the high quality of work experience opportunities available to you. High-quality work placements are one of the many ways we can support you in achieving your career goals. This award was based on student feedback on Rate My Placement.

Preparing you for the workplace

Lancaster's courses and services are designed to kick-start your career and boost your employment chances.

Career-focused degrees

Lancaster degrees are designed to give you the transferable skills that employers look for.

Placement years

Experience a year working in industry during your undergraduate degree and develop transferable employability skills to help your job applications stand out.

Internships and work experience

Typically shorter than placement years, internships are a great opportunity to gain skills in a particular field that you’re interested in.

Entrepreneurship

Do you have a passion for making a real change? Our Work in Progress hub offers a gateway to a multitude of entrepreneurial opportunities.

A photo of Lucy Richardson against a plain background.

Lucy Richardson

I didn't have a clear career plan when I started my first year. Surprisingly, I didn't even know publishing was a career until, in my second year at Lancaster, I attended a careers talk organised by the English Department about the publishing industry. At that point, I started to get into book blogging, and my interest in the publishing industry grew.

I applied for a marketing internship at the University. Without this, I wouldn't have landed my first role in publishing. Throughout my internship, I had access to the Careers Service, which helped me to write strong job applications and perform well in interviews. After the three-month internship ended, I secured my first role as Publicity Assistant at Orion Publishing Group.

I'm the Acting Publicity Director at HQ, Mills and Boon and Pavilion, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers. As head of the Publicity Department, my role involves creating stand-out publicity campaigns for our fantastic books and authors, leading and managing the team, and heading up publicity strategy for the division.

My advice for future Lancaster University students would be to remember that there's no time limit on figuring out your future career path. There's nothing wrong with trying a career path, realising it's not for you, and doing something different.

Lucy Richardson, Acting Publicity Director at HarperCollins, graduated 2013

After you graduate

  • Careers service

    Our careers team is here for you from your first day as a student until long after graduation – you'll have access to lifetime support. As well as giving advice, we host recruitment events, interview practice sessions and CV and resumé writing workshops.

  • Graduate prospects

    There are many different routes to take after university, whether it’s enrolling in further study or beginning your professional career. We offer a range of support to help you explore your options after graduation.

An international perspective

As a global university, we are proud to have an alumni network in more than 150 countries. In addition to the vast career offerings and support available to all our students, we also offer specialist programmes and resources for our international students. We want to help you become job-ready for the UK, your home country, or anywhere else in the world.

Student experience

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