Our School’s dedicated Employability Officers are always on hand to help guide you, offer advice and help you access the opportunities available on campus – whether it be the employability centre, volunteering opportunities, or possible internships with partner institutions.
You can also choose to include a Placement Year within your degree. We’ll help you to find a relevant opportunity and ensure that you make the most of a great chance to improve your career prospects.
You also have the chance to attend a networking event with Essex alumni in your second year module “Beyond the BA: Skills for the Next Step”, giving you the opportunity to harbour connections and find out about how our alumni got to where they are today. This module offers you the opportunity to build up a portfolio of experiences, skills, and knowledge that will help prepare you for the graduate job you’re looking for. You learn about future career possibilities, gain an insight into what graduate employers are looking for, and access a range of opportunities for valuable work experience on and off campus.
You also have the option to take the module “Social Entrepreneurs, Sustainability and Community Action”, which involves learning how to design, fund, and set up a small-scale project or community interest company and creating a feasible project proposal or an organisational business plan for a small not-for-profit company. The knowledge, skills and experience you acquire in this module will also be valuable in other employment settings, such as large firms, the public sector (especially health and education), and larger NGOs and charities.
In your final year you have the opportunity to partner with a local organisation on a real-world project in the optional module "Community Engagement: Group Projects". You will work collaboratively with other students on your course to produce the project which could be on anything from carrying out a piece of research, designing a campaign, organising an exhibition or implementing a community initiative. Partners might include a local charity, social enterprise, community or public or private sector organisations, or the University’s sustainability section.
Students who are interested in environmental sustainability can also take part in our two week Sustainable Practice Summer School and gain a Certificate in Sustainable Practice, which will appear on their Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR). The course is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students free of charge.