Graduate jobs & schemes in Sheffield 2025

The graduate job/scheme market is competitive in Sheffield. But that doesn’t mean you won’t get into a graduate programme! If you take the right steps, you can boost your chances of getting a graduate job or getting on to a scheme.   

You’ll want to apply in your final year of university and start looking as early as possible to boost your chances. We’re also here to help.  

If you want to boost your skills further and make your applications stand out, try our free online learning tools – Pathways and GradSims. 

Heaps of companies offer graduate programmes in Sheffield. Discover graduate employers - with our dedicated guides you’ll learn more about the companies offering graduate roles, how to apply, and more.  

There are different types of graduate programmes you can get on to in Sheffield when you have a university degree.   

You could get a graduate job - which is a full-time role within a company and usually unstructured with a shorter application process. Or you could get on to a graduate scheme – a structured training programme that typically would run between one to three years. Sectors include – but aren’t limited to – marketing, law, engineering, finance, IT, HR, and healthcare. 

For example, a marketing graduate scheme would include rotations across different teams, so you’d gain experience in different marketing roles including digital, product, content, social media marketing, brand management, and market research. Whereas a marketing graduate job would likely be for a specific role within a sector – for example: graduate digital marketing executive.

There has been some research into average graduate salaries in Sheffield, but we’d take the findings with a pinch of salt. It really does depend on things like the company, sector and role. For example, sectors like finance and law may offer larger salaries and bonuses across their graduate jobs and schemes. 

To help give you an idea, UK-wide, the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) found the average UK salary was £35,170 in 2023.

Living in Sheffield can be relatively cheaper compared to other towns and cities in the UK. According to Finder, in 2024 the cost of living in Sheffield (including rent for a 1-bedroom flat) is around £2,026, which is around 48% cheaper than London. 

However, it really does depend on your own spending habits and living preferences. For example, you could rent a room in a house share or buddy up with friends for even cheaper housing options.