Graduate Tookit
Joining professional bodies
Most industries will have a professional body. If you have an idea of what sector you are interested in, join the relevant professional body.
Professional bodies can open up networking opportunities, provide specialist advice and information relevant to your interests, and guidance on applying for roles.
Business and management
- Institute of Consulting (IC)
- Management Consultancies Association (MCA)
- Royal Economic Society
- Royal Statistical Society
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) - Careers
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
- Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
- Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA)
- Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA)
- British Retail Consortium (BRC)
- Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)
- Association for Project Management (APM)
- The British Psychological Society (BPS)
- The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CiM)
- Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
- Communication Advertising and Marketing (CAM) Foundation
- The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM)
- The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC)
- Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)
- Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA)
- Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI)
- Association of British Insurers (ABI)
- Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA)
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)
- Trades Union Congress (TUC)
- Association of MBAs
- Archive and Records Association
- Association for Information Management
- Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
- Operational Research Society
- The International Data Management Association (DAMA)
- Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM)
Charities and international aid
Creative industries: Media and design, journalism, museum and archaeological studies
- National Council for Training of Journalists
- BIMA
- BECTU
- Association for British Science Writers
- Professional Publishers Association
- International Visual Communications Association
- British Society of Magazine Editors
- Chartered Institute of Journalists
- Institute of Practitioners in Advertising
- Institute of Videography
- Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland
- Royal Anthropological Institute
- Society for Editors and Proofreaders
- VES (The Visual Effects Society)
- Media.info
- KFTV
- Archant Life
- The Knowledge
- PACT
- Radio Now
- Chartered Institute of Marketing
- The Publishers Association
- Writer’s Guild of Great Britain
- The Broadcast Journalism Council
- National Council for the Training of Journalists
Digital, IT and telecommunications including computer science
Education and training – including information on teaching unions
Engineering, energy and the environment (including aerospace and defence)
- Association for Consultancy and Engineering
- Engineering Council
- Institute of Mechanical Engineers
- Motor Industry Association
- Motor Sport Association
- Royal Aeronautical Society
- ADS UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Sectors Trade Organisation
- Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
- Women’s Engineer Society
- Energy Institute
- Institute of Chemical Engineers
- Oil and Gas Trade Association
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Engineering Council
- The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
- The Biomedical Engineering Association
- The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
- European Society for Biomaterials
- Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
- Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
- Chartered Institute of Building
- Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES)
- Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT)
- Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
- Institution of Structural Engineers
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- The Engineering Council
- Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
- British Ecological Society
- The British Institute of Agricultural Consultants
- Chartered Institute of Waste Management
- Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management - careers advice and jobs
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
- Institute of Conservation
- Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment - Information and opportunities on work in the environment
- Institution of Environmental Sciences
- Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) – independent centre for analysis and development of policies affecting the environment
- Rothamsted Research Institute – largest agricultural research centre in the UK
- Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
- Royal Town Planning Institute
- Society for the Environment
- UK regulatory body for the engineering profession: Engineering Council
- Why become a Chartered Engineer
- RAeS
- Engineering Council - Professional Registration
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
Sciences and mathematics (including chemistry, natural sciences, biological sciences, physics, psychology and medicine)
- The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences
- The Royal Society of Chemistry
- The British Toxicology Society
- The Biochemical Society
- Institute of Mathematics
- The London Mathematical Society
- The Royal Statistical Society
- The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
- Association of Applied Biologists
- Association of British Science Writers
- Association of Clinical Scientists
- Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
- The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (CSFS)
- Institute of Biomedical Science
- Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators
- Institution of Environmental Sciences
- The Royal Society
- Society for the Environment
- Society of Biology
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
- Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
- British Astronomical Association
- Institute of Physics
- Royal Astronomical Society
- The Science Council
- Biochemical Society
- Institute of Biomedical Scientists
- Royal Society of Biology
- The Academy of Medical Sciences
- The Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- The Society for General Microbiology
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
- British Psychological Society
- The Royal College of Psychiatry
- UK Council for Psychotherapy
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The Royal College of Midwives
- Search for postgraduate courses in midwifery
- BMA (British Medical Association)
- Institute of Biomedical Science
- Physiotherapy
- Speech Therapy
- Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
- British Complementary Medicine Association
- AMRC
- British Psychological Society
- Association of Educational Psychologists
- Association of Optometrists
- Association of Reflexologists
- Association of Surgeons of Great Britain
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
- British Association of Clinical Dental Technology
- British Association of Dermatologists
- British Association of Occupational Therapists
- British Association of Paediatric Surgeons
- British Chiropractic Association
- British Dental Association
- British Institute of Dental and Surgical Technologists
- British Institute of Radiology
- British Psychotherapy Foundation
- Royal College of Anaesthetists
- Royal College of General Practitioners
- Royal College of Nursing
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Royal College of Ophthalmologists
- Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
- Royal College of Physicians
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC): To practice as a registered Physiotherapist
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)