Work placements and internships at Essex are helping to prepare our graduates to stand out in the jobs market, especially the ground-breaking Frontrunners scheme, which provides paid employment within the University.

Jennifer Perry, who graduated earlier this year, secured a graduate job at BP, and speaks about the employability opportunities at Essex.

• Watch Jennifer's video on our vimeo channel

Director of Employability Dave Stanbury said: “We recognise the many pressures our graduates are facing, including the difficult economic situation in the UK. We are investing significantly in initiatives to prepare our students for the jobs they aspire to, supporting their personal development and making sure they have the skills employers are looking for.”

This month the University was shortlisted by the Times Higher Education Awards for the frontrunners scheme and other student support initiatives aimed at preparing our graduates for employment.

Dave Stanbury also highlighted the Big Essex Award, completed by over 300 students in its pilot year, which includes experience and volunteering on students’ degree records.

He added: “The feedback from employers taking part in our internship programme is also incredibly positive with many companies coming back again and again to recruit our students. There is still more to be done, but this year we obtained our best ever results in the National Student Survey, coming second in the UK overall, and with 84 per cent of our students satisfied with their personal development.”

James Potter, Vice-President Education at the Students’ Union, said: “The Students’ Union works closely with the University to develop students’ expertise and experience so that they stand out from the crowd in an increasingly competitive job market.”

Essex students have also received national recognition for entrepreneurship. Business-orientated student society Enactus Essex won a Gold award and the Best Professional Development Programme title at the RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (ESSA) Awards. Our students also won the IBM backed Universities Business Challenge – the premier business competition for university students in the UK – and came third in the 2013 National Student Apprentice (NSA) Challenge. One of our BSc International Enterprise and Business Development students Aaron Jones was named one of the Future 50 Young Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.