Employability in the UK

You may or may not know what you want to do when you finish university, or you might find that your plans change during your studies. Obviously some jobs require specific subject knowledge gained through your degree (for example, medicine and engineering), but there is no need to panic if your course choice is not vocational, or you don't know what you want to do when you graduate. You will find that employers value the skills and qualities of Queen Mary graduates from all disciplines. 

Transferable skills: what are they? How do you acquire them?

Over 60 percent of graduate job vacancies are open to all graduates. This means that whatever you decide to study, whether it’s English, economics, physics, or geography, you’ll have a range of careers open to you.  Your degree will help you to develop the transferable skills that nearly all employers look for: time-management, written and oral communication, logical thinking, problem-solving, analytical ability, self-motivation and team-working. For example, if you choose a humanities course like history, you will have three years of:

  • meeting coursework deadlines (time-management)
  • producing written work such as essays, projects and dissertations (written communication)
  • giving presentations to fellow students (oral communication)
  • reading round a range of topics for essays, seminar papers, and so on, and developing your own arguments which you can back up with evidence (logical thinking, problem-solving and analytical ability)
  • working with other students on group projects (team-working)

If you opt for a mathematical or science degree, although you might not write essays, you will produce reports and projects. Plus, as well as all the skills above, you can add high level numeracy: one of the most sought-after skills in the job market.

You can apply this analysis to any Queen Mary degree course.

To help students identify how they can develop transferable employability skills, the College has devised an essential website, Mind the Gap.

What can I do with my degree?

Our students go into a vast range of careers and sectors: see course entries and Departmental web-sites for more detailed information. London is  the place for graduate job vacancies in a whole range  of career areas. Our graduates’ destinations reflect this, from advertising, PR and marketing, to healthcare and medicine, the political world, the legal profession, the media and the arts, engineering and technology… most career areas are represented in, or very near,  the capital.

Queen Mary’s location between the City and Docklands gives our students a particular advantage in the job market – many of our graduates go into financial careers such as investment banking, accountancy and management consultancy.  According to the 2007 Sunday Times league tables, Queen Mary graduates have the fifth highest starting salaries in the UK. Major graduate employers advertise their training vacancies with us and visit the College to recruit.  Take advantage of Queen Mary’s Careers Service sooner rather than later – they can provide you with valuable one-to-one careers advice as well as information about upcoming events.

Queen Mary graduates have gone onto to work for The Home Office (as a Policy Officer for example), GlaxoSmithKline, Morgan Stanley (Analyst), BAFTA (Events Producer), The Royal Air Force and ITV to name just a few.

Extra-curricular activities and part-time work

The graduate employment market is becoming increasingly competitive so it is worth remembering that many of the skills employers are after are also developed through getting involved with non-study activities such as volunteering and joining clubs and societies, even just socialising, so get involved in all that university life has to offer.

Make sure you visit the Freshers’ Fair at the start of the first year and join some clubs, sign up for a sports team or get involved with the Students’ Union, from running it, to writing for their magazine or booking band in the Ents (Entertainments) Office. This tells employers that you have a rounded personality, can organise your time efficiently, and are sociable.

Consider volunteering in the local  community: Queen Mary’s Students’ Union runs a student volunteering programme called Provide, giving students the opportunity to volunteer with charities and voluntary groups.  Again, this will make an excellent addition to your CV and is also a fun and rewarding experience.

Employers will be impressed by any work experience you have, whether it’s directly relevant to your subject (maybe a sandwich year?), or just some part-time work to earn extra money. It all helps to develop your awareness of the realities of the post-university working world. You’ll find that many Queen Mary students work part-time. In fact, many students work for the College itself as there are opportunities to work as a Student Ambassador, to take part in Mentoring and Tutoring schemes and to work part-time for various College Departments.  Job opportunities are advertised in the Student Support Centre, at the Students’ Union, and at the College’s Careers Centre, making it easy for you to find some work that will fit in with your studies.