The best UK job site for a graduate depends on what you are actually looking for. Prospects, TargetJobs and Bright Network are where graduate schemes and employer research live. Gradcracker is the one to use for engineering, science and technology roles. Indeed, Reed and Save the Student cover the far larger pool of entry level jobs that are never advertised as a graduate scheme at all.
Most graduates need two or three of these, not ten: one large aggregator for volume, one graduate specialist for relevance, and one that matches their degree subject. All ten below are free for jobseekers.
Which job board is best for graduate job seekers?
There is no single answer, because these boards do not carry the same vacancies. Aggregators such as Indeed and Reed pull in listings from thousands of employers and agencies, so they return the most results but the least filtering. Graduate specialists list fewer roles, but almost every one of them is open to someone with no full time experience.
The practical approach is to register with one of each type, upload your CV once, and set up email alerts so new postings come to you rather than you repeating the same search every evening.
1. Indeed
Best for: sheer volume, and the entry level roles that never appear on graduate sites.
Indeed is a job aggregator rather than a graduate specialist, which is exactly why it belongs in your search. Employers post directly, agencies post, and Indeed also pulls in listings from company careers pages, so a large share of the UK vacancy market ends up in one search box.
Filter by job title, keyword, company or location, then narrow by salary, contract type and distance. Searching a job title rather than the word “graduate” is the trick here: many roles suitable for a new graduate are advertised as junior, trainee, assistant or analyst.
A free jobseeker account lets you store a CV for quick applications, message some employers within the platform, and save searches as email alerts. Indeed also carries employee-written company reviews and a salary tool, both useful for sense checking an offer before you accept it.
2. Save the Student
Best for: a filtered second opinion, plus the money side of graduating.
Save the Student is a student money and careers site rather than a recruiter, and its graduate job search pulls vacancies from other UK graduate boards and agencies into one list. That makes it a good sweep for anything the specialist sites missed, filtered by keyword and location.
Its real strength is the surrounding editorial: graduate salary guides, budgeting once the student loan stops, and practical write ups of how particular sectors recruit. If you are weighing up a low paid role in an expensive city, the cost of living material is more useful than another job feed.
3. Graduate Recruitment Bureau
Best for: graduates who want a human being involved, not just a search box.
Graduate Recruitment Bureau is a recruitment consultancy with a job board attached, covering graduate jobs and schemes alongside placements, internships and apprenticeships. That difference matters: consultants are paid by employers to fill specific roles, so a strong profile can put you in front of a shortlist you would never have found by searching.
Once you register, a consultant for your degree discipline reviews your profile and matches you against live briefs. GRB also offers free mentoring and one to one CV and interview support, which is worth taking up even if the first few matches are not right.
The site carries the usual careers library too, including CV templates and sector guides.
4. TargetJobs
Best for: researching an employer before you write the application.
TargetJobs lists internships, placements and graduate jobs, and is strongest on the sectors that recruit in structured annual cycles: law, banking, consulting, engineering and accountancy. Law students in particular will find training contracts, pupillages and vacation schemes gathered in one place.
Its employer profiles are the reason to use it. Each one sets out how that company recruits, what its scheme involves and whether it appears in the UK 300 list of the employers students rate most highly, alongside reviews from recent graduates and interns.
The advice library is unusually deep, covering CVs, assessment centres, interviews and career planning, and there are free e-learning courses and application tools on top.
5. LinkedIn
Best for: reaching the person doing the hiring, not just the vacancy.
LinkedIn is a jobs database attached to a professional network, and for graduates the network half is the valuable one. Search by job title, skill or company, then set alerts for roles that match your profile.
Where it beats a conventional board is visibility of people. Most vacancies name a recruiter or hiring manager, so you can send a short, specific message asking a genuine question about the role. Turning on the setting that tells recruiters you are open to work, and keeping your profile headline aligned with the jobs you want, costs nothing and does most of the work.
Follow the employers you are targeting as well. Graduate intakes are often announced on a company page days before the listing spreads to the aggregators.
6. Prospects
Best for: graduates who do not yet know what job they want.
Prospects is part of Jisc, the not for profit body that supports UK higher education, and it is the closest thing the sector has to an official careers service online. It covers graduate jobs, work experience and postgraduate study in one place, searchable by sector, location and salary.
Its job profiles are the standout feature: a large library of occupations described in the same format, covering entry routes, typical duties, qualifications and salary expectations. If you are stuck on what to apply for, read those before you touch a search box.
A free account adds alerts and a shortlist. The Future You series adds podcasts and webinars if you would rather listen than read.
7. Gradcracker
Best for: engineering, science and technology degrees.
Gradcracker is a STEM careers site, and it is the one board on this list organised around your degree discipline rather than around job titles. Choose your subject, from mechanical or civil engineering through chemistry, physics, maths and computing, and it returns only the vacancies open to that discipline.
It covers graduate jobs, placements, internships and degree apprenticeships, and each employer has a hub page you can follow for alerts when that company opens applications.
Gradcracker also runs employer webinars and publishes careers material aimed specifically at STEM applicants, which is more relevant than generic advice when the recruitment process includes a technical stage.
8. Bright Network
Best for: getting in front of employers at events, not only through a form.
Bright Network is a free membership platform for students and recent graduates, listing graduate jobs, schemes, internships and placements across sectors including technology, finance, consulting, law and engineering.
What separates it from a plain job board is the events programme. Members are invited to virtual and in person sessions with employers, where you hear how a firm actually recruits and, more usefully, get to ask questions before you apply.
Registration also gives you sector career guides and application advice, and recommendations based on the subjects and locations in your profile.
9. Milkround
Best for: a straightforward search across schemes, internships and placements.
Milkround is a long established UK student and graduate jobs brand, now run by The Stepstone Group, the company behind Totaljobs and CWJobs. In practice that means its listings overlap with those larger boards, which is useful coverage rather than a drawback.
Search by sector, location or company, and register for a free account to save jobs, set alerts and apply through the platform.
Milkround also publishes careers advice and a top employers section organised by sector, which is a quick way to build a target list if you know the industry you want but not the companies in it.
10. Reed
Best for: filling the gap while you wait on scheme deadlines.
Reed is a general UK job board backed by a recruitment agency, with a deep pool of permanent, temporary and contract roles. Graduate schemes open once a year, so the temporary and entry level listings here are what keep money coming in and your CV moving between application rounds.
Search by sector or location, upload a CV, and set alerts for the employers you are tracking.
Reed also runs a large careers advice library and Reed Courses, which lists free and paid short courses. A recognised certificate in a specific tool or standard is a reasonable way to fill an obvious gap on a graduate CV.
How to use these boards, and what comes next
Pick two or three rather than registering with all ten, because alerts you never read are worse than no alerts. Upload one strong CV to each, search by job title rather than by the word “graduate”, and check the employer’s own profile and careers page before applying.
Then prepare for the stage after the form. Many large graduate employers send an online assessment within days of an application, and it is a sift rather than a formality. Commercial, finance and analyst schemes lean on numerical reasoning, while a situational judgement test is common wherever the employer wants to see how you would behave at work. Our graduate guide to employer aptitude tests covers what each stage looks for.
