Your UWE Bristol journey doesn’t finish with Graduation. As a graduate, you have access to a pioneering and exclusive professional development programme, designed to help you build your future, advance your career and stay ahead of the competition. Regardless of your discipline, or when you graduated, this programme is for you. 

Since 2018, our Trailblazer Programme has helped graduates take their next steps with confidence. This exclusive programme combines online interactive sessions, expert insight and practical learning. This will help you to maximise personal impact, boost effectiveness and unlock new opportunities.  

Learn from experienced academics and our brilliant Professional Services staff and put this into practise from day one. With its focus on learning by doing, Trailblazer captures a real-world approach. 

Who is it for?

Offered exclusively to UWE Bristol and Help to Grow alumni on a complimentary basis*, this is a chance to continue your learning beyond graduation. The programme enables you to take advantage of your lifelong connection to our expertise and community. 

This programme will give you up-to-date relevant skills to use in your professional career. You will also gain access to a growing and vibrant network of Trailblazers with future networking events. 

*Please note there is a £30 administrative fee. 

Content

Wherever you are in the world, you can join Trailblazer. Our online format makes it easy to fit your professional development around your life.  

By completing the programme, you will receive a Digital Credential to recognise your achievement. You must attend all sessions to achieve the credential. 

     Session 1 - Personal Direction: Navigating Your Career with Purpose 

Delivered by the UWE Bristol Graduate Careers and Enterprise Development Team. 

UWE’s Graduate Careers and Enterprise team will help you develop a clearer understanding of your career preferences, priorities, values, and skills, and learn how to align and leverage these to find meaningful opportunities in today's labour market.  

Explore graduate and entry-level recruitment trends, where to find relevant opportunities, and how to maintain motivation and momentum in a challenging job market. 

Using career development theories and practical tools, you'll learn how to set a clear direction for your career, make informed decisions, and take a strategic approach to your job search. This strategies in this session will equip you with skills to navigate career transitions and make confident career decisions throughout your working life. 

     Session 2 – Brand Building: Boosting Your Online Presence and Managing Your Digital Footprint 

Delivered by Beth Johnson and Ripley Williamson-King from our Engagement Team and Dr Charlotte Im, Lecturer in Information Science 

The session will teach you how to build a strong profile on LinkedIn and help you feel more confident in posting & engaging on the platform. The session will cover the benefits of building a personal brand on LinkedIn as well as providing you with tips for engaging with others.  

This session will also touch on digital footprints, how to be aware of what yours is and the impression this might leave on potential employers. 

     Session 3 - Standing Out: Succeeding in a Competitive Graduate Job Market 

Delivered by the UWE Bristol Graduate Careers and Enterprise Development Team. 

The graduate job market is more competitive than ever, with increasing application volumes making it harder to stand out from the crowd. Learn how to differentiate yourself for all the right reasons and maximise your chances of success throughout the recruitment process. 

From finding the most effective application routes and creating CVs that beat the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) robots, to excelling at interviews, we will draw on our extensive experience supporting graduates into employment to share tried-and-tested strategies that work, while highlighting how recruitment success is often built on skills that can be learned, practised, and improved over time. 

     Session 4 - Keep Evolving: Identifying and Fillings Skill Gaps 

Delivered by Dr Alvin Hadiono, Lecturer and Researcher in Human Resource Management. 

This session will enable you to reflect on your existing training and development needs and will provide you with tools to go forward in seeking opportunities for upskilling and enhancing your personal development. 

*please note there may be some small changes in session content according to course lead availability

Entry requirements

There are no formal entry requirements for this programme, however places are offered exclusively to UWE Bristol alumni from our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and Help to Grow alumni. You will be asked to supply your course and year of graduation at application stage. 

Structure

This course is delivered over two weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings:

Session 1: Tuesday 29 September 2026, 17:30-20:00 

Session 2: Thursday 01 October 2026, 17:30-20:00 

Session 3: Tuesday 06 October 2026, 17:30-20:00 

Session 4: Thursday 08 October 2026, 17:30-20:00 

Location 

Sessions are held online. 

Extra information

To be able to fully participate in our programme, you will need to have access to a computer with a webcam to participate in online sessions

Please note, although the programme is complimentary for UWE Bristol and Help to Grow alumni, we are asking for a fee of £30 to cover administration costs. 

For any questions, please email: execed@uwe.ac.uk