About Arden University
Since 1990, Arden University has a distinguished history of providing flexible and accessible higher education, as the chosen online learning partner for leading universities across Britain. Today we provide more than 90 of our own career-focused qualifications, many of which are accredited by leading professional bodies.
At Arden we strive to do things differently. We understand that higher education providers must proactively respond to the current and future needs and expectations of employers, and to the global evolving economy, to build a better world for everyone.
About our students
Social mobility
Arden University has a truly diverse talent pool of over 33,000 students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with over 92% of our students coming from a widening participation background. We are active champions of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and believe that higher education is a force for both social and economic change. By combining the power of technology together with the promise of a university education, we are revolutionising the traditional university model and removing unnecessary barriers to learning.
Graduates vs career changers
Why not both? At Arden we employ career changers that are also recent graduates.
We’d like to challenge you to view recent graduates through a different lens. While we have many students in the traditional age 18-24 group, 30% of our student body is between the ages of 31 and 40. Many of our students are balancing study with other work or personal commitments, having previously overcome considerable barriers to gain access higher education, exhibiting inherent grit and determination as well as the capacity to prioritise competing priorities.
Working with us offers you the opportunity to recruit socially mobile student and graduate talent with a mature outlook, a proven work ethic, transferable skills, and industry expertise as well as resilient trainees who with training and development, can bring new energy and ideas to your organisation. We have a UK-wide reach with campuses in Birmingham, Leeds, London, and Manchester, as well as distance learners around the globe.
About our year
You may have noticed we prefer to do things differently! Arden University’s students do not follow the traditional academic year. We have four student intakes and four semesters of 10 weeks per year. This means that new graduates are entering the workforce year-round. Ideal, when you have rolling recruitment or are looking to fill positions later in the academic year.
Employer engagement opportunities
Below are just some of the ways you can engage with our students and graduates. But if you’d like to explore something new, we’d be more than happy to talk. We are always willing to work together to trial something new to support your recruitment goals.
Email: employers@arden.ac.uk
1. Advertise your opportunities on Arden Futures, our free online job board – Arden Futures.
Post your paid part-time or full-time job opportunities, placements, internships, or voluntary postions (for UK registered charities), on Arden Futures, a free online job board.
Once registered, this is a quick and easy way to reach our 33,000+ students and recent graduates. You can manage your adverts 24/7, and our students can apply directly to you using your preferred application method.
If you need assistance or advice on the best ways to recruit students, salary guidelines, or help crafting job adverts, please ask us!
Please download our recruitment policy to learn more about our recruitment policies
2. Social media and student newsletters
Raise your employer profile by submitting content for us to post on our Arden University Student Careers and in our student newsletters. We are always delighted to provide our students and alumni valuable, relevant opportunities free of charge. Send your opportunities to employers@arden.ac.uk
3. In-person and online events
Deliver an employer insight event.
Each year, we host hundreds of events with local, national, and international employers and organisations, both on campuses and virtually.
Showcase your brand and opportunities to our students by hosting an online or in person employer insight event as part of our calendar of events. Employer insight events offer you the chance to provide an introduction of your company, career options, and the application process, as well as address any questions our students may have.
We have regular times available on a Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the year, simply get in touch and we’ll get you booked in: employers@arden.ac.uk
Lead a skills session
Employer-led skills workshop sessions are invaluable to our students and give you the opportunity to better prepare them to navigate your recruitment processes and allow them to showcase their full potential. They are an important component of developing our students’ knowledge of the skills and attributes required to secure a professional opportunity, while also building your employer brand among our student body.
Sessions might focus on demystifying any aspect of the recruitment process, such as application forms, interview techniques, assessment centres, and psychometric tests, or key topics such as commercial awareness or personal branding – or we’d be pleased to explore something new! Get in touch: employers@arden.ac.uk
In-person events
Pop-up stands - ‘employer in the foyer’
If you’d like to promote an opportunity at one or more of our UK campuses in Birmingham, Leeds, London, and Manchester, we’d love to have you on-site to host a pop-up stand. Please contact us to discuss: employers@arden.ac.uk
Careers festivals
We do not organise typical in-person careers fairs, but we do provide more personalised in-person events to maximise student engagement in-person or online Career festivals. If you would like to be kept updated about the innovative events we organise each year, please join our mailing list: Simply email us at employers@arden.ac.uk.
4. Collaborate with our academic programmes
The Careers team collaborates closely with academic colleagues to embed employability within the curriculum. If there is a specific Faculty or School that you would like to work with, please let us know so we can broker opportunities for you.
You can meet our students through our Faculties and Schools by delivering a session within the curriculum or by participating in one of our specialist programmes, such as Diversity Week or Careers Festival panel events. These events allow you to educate and inspire future leaders, raise your company’s brand, and boost your own professional profile to an engaged audience.
5. Hire a student on an internships or consultancy project!
At Arden University we want our students gain real world experience by working on authentic business challenges. If you have a project on hold because no one on the team has time to work on it, or if you want to develop an area of your business but aren’t sure if it requires a permanent member of staff, offering some paid short term work experience or a student consultancy project (full or part time) for students to work on could be the ideal solution.
Our students can bring additional expertise, experience, capacity, passion, enthusiasm, and fresh perspectives to a project, while also gaining the professional work skills they will require when they enter the workplace.
Traditional full-time internships are not always feasible for many of our students owing to prior commitments, but we find that part-time opportunities can benefit both employers and our students.
Get in contact if you wish to discuss an idea! employers@arden.ac.uk.
The examples above are just a few of the ways you can collaborate with us to develop your talent pipeline, but we are always eager to explore further initiatives with you. Simply contact our employer engagement team and we will arrange a call to discuss your recruitment goals. Drop us a line at: employers@arden.ac.uk.
Let’s talk!