Graduate opportunities

You might want to start work straight after finishing your degree.

If you have a vocational degree such as medicine or engineering, you need to decide whether or not to use your qualification to follow a career in this area.

It’s important not to feel that you have to continue into a career in the area that’s related to your vocational degree.

At university, some students don’t find their subject as interesting as they thought they would. Others enjoy their degree course but decide that they don’t want to use it to start a career. You need to think very carefully about your next step.

If you have a degree in a non-vocational subject such as history or English literature, and think you can’t enter many careers – don’t worry!

Many careers are open to people with a degree in any subject. Also, your degree may well be relevant to more careers than you think. It’s a good idea to speak to your tutors or to visit the university careers service to find out more.

Transferable skills

While your degree qualification is very important, it’s not the only thing that employers will be interested in.

Especially where there is strong competition for entry to a job, employers have to find a way to choose between graduates.

The personal qualities and skills you can develop while studying, and through other areas of your life, can be just as important to employers as your degree certificate.

Employers are looking for people with transferable skills. These include:

  • team work
  • decision making
  • ICT skills
  • problem solving
  • time management
  • written and spoken communication skills.

They also need people with personal qualities and abilities such as:

  • willingness to learn new things
  • ability to work under pressure
  • a sense of responsibility.

There are lots of ways you can develop these skills and qualities.

Writing essays, taking part in tutorials and giving presentations as part of your course could have enabled you to develop time management, analytical, ICT and communication skills. You are also likely to have more confidence.

Work experience, including as a volunteer, can be very useful. Gaining work experience in an area related to the career you want to enter can demonstrate commitment and initiative. It can help you to gain skills such as team work and time management.

Occupations

Occupational areas that are available to you if you have a degree in any discipline include:

  • The armed forces, where you would train to be an officer.
  • The Civil Service – you can either apply for specific vacancies or, if you have at least a second class honours degree, you may apply to enter through the ‘fast-stream’ recruitment scheme.
  • Local government and politics.
  • Management – graduate training schemes are available in many areas, including personnel, retail, the health service, hotels and catering, banking, marketing, and general management.
  • Media-related jobs, including journalism.
  • Publishing.
  • Advertising.
  • Protective services – it is possible to enter the police force or the prison service either as a standard entrant or by doing a fast-track promotion scheme.
  • Financial careers such as accountancy, banking and insurance.
  • Manufacturing.