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The University of Southampton
EconomicsPart of Economic, Social and Political Science

Careers & Employability

At the University of Southampton, we believe in providing our students with skills, experience and opportunities to help in acquiring a future career.

Through our Careers and Employability service, you are given guidance and support throughout your studies and including post-studies for up to three years after graduation.

Each faculty provides ample opportunities to get involved in a wide range of programs that can help towards gainful employment. Find out more below.

Economic graduates from the University of Southampton are well prepared to enter a competitive job market. They learn important skills within their degrees, but also have many opportunities to improve their CVs through internships, mentoring, specialist student societies and employability projects. Our graduates systematically gain positions in leading Financial Institutions, Accountancy firms, Consultancies, Government Agencies amongst others. But this graduate already has her future goals firmly in sight.

Course based Skills and Employability Development


The economics programme at Southampton is designed to develop strong quantitative skills and an excellent critical understanding of modern economies and markets. Students can choose from a wide variety of policy-oriented modules (e.g. Development, Labour, Finance and Investments, Macroeconomic Policy etc) in addition to core theoretical subjects and optional multidisciplinary modules.


The University recognises the need for multi-disciplinary skills in the workplace. It has launched a series of new modules open to all undergraduates and designed to broaden their area of expertise. The Curriculum Innovation Project is a unique initiative in the UK. It allows single and joint honours Economics students to study modules taught by experts in their fields in areas, such as: Global Health, Social Networks, Experimental Economics, Health Policy and Economics, Understanding Modern China, The Arab World, among numerous others.

Through a third year supervised dissertation requirement students are also given the opportunity to develop and manage their own research project. Through this valuable directed research experience, students develop key empirical research skills and expertise in statistical software commonly used in the workplace. The dissertation also gives students the opportunity to gain expertise in the use of specialised economic and financial databases, such as Datastream, to which the Economics Division subscribes.


For particular career paths, Southampton also has a number of specialised employability modules. Our BSc programme in Economics and Actuarial Science offers exemptions from all 8 Core Technical examinations at the Institute of Actuaries. Southampton is in fact the only course in the country which combines this feature with the study of Economics. Our BSc programme in Accounting and Economics offers exemptions for a range of professional qualifications in Accounting. All students in our standard BSc Economics, BSc Economics and Finance and other joint honours programmes also benefit from specially tailored Employability Modules organised by our Careers Services as well as Placement Schemes.


Our students are also given the opportunity to study abroad for 1 semester. The University is part of the ERASMUS scheme which links us with the University of Groningen (Netherlands), Masaryk University (Czech Republic), University of Bergen (Norway) and Stockholm University (Sweden). Students can also travel outside Europe as we have links with the University of Sao Paolo (Brazil), University of Wisconsin (USA), Kyoto University (Japan), Hong-Kong University (China), amongst others.


Employability Outside the Course


The University runs the Excel Southampton placement scheme which allows students to apply for an internship. Placements are available across the UK. The selection process is competitive and mimics a regular recruitment process so as to give students hands on experience. The Social Sciences Employability Award takes the form of financial support granted to students who have arranged an unfunded summer internship.


The University hosts a huge range of student societies including several for Economics, Finance and Enterprise. Of particular interest to our students: Actuarial Society; Economics Society; Advertising and Marketing Society; AIESEC; Break into Banking; Fish on Toast (Entrepreneur Society); Investment and Finance Society and Enactus; SUSU (Student Union).


The Careers and Employability Service team offer a variety of opportunities to help students with their career path. Aside from the Internship Excel Programme, they offer a wide variety of training events and career talks. Some skills workshops are run on campus by employers, such as the major Accountancy firms and Management Consultants. Employers are also directly involved in the mentoring scheme which pairs undergraduates with a mentor within their chosen field. Employers are also involved in the careers fairs for Southampton students, but also in a number of specialist career fairs. For example, there are specialist fairs in volunteering and the third sector, careers in law for non-Law graduates, careers in Economics etc.

A full list of events is available on the Careers and Employability Service webpage.

Social Sciences career support

As part of Social Sciences you have access to a range of other career support

Photo of Jamelia Harris
The students, staff and academic programme all make it worthwhile; and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
Jamelia HarrisBSc Economics with Actuarial Science

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