Career Options and Employability

A degree from Durham University truly opens up windows of opportunity, I managed to secure a Graduate Accounts position with an international marketing company prior to graduation.

Claudine Andrew BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance (2010)

Destination of Leavers (who responded to the DLHE survey) - Business School 2011

Of those students employed:

• 43.1% are in full time employment
• of whom 86% are in graduate level employment

• Median salary £27,000

Of those in further study:

• 98% are in graduate level study

A significant number of students progress on to higher level study following their degree in Business; notably at Durham, but also at other prestigious institutions. Some remain within their academic field and persue higher level research, others take a different role and pursue professional postgraduate programmes, including teaching, law, accountancy, marketing and mathematics.

Employment development opportunities

The Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre works closely with the Undergraduate Business Department to ensure that students receive information, advice and vacancies relevant to their needs.  A Careers Adviser delivers talks focused on ensuring that students receive the most relevant and up to date advice about professions that are of interest to students in the department.

A wide range of work is carried out in conjunction with the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre to develop students' employability skills, including presentations/workshops on CVs, applications, assessment centres, interviews, commercial awareness, leadership, etc. 

Many recruiters of Durham Undergraduate Business School students attend careers fairs and run presentations on campus, including: Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Rolls Royce, Lloyds TSB, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, IBM, Accenture, to name a few.  Professional bodies like CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) and CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) also attend events on campus.

We have had a number of students from the Undergraduate Business School join our Summer Internship Programme who have made a real impact due to their enthusiasm and strong interpersonal skills. These candidates have then gone on to join in Graduate roles.

Neil McGuire, Graduate Recruitment, Ernst & Young

Examples of career destination:

• Finance/Accountancy/Associate/Deloitte
• Retail/Management/Trainee Manager/Marks & Spencer
• Diplomat/ British Government
• Finance/Investment Management/Analyst/Blackrock
• Health/ Management/Graduate Management Trainee /NHS
• Finance/Accountancy/ Trainee Chartered Accountant/ TindlesLLP
• Car rental/Management Graduate Trainee Programme /Enterprise Rent-a-Car
• Finance/Banking/ Business Advisor/Royal Bank of Scotland
• Engineering & Construction/Graduate Scheme/Balfour Beatty
• British Armed Forces/Officer/Army
• HM Treasury/Policy Advisor/ British Government