A £1m investment in the Careers and Employability Service is set to provide further help for students looking to land their dream job.

The money will fund 22 additional staff, who will work within teaching faculties to provide specialist career guidance and improve links with employers.

New staff are also joining the Global Labour Market team, based in the UK, Malaysia and China, which will engage global business to provide opportunities for our students and graduates.

Already the second most targeted University by UK graduate recruiters, according to High Fliers research, the initiative is designed to help students stand out in the ever-more competitive job market.

Jan Perrett, Acting Director at the Careers and Employability Service, said basing staff in faculties enabled the service to deliver tailored career development opportunities and support.

She said: “This is a very exciting time for us and a great chance for the University to show its commitment to the employability needs of students and graduates. By creating five faculty teams, to supplement our existing central expertise, we will be able to work closely with academic and administrative colleagues to deliver bespoke career guidance and employability activities to students.”

Appointed in March, the staff are already providing a range of employability activities specific to their subject area, including the provision of individual career guidance, CV support, development materials and employer engagement.

Students will also be able to take advantage of the University job agency, Unitemps, and employability mark, the Nottingham Advantage Award. Staff in academic departments will be encouraged to offer more employability opportunities to their students, with a funding pot of £25,000 for school-based careers projects.

From July, these new initiatives will be overseen by the new Careers and Employability Service Director, Nalayini Thambar, who said: “I am delighted to be joining The University of Nottingham, a world-class university with a strong commitment to employability, and look forward to working with colleagues across all campuses.

“Nottingham students are held in the highest regard by recruiters and postgraduate course providers in all sectors. But these remain challenging times and I look forward to contributing to the development and success of the award-winning Careers and Employability Service to enhance the career opportunities and prospects of Nottingham students and alumni in the UK, China and Malaysia.”