Career resources
Not sure what type of opportunity you’re looking for? Guides for schemes, jobs, placements and apprenticeships, plus official careers links.
Application guides
Short reads on this cycle, then back into Radar or a campaign.
- When do graduate schemes open?UK graduate recruitment is a rolling year, not one deadline. Here is the typical month-by-month pattern — then check Radar for what is actually live.
- Spring week, internship, or graduate scheme?Three different programmes, three different points in the pipeline. Pick the one that matches the year you are in.
- How to sit a situational judgement testSJTs are not about being nice. They score whether your ranking matches how that employer says they work.
- Build a shortlist, not a sprayA useful list is roughly a handful of stretch roles, a core of good fits, and a couple you could take. Five live campaigns beat fifty clones.
Start with where you are
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do before you start. Once you’ve found something you want to apply for, come back to Grad Recruit and start a campaign.
Finishing university?
Look at graduate schemes and graduate jobs. Graduate schemes usually recruit a group of graduates into a structured programme. Graduate jobs are individual roles where you join the business directly.
In your second-to-last year?
Look at placements, internships and vacation schemes. Many employers use these programmes to recruit their next graduate intake.
Leaving school or college?
Look at apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships. A degree apprenticeship combines a job with a university qualification, so you earn while you study.
What each route actually is
If a listing mixes these words, trust the facts on the card — degree already in hand, or earned on the job — not the marketing title.
Graduate scheme
A structured programme for graduates, often involving rotations or several placements within a business.
Graduate job
A specific job that requires or expects a degree. You join the team directly rather than joining a graduate cohort.
Internship or placement
A temporary role designed for students, often during or between university years. Many employers use these as a route into the following year’s scheme.
Degree apprenticeship
A paid job combined with a university degree. You don’t already need to have the degree you’re studying for.
Apprenticeship
A paid job with structured training, usually aimed at people starting their careers without a university degree.
Choosing a career path
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do before you start. These are official careers services and government pages — not other graduate job boards.
National Careers Service
Explore careers
Job profiles for England: what the work is like, the qualifications people usually have, and typical pay. Useful when you only have a sector in mind, not a scheme name.
Open on National Careers ServiceNational Careers Service
Discover your skills and careers
A skills quiz from the official England careers service. Use it to name the work, then come back to Radar to find a listing that matches.
Open on National Careers ServiceMy World of Work
Career options
Scotland’s official careers service. Job profiles, skills and training routes if you are studying or working there.
Open on My World of WorkCareers Wales
Getting a job
Official careers advice for Wales on applications, interviews and starting work.
Open on Careers WalesUCAS
Applying to university
The official undergraduate application guide. A degree apprenticeship is a different door — apply to the employer, not through a UCAS undergraduate form, unless that employer says otherwise.
Open on UCASGOV.UK
Career skills and training
Government hub for skills, careers advice and training in England, including apprenticeships and further education.
Open on GOV.UKSchemes, jobs, placements and apprenticeships
These four things are not interchangeable. Read the in-app notes above, then the official pages if you need the legal or funding detail.
GOV.UK
Become an apprentice
How apprenticeships work in England: pay, levels, and who they are for. Pair it with Find an apprenticeship when you are ready to apply to a named vacancy.
Open on GOV.UKGOV.UK
Find an apprenticeship
The official England vacancy service. Radar only keeps named Level 6 and 7 cards from here. Always open the vacancy page, not a keyword search.
Open on GOV.UKUCAS
What is an apprenticeship?
How apprenticeships sit next to university. Written for people still choosing a route after school or college.
Open on UCASUCAS
Degree apprenticeships
England Level 6 and 7: employed, paid, studying for a bachelor’s or master’s. You do not already hold the degree. From 2026, new Level 7 starts in England are mainly for people aged 16–21.
Open on UCASapprenticeships.scot
Scotland Graduate Apprenticeships
Work plus a degree in Scotland. The word “graduate” does not mean you already have a degree. You apply to the employer. You must work in Scotland.
Open on apprenticeships.scotNI Direct
Apprenticeships explained
How apprenticeships work in Northern Ireland, including who they are for and how to apply.
Open on NI DirectGOV.UK
Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
The body that owns apprenticeship standards in England. Use it if you need to know what a named standard actually covers.
Open on GOV.UKApplications and interviews
Most forms fail on a vague first paragraph, not on a missing extra-curricular. These are official guides — not scripts, and not another job board.
Acas
Applying for a job
Independent statutory guidance on applications, interviews and what an employer is allowed to ask. Pair it with your stories on a campaign.
Open on AcasCivil Service
Success Profiles
The framework Fast Stream and most Civil Service schemes actually mark. Do not paste Big Four values into a Success Profiles form.
Open on Civil ServiceCivil Service Careers
Civil Service Fast Stream
The named Fast Stream page: schemes, who it is for, and when the window usually opens. Registering interest is not an application.
Open on Civil Service CareersGOV.UK
Finding a job
Government pages on looking for work, including National Careers Service and Universal Credit work-search rules. Not a graduate job board.
Open on GOV.UKReports and labour-market reading
Use these when you want numbers rather than a slogan. They will not tell you which scheme to pick.
Institute of Student Employers
Student employer research
The main UK research body for student and graduate hiring. Annual reports on volumes, skills and what employers say they are looking for.
Open on Institute of Student EmployersOffice for National Statistics
Employment and labour market
Official UK employment statistics. The source of truth when a blog claims a sector is booming.
Open on Office for National StatisticsGOV.UK
What qualification levels mean
Level 3 is A-level / T-level territory. Level 6 is a bachelor’s. Level 7 is a master’s. Degree apprenticeships sit at 6 and 7. Do not mix them with a Level 2 trade apprenticeship.
Open on GOV.UKWe only link to official careers services, government pages and independent research. If a page moves, tell us via About. For how listings on Radar are chosen, see Sources.