Careers guidance

Careers offers tailored support to help Oxford students develop their skills and put themselves in a good position for entering the jobs market or progressing their career.

Whatever career you are interested in, and whichever degree you are taking, Careers is here to provide expert advice, events and resources which includes:

• Annual careers fairs, across a range of sectors, so you can meet employers and explore your options
• Careers and employability events on a wide range of career-related topics, run by employers and careers advisers
• Careers advice appointments for students with our expert careers advisers
• Access to exclusive internships for Oxford students through the Summer Internship Programme, Micro-Internship Programme, and Crankstart Internship Programme
• Exclusive skills programmes to help develop employability skills, explore different sectors and gain experience to support future career development
• The Oxford CareerConnect platform, providing access to thousands of jobs and internship opportunities advertised by employers, alongside Careers events and appointments
• Continued careers support after graduation.

Oxford graduates go into many different sectors:

Source: Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022 (data collected 15 months after graduation)

Today’s competitive and global job market means that work experience and employability skills are increasingly important to early career success.

Here are some of the employability skills we focus on here at Oxford and believe it’s important for students to develop:

• AI, digital and data
• Commercial and societal awareness
• Communication
• Creative thinking
• Analytical thinking and problem solving
• Leadership and influence
• Planning and delivery
• Resilience and flexibility
• Collaboration and teamwork.

Careers offers a range of opportunities to help you develop and demonstrate these skills, both within and outside the University. These include:

• Insight Programmes to give you a greater insight and understanding of a range of sectors such as academia, consulting, creative writing, medicine, pharma/biotech, policy, and publishing
• Internships and work experience, where you can apply your skills in a professional environment and gain practical experience
• Careers workshops and events, where you can identify your skills, explore strategies for further development, gain insights into different sectors and get practical tips for navigating recruitment
• EnSpire Oxford, a hub for students who want to gain skills, knowledge, and positive behaviours to innovate and drive change in the future.

And don’t forget there are also hundreds of societies, teams or clubs to take part in. Apart from being a lot of fun and a great way to make friends, this can also help you develop employability skills such as time management, leadership and teamwork.

The Oxford Internship Office provides research and professional work experience placements exclusively to Oxford students. Our two largest programmes are:

• The Summer Internship Programme
• The Micro-Internship Programme

We also offer dedicated support to Crankstart Scholars through the Crankstart Internship and Mentoring Programme.

Read more about the exclusive internships available to Oxford students.

Careers offers tailored support and access to a variety of careers and employability resources to Oxford University alumni.

All alumni can:

• Search the job vacancy board on CareerConnect
• Meet employers at our careers fairs
• Attend tailored events such as our ‘Career Management Strategy Masterclass Webinar’ and the ‘Alumni @ the Fair’ sessions
• Sign up for the termly Alumni Careers Newsletter
• Access our comprehensive online resources.

Recent alumni can also access one-to-one careers advice appointments. Those within 18 months of their course-end date can book an advice appointment with an Oxford careers adviser for personalised career support.

Read more about how we support alumni.