Personal and Professional Development

Need help with thinking about the future?  Get support with your personal and professional development while you are at university and with your post-university plans.


The Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC) and the Careers Service can help you at each stage of your career journey.

Whatever your age, programme of study or stage of university life, thinking about your future after you graduate is vital. Your University of Leeds degree will be valuable in your search for a career, but you are strongly advised to take advantage of all the additional support available on campus to make sure that you are in the best position to move forward towards a career in your final year.

If you are just starting out on your career journey, the LLC can help identify new local job opportunities and work placements. You may already be in work or have transferable employability skills from voluntary work and life experience; whatever your personal situation, we can help you to think about new directions, investigate other careers and employers, articulate existing skills and knowledge or prepare for a promotion at work.

Want to have a chat about your career?

The LLC offers 1:1 on-course careers guidance for LLC students and graduates as well as mature/part-time undergraduates from any department.  Please email lifelonglearning@leeds.ac.uk to book an appointment. 

Alternatively, contact the Careers Service or use the e-guidance service to ask questions on any careers-related topic. The Careers Service also has a wide range of online resources you can use.

Interested in attending a personal and professional development event?

The LLC offers a wide range of personal and professional development events for students, which include careers workshops to complement those provided by the Careers Service. See our Events page for information about upcoming events. 

 

After graduation

Even after you graduate, the LLC and the Careers Service can continue to support you.  The LLC invites you to join its Graduate Network to keep in touch. You can also set up a graduate account on MyCareer so that you can continue to access events and jobs as well as advice about job applications and preparation for interview or assessment centre.

Useful links

  • Not sure what you want to do in the future or where your degree might lead you? Try the Careers Service website, Prospects or Kudos AD (formerly Adult Directions) (subscription service; contact the LLC for the password to give you free access).
  • Looking for voluntary experience? Find out about opportunities available through booking a 1:1 appointment at the LLC, try the University Volunteering Hub or, for opportunities further afield, the national Do-It website.
  • Looking for part-time or temporary/vacation work? Try the Leeds University Union (LUU) Joblink service.
  • Want to know more about some careers and how to get into them? Try the Leeds Network through which you can make contact with Leeds graduates who are working in particular careers or industries.
  • Having trouble putting together a job/promotion application or creating/revising your CV? Don’t forget to use the LeedsforLife ‘timeline’ to record your voluntary or work roles and other experience which can demonstrate the transferable skills employers are seeking.
  • Not sure what ‘employability skills’ are or how to develop them? View a presentation which explains this.
  • The LLC has produced this Career’s Guide for mature students.