Careers & employability

Whatever career path you decide to follow, you will be able to move on with a wealth of skills and a real competitive edge. Where you choose to study is of key significance for your future career options.

Whether you want to pursue an academic career or follow a path in business or other sectors, undertaking postgraduate education that develops your personal and professional skills will give you the edge.

Postgraduate study at the University of Southampton will enable you to push the boundaries of knowledge in your chosen field and make a real contribution to your subject. 

Whatever your situation, the Career and Employability Service offers a wide range of services and support for postgraduate students. Visit the Careers and Employability Service website for more details.

We recognise that securing a career on graduation is very important to you. To help you achieve your initial objectives, we would like to encourage you to take advantage of the resources available thorough the Politics & International Relations Division (PAIR) and the University.

Our role is to point you in the right direction, so you get the skills you need to make the successful transition into work. We therefore provide:

• an employment site (Blackboard: UoS students only) specifically for PAIR, including useful tips, jobs related to politics and international relations, internships, videos of previous presentations concerning job hunting and interviews
• an annual employability conference with presentations offering advice on how to get into a variety of careers and the opportunities to network with relevant employers
• notification of any local employer evenings
• collaborative presentations with the Careers and Employability Service on how to prepare for future employment

Previous students have gone on to jobs in the private sector, think-tanks, local authorities, the armed forces, the NHS, the UK Youth Parliament, publishing and teaching, as well as moving into academia.