Final Careers & Employability Insights for 2025

Davinia Bascombe |  Careers Consultant

Final Careers & Employability Insights for 2025

18/12/2025

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Surge in 1:1 Appointments

This semester saw a marked increase in Careers engagement with 20 students booking Careers appointments (oftentimes several appointments per student) including professional brand (how employers see you) and career development /portfolios https://london.uclan.ac.uk/student-life/blogs/building-a-strong-career-portfolio-preparing-for-the-workplace. This is a very encouraging indication of students recognising the importance of (pro)actively linking study skills and activities to employability skills in the workplace. I look forward to supporting even more students next year.

Early Careers Webinar: ‘Redesigning Entry Level Roles for 2026 & Beyond’ GotDis Equitable careers for emerging talent | GotDis an organisation promoting skills development and opportunities for Early Careers graduates ran an engaging online workshop in September. The focus was on exploring how recent graduates, Careers services and employers can integrate AI to enhance job and organisational performance.

There were many takeaways/recommendations from the workshop; those which I found particularly insightful were:

- Careers teams being more aware of opportunities and challenges of AI in industry

- AI being used to generate more meaningful feedback and speed up the recruitment process for employers

- ‘ethically safeguarding’ AI if it were to be part of team decision-making

What Does This Mean for Our Students and Careers Services?

These insights reflect a changing AI world of work for Early Careers graduates and undergraduates who need to be ‘job-ready’ to keep up. As mentioned in the takeaways (above), AI is used frequently in recruitment, e.g. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for CVs, Automated Video Interviews (AVI) – even mock

interview platforms such as our Career Zone’s Interview 360 tool. Researching /being aware of how AI is used in these areas gives you a head start rather than being left behind other job candidates. Careers services (I’m also paying attention here) must also research and familiarise themselves with the impact of AI in the workplace – what are its strengths and weaknesses? How will AI affect the relevance/currency of Careers support without making it seem unnecessary?

AI Invasion?

AI is not taking over. Students and alumni must continue to develop employability/’people’ skills. Whilst AI continues to dominate as a sought-after skill from employers, so too are skills according to the World Economic Forum WEF_Future_of_Jobs_Report_2025.pdf (as mentioned in my Career Portfolio October blog) such as creative thinking, resilience/flexibility/agility, curiosity and lifelong learning, leadership and social influence. All of these skills and more are cited as on the increase over the next 5 years and are innately human qualities.

Speaking of human qualities, my last and arguably most important point on this topic is ethics. AI will not replace humans and as such has limitations – the so-called ‘human touch’, ‘intuition’, ‘instinct’. There are areas where (as mentioned in the takeaways) we need to safeguard against reducing the human element of decision-making in the workplace. A healthy work ‘culture’ needs inclusive, diverse and fair contributions – something to think about as you draw closer/complete/look beyond your final year of study.

Recruitment Isn’t Just for the (Very) Young

On a lighter note, Prospects.ac.uk the UK’s biggest graduate careers website published its Early Careers Survey in September. Key insights across graduate recruitment, skills and organisational culture were explored and for many employers, younger students and graduates remain the focus for recruitment.

However, those 35 and over were surveyed and what caught my eye were the following insights:

- approximately a third of over 35s wanted a career change

- they were more likely to wait for a role aligned with values’ goals, lifestyle

- flexibility for over 35s isn’t just remote working – consider ‘clear pathways for internal moving’, ‘retraining’, ‘secondment/mentoring opportunities’

- have ‘regular career development conversations’ to monitor progress, goals and concerns

What can our mature students learn from this?

These areas reflect so much lived experience as mature students and (officially) reinforce expectations and challenges. However, the final two insights are areas around which I feel our mature cohort must can make significant progress – actions which involve the employer and students being more proactive in ‘making things happen’. I always stress how to ‘leverage’ current employment/work relationships – and now the survey respondents are echoing this advice.

So, as the new year approaches, set yourself some New Year’s work resolutions. Who’s that one person who puts you forward for opportunities/encourages you in your achievements? Find them (your mentor) What’s that job you were thinking of temporarily ‘trying out’? (Secondment) When/with whom are you going to meet and discuss your current or new objectives/goals? (Career development conversations)

Wishing you a festive break and Happy New Year 2026!

References

WEF Future of Jobs Report (2025) Available at: https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_Report_2025.pdf

(Accessed: 18 December 2025)

Prospects Early Careers Survey (2025) Available at: https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/early-careers-survey (Accessed: 18 December 2025)

GotDis [Webinar] 'Re-designing Entry Level roles for 2026 & Beyond' (2025)

(Accessed 26 November 2025)