Advertise graduate jobs, volunteering and internships

We offer the opportunity to promote paid internships, placements, some voluntary roles and graduate-level positions to our students and alumni at no cost through Handshake, our dedicated job platform.

To create your Handshake account and start sharing your job opportunities, please register on Handshake. Comprehensive help and guidance for getting started on Handshake can found on the Handshake support pages.

We are always happy to advise on the best ways to engage with our students and graduates. Email [email protected] to arrange a call with an advisor.

Advertising your graduate and internship opportunities is free using our Handshake platform. ARU Temps also offers an enhanced, paid for service that may be suitable for your needs.

Building your talent pipeline

One of the most effective ways of identifying suitable graduates is by connecting you with students earlier in their career journeys.

Most of our students have the chance to do a placement as part of their degree programmes, providing a valuable opportunity for you to make connections, collaborate with them, and establish your presence before they enter their final year of studies.

As one of our respected employer partners aptly described it, placements can be viewed as a year-long job interview!

To explore these possibilities further, we encourage you to connect with our Placements Team. For additional information, please visit our dedicated work placements page.

Our Live Brief and SHoKE projects are also great ways to set challenges for our students and see how they perform.

Our advice to you

Identifying individuals with the right skills for your business is a challenging task. However, the following recommendations can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your job advertisements:

• Write a compelling job advertisement that not only outlines the job description but also excites potential candidates. Our advisers are available to assist you in this process.
• Clearly communicate remuneration details. Advertisements that provide transparent salary information tend to perform better.
• Consult with ARU Temps or Placement Employer Advisers to make sure that your job or placement advertisement reaches the right group of students, increasing the likelihood of securing high-quality applications.
• Explore our comprehensive employer offerings to discover engagement opportunities that can support your recruitment activities.

View our vacancy advertising policy.

View our approach to unpaid placements and internships.

Volunteer Role Criteria

All volunteer roles must align with our Vacancy Advertising Policy and our Approach to Unpaid Placements and Internships (linked above). If a role does not meet these requirements, we will be unable to approve it for advertising on our Handshake jobs board.

In addition to the guidance provided in those documents, volunteer roles should meet the following criteria:

Volunteer roles will:

1. Not require any upfront payment from the student.
2. Be unpaid and must not replace a previously paid position.
3. Provide mutual benefit to both the organisation and the student.
4. Include clear and accurate descriptions of the role and responsibilities.
   If the opportunity is titled as an internship or placement, please refer to our guidance on unpaid placements and internships.
5. Offer flexibility in time commitments. The role should be reasonable for a student in full-time education (as a guide, a maximum of 15 hours per week). Organisations should respect students’ academic priorities, including timetables, exams, assignment deadlines, visa restrictions, and the potential need to prioritise paid work.

To ensure a positive and safe experience for student volunteers, organisations must meet the following requirements:

1. Be a registered charity, third-sector organisation, or Community Interest Company (CIC).
2. Have a Health and Safety Policy in place.
3. Have an Equality, Diversity, or Equal Opportunities Policy.
4. Accept liability for volunteers and hold appropriate Public Liability Insurance to cover any potential risks.
5. Comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and treat all personal information about volunteers confidentially.
6. Provide necessary training so volunteers can carry out their roles safely and effectively.
7. Undertake DBS checks or references for volunteers when required.
8. Follow your organisation’s safeguarding policies for the protection of children and adults at risk, and ensure volunteers are trained to understand and follow these policies.
9. Reimburse reasonable out-of-pocket expenses promptly, upon receipt of appropriate documentation, where possible.