Work with our students

We are keen to ensure all our students are highly employable and want to give them the opportunity to engage with their future employers in the marketplace. Our strategy is to increase the employability of our students by constantly modernising the curriculum, developing close partnerships with tourism and hospitality organisations, and by encouraging students to get industry engagement before, during and after their time at university, including through a year-long work placement that is available for all undergraduate and postgraduate students. Please support the following initiatives.

Student placements 

Student placements are a flexible and cost-effective way of bringing fresh, new talent into your organisation. Our students are motivated, eager to learn and bring the latest knowledge and skills to your business. At BU, our undergraduate and postgraduate student placement scheme is so popular with employers that we have more students on placement than any university in England. Many of our postgraduate students are international and have specific language and cultural skills that will contribute to the global agenda of any organisation. Students are typically available on a fixed-term appointment between 10 and 15 months, but shorter options are also available. Students are paid around £15k depending on their duties and location. Placements are arranged by BU’s dedicated Placements and Careers team, who support both employers and students throughout the process. This support service is free to employers. Find out more about taking on a placement student.

Casual and seasonal staff and graduate recruitment

Many local tourism and hospitality organisations benefit from employing our students on a casual and seasonal basis. We help our partner organisations connect with our students, giving you access to well-educated staff. Many of our students who have worked in casual or seasonal employment then do placements, consultancy projects and graduate jobs with you. Our graduates possess some of the best minds and skills when they leave university, so if you want to recruit the best talent you can take advantage of our recruitment programmes and free advertising to promote your vacancy in the university or at one of our employer events. The Careers and Employability Service can also arrange for you come to the campus to offer students an insight into your placement opportunities, graduate schemes and summer internships. 

There are various ways you can meet and engage with our students, including:

• Workshops on campus - Running a workshop will allow you to discuss your company and the opportunities you offer in more detail with students. We will facilitate the process and invite our students to attend. Please complete our workshop booking form to arrange this.
• Promotional pitch - Come to our campus for a day to raise the profile of your organisation within the student population. We will provide you with a table in our main atrium on Talbot Campus. Here, you can promote your organisation by handing out company literature and meet with students in an informal way. Please complete our promotional pitch booking form to arrange this.
• Graduate and placements fair - This is an annual event held every November at Bournemouth University. It gives you an opportunity to visit the campus and advertise any graduate or placement opportunities you may have. If you would like to find out more about the fair and register as an attendee please contact our Graduate Employment team on [email protected].

Familiarisation trips

We are also keen for our students to experience the operations of tourism and hospitality organisations through familiarisation trips. This is a great opportunity to showcase your organisation, benefit from word of mouth through social media engagement, and create awareness. Many of the familiarisation trips are linked to exercises and assessments that form part of our students' courses, enabling you to get fresh ideas through the eyes of future professionals.

 Student consultancy projects

Part of our curriculum involves student consultancy projects, where our students work with an organisation that sets them a challenging task. The unit is an exciting opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to problem solve through investigation, understanding and the application of knowledge. Students present a fresh perspective to business problems enabling them to identify solutions and make proposals that most satisfy a corporate client’s needs and circumstances. This unit is a rare opportunity to tap into tomorrow’s talent.  

Industry masterclasses - showcase your organisation

We offer numerous opportunities for organisations to engage directly with our students through a programme of industry masterclasses, guest speakers, class discussions and bespoke workshops. The aim of theses sessions is for you to give an insight into your business and engage in dialogue for future innovation. We are keen to develop further opportunities to engage with industry to play our part in developing this crucial talent pipeline.