Your career

Why Choose Heriot-Watt

Employers around the world actively seek out our graduates. This is because they are work ready. All our degrees are career-focused and relevant to the needs of business and industry.

We are known for our applied teaching and research, informed and shaped by real world needs. We placed 1st in Scotland and 4th in the UK graduate employability, with 84.2% of our graduates in full-time employment or further study 15 months after graduation (Graduate Outcomes survey, 2023).

Browse our programmes

The Heriot-Watt factor

...students from Heriot-Watt University possess the necessary expertise and ambition to become the next generation of leaders and innovators...

Lucy Kemp, Acer Northern Europe and Canada

At Heriot-Watt you will learn from world leading academics at the forefront of their specialisms.

You'll enjoy a distinctive, high quality academic experience focused on developing your skills and knowledge to help you transition smoothly into the world of work at the end of your studies.

The lecturers are equipped with vast knowledge and industrial experience, so we are often dealing with real-life case studies or simulations. These features have definitely increased my employability and have brought me closer to my dream.

Chong Sheng Lim (Sirius): BSc (Hons) Actuarial Science

We offer many specialist programmes and all of our degrees are structured so that you can, as far as possible, customise them to suit your specific interests and career aspirations.

Links with business and industry

Heriot-Watt has impressed us with their passion for their students' success, pre and post graduation...

Jack Shreyhane, Procter & Gamble UK

Heriot-Watt boasts extensive links with business and industry. We are known for our excellent industrial placements and companies often approach us directly seeking students for work placements or employment.

Students about Heriot-Watt

Vanessa Baldassari

I am confident that the programme will give me a real edge in my career as I am specialising in what I'm really interested in and my applications for jobs have already been considered successful by a few companies.

Vanessa Baldassari, MSc International Accounting and Management
Nicholas Mancini

I strongly recommend a programme at Heriot-Watt University; it has an extremely good reputation, the University is located in an amazing city, it has a huge number of international students and, finally the courses are well structured.

Nicholas Mancini, MSc Finance and Management

Degrees designed for careers

Our degrees are career-focused and relevant to the needs of business and industry. Employers actively seek out our graduates as our degrees are highly regarded for their relevance to the world of work. Many of our degrees are accredited by professional bodies.

The University's Careers Advisory Service is available throughout your studies, ensuring you have the skills you need to successfully market yourself to future employers.

Links to employers

We have excellent links with business and industry, both in the UK and internationally. We help you meet some of the world’s top employers, who know the strengths our graduates bring to the workplace.

Last year we provided over 70 employer events at our campuses including careers fairs, insight events, presentations, and networking events. We are seen as a key part of their talent pipeline, choosing to advertise over 9,000 internship and graduate job vacancies with us in 2019-2020.

Help with job applications

The Career Advisory Service also offers individual advice and group workshops on CVs, application forms, assessment centres, selection tests and interviews.

In 2019-20 we provided over 200 group workshops to support our students' job applications.

Key information

Postgraduate enquiries

Phone
+44 (0) 131 451 3707
Email
studywithus@hw.ac.uk
Twitter
twitter.com/heriotwattuni

Key fact

On-campus employer events

171

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Graduate jobs advertised by the careers service

6,702

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Over 81% of our postgraduates are in full time jobs or further study 15 months after completing their programme

81%

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The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranked 86.8% of our research as world-leading and internationally excellent.

86.8%