Graduate Jobs UK: How to Land Your First Role After University

When you finish your degree in the UK, the next step isn’t just about finding any job—it’s about landing a graduate job UK, a full-time role designed for recent graduates, often with structured training and clear career paths. Also known as graduate schemes, these positions are competitive, often tied to big companies, and require more than just a good degree. Many students think a 2:1 is enough, but employers now look for real skills: how you solve problems, how you handle pressure, and whether you’ve shown initiative outside class.

Getting a graduate visa UK, a two-year work permit for international students after graduation, allowing them to take any job without sponsorship is the first hurdle for many. But even if you’re a UK student, you still need to pass aptitude tests UK, standardised assessments like SHL or Kenexa that measure logic, verbal reasoning, and numerical skills under time pressure. These aren’t optional extras—they’re gatekeepers. Companies use them to cut down hundreds of applications to a shortlist. If you’ve never practiced them, you’re already behind. And once you get to the interview stage, knowing how to talk about your worth matters. salary negotiation UK, the process of discussing and agreeing on your starting pay based on market data, not just what the employer offers first is something most new grads avoid—until they realize they left £5,000 or more on the table.

What you’ll find below isn’t theory. These are real guides written by students who’ve been there: how to pass psychometric tests without cramming, how to track your student loan repayments so you don’t overpay, how to use Facebook groups to find housing near your new job, and how to squeeze extra cash out of your first paycheck with railcards and grocery hacks. You’ll see how seasonal work during uni helped someone land a full-time role, how a conversion course opened doors in tech, and how one student used past papers to prep for assessment centres like they were exams. This isn’t about dreaming big—it’s about doing the small, smart things that stack up.