• Any degree - any career?
• Subject options

Any degree - Any Career?

Within reason. The key theme around degree subject and career choice is flexibility. In some countries the Higher Education system is clearly defined in terms of graduates being destined for specific careers related to their degrees. In the UK over 50% of graduates go into careers that are not related to their degree. The figure is almost certainly higher but is derived from the number of graduate vacancies (see the annual directories from Prospects or Hobsons) that take graduates of any subject.

The logic here is that as a graduate you have attained a particular level of achievement and developed a broad set of transferable skills which can be utilised in many different careers.

There are obvious limitations. If you want to go into engineering or medicine you'll clearly need the relevant subjects. To give an idea of the potential here's a list of occupations / sectors open to all graduates.

Occupations and sectors open to all graduates:

Local Government Accountancy & Finance Administration Auctioneer & Valuation work Buying & Purchasing Fundraising Civil Service Company Secretary IT sector Conference / Events Management Counselling and Advising Customs & Excise Air Traffic Control Property management & sales Import / Export Health Management Hospitality & Leisure Management Bookselling & Publishing Arts Admin /management Human Resources Insurance Banking & Building Society Journalism Legal Sector

Library / Information Management Archiving Management Consultancy Marketing Public Relations Market Research Museum work Police & Emergency Services Security Service Armed forces Probation Service Social Work Housing Management Prison Service Youth & Community work Recruitment Consultancy Retail Management Surveying Tourism Management Voluntary Sector project work Advertising Broadcasting Teaching

Some of the above absolutely require further study / qualifications - but this is also the case for graduates of law or accounting progressing into the same careers; they simply save a little time by having the appropriate subject at degree level.

However, when you look at any additional qualifications or training required do bear in mind (if you are confident of your choice) the investment is likely to be quite modest when put in the perspective of your working life (years and years). Other areas such as Market Research or PR work have professional qualifications which, though not held by everyone in the sector, can be valuable to further career options.

This is a short list. Most of the sectors and professions described above (e.g. broadcasting or publishing) could be broken down into many more subdivisions creating a huge range of options and jobs.

For information about individual careers and employment sectors try our occupations page or go to: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/occupations. If you are unsure about what you want to do, the decision making page may also be useful.

English graduates - a page providing ideas and resources for English graduates.

Subject Options

Have a look at our homepage to access careers materials and ideas by course.

Prospects Options Series

Most established subjects are represented here, you can usually find your own subject(s) or something close such as Sports Management / Science if you are taking Sports Studies. They are available as PDF printable versions or you can use the ring menu for specific information.

Each Options Sheet addresses specific areas such as the skills developed through the subject and looks at careers related to your degree. These suggestions are useful but not exhaustive. They focus on well defined job titles (for which there are hot links to excellent online profiles) but do not convey the multitude of graduate roles in many modern employment sectors that do not have such clear job titles.
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/signposts
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/usesubj