Employability and Graduate Jobs: A Glossary

This means learning through experience. As part of a degree program, experiential learning could include work placements, but also practical projects completed within the university.

This is sometimes used interchangeably with “internship”, but an externship usually refers to a work experience opportunity arranged by a university, rather than by the individual student. This could be a work placement, visit from a professional, job shadowing or a research project in collaboration with a business.

The term “graduate job” may refer to any job that requires a degree, or more specifically to a job that is part of a company’s graduate scheme – a formal training scheme, typically lasting one or two years.

In contrast to “soft skills” (see below), hard skills are not about interactions with people, but refer to an individual’s ability to complete technical and mental tasks – for example, being able to handle complex data, knowing how to use relevant software, or operating a machine.

While often used interchangeably with “work experience” or “work placement”, an internship usually refers to a “white-collar” job. Internships are often paid (the issue of unpaid internships has reached high profile in many countries recently), and may last significantly longer than work experience placements.

This is a type of work experience which involves observing a professional going about his/her normal work routine, to get an idea of what the role is like.

A mentor is an experienced professional who is assigned to a “mentee” (less experienced) to advise him/her on how to achieve career goals.

A placement is a period of work experience which is a required part of a course, often to help students develop key employability skills and apply their course learning within a professional context. The student may or may not have a say in choosing the placement.

Not the sports kind! A referee is someone who can provide you with a reference – a formal letter (or email) sent to a potential employer to support your application. Employers will usually ask for at least two referees, who could be past employers, work experience supervisors, and/or university tutors.

A university degree course in which students spend one year out of the university, either on a work placement or studying abroad. The year in work/abroad is usually the penultimate year of the degree.

Similar to cooperative learning (see above), but based on serving the local community in some way, by working with non-profit, philanthropic, community and public sector organizations.

Definitions vary, but generally soft skills are interpersonal – how good you are at getting on with people, communicating, making a good impression and the like. These are often at least equally as important as hard skills (see above).

Skills needed for a particular job or sector of employment. For example, in interior design, specific skills could include creative flair, artistic ability and knowledge of computer-aided design (CAD) programs. Employers usually include a list of the most important specific skills when advertising job vacancies.

A start-up is a new company, still in the early stages of development.

Think tanks are organizations that conduct research in a particular sector, such as education, healthcare or finance, providing advice to governments and/or businesses. Those studying to higher levels (such as master’s or PhD) may be especially well-suited to graduate jobs within think tanks.

Skills gained in one type of role that can be transferred to another. For example, analyzing complex data as part of a degree course is a skill that could be transferred to many future jobs.

Often used interchangeably with “internship” (see above), this refers to a period of work at a business in order to gain experience of that industry. Work experience may be paid or unpaid.

A gap year is a year out of education, usually before starting university, in order to earn money and/or gain experience. Working is one way to spend this time; other popular gap year activities include travelling and volunteering.

An internship you can do from anywhere, by using internet, email, phone and other media to communicate and submit work.

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