Getting Started:

Social Sciences

Schools covered:
Business, Management and Economics
Education and Social Work
Global Studies
Law, Politics and Sociology

This booklet is an overview of the skills you gain from a social
science degree, and what you can do with your degree after
graduating. For more specialised information on your course go to

www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/yourdegree

During your course you are developing:
a wide understanding of human cultures and societies.
an ability to analyse processes of change in the modern
world.
ability to evaluate theories and models.

You are developing:
understanding of the nature of cultural and social differences
and ways to approach these differences in the contemporary
world.
competence and confidence in presenting your own ideas
as well as those of others.
a set of research and analytical skills that will be of use in a
wide range of jobs.
competence in using statistical tools and handling
quantitative data accurately. Practical projects and field work
will be developing your data collection and data
management expertise and you know about research in
practice.
interpersonal skills and experiences through group work and
assessments.

In addition to your degree you are gaining experience and skills
from other parts of your life. Think about the value of your work
experience, volunteering and social activities.
Building your experience
You can gain valuable experience in a number of ways while at
Sussex. There are three sources of experience that will help you in
your career development: Academic, Work, and Personal.

Academic Experience
Skillclouds is a resource for undergraduates which tells you the
main skills you are developing on your degree course.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/skillclouds

Sussex runs the Junior Research Associates Scheme in
summer vacations. It is a chance for undergraduates to take part in
academic research. www.sussex.ac.uk/study/ug/careers/jra

The Careers and Employability Centre runs Learning to Lead, a
programme of leadership training and development.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/learningtolead

If you are interested in working for yourself or setting up a business
our entrepreneurship training can help you get started.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/startupsussex

Developing skills and experiences through courses might appeal to
you. Language courses and IT training are available on campus.
www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub

You can find more development opportunities at Sussex on our
webpages.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/skills


Personal Experience
The Students Union offers lots of opportunities to learn skills in
leadership, teamwork, money management, etc. You could get
involved with a student society, contribute to student media, or
volunteer to help keep the Union running.
Student Societies: www.sussexstudent.com/minisites
Student Media: www.sussexstudent.com/media
Volunteering for the Union: www.bit.ly/ussuvolunteer

There are many media, arts, music and heritage organisations in
the Brighton area. The Students Union volunteering programme
advertises voluntary work. www.sussexstudent.com/
volunteering

Local volunteering with Community Base
www.communitybase.org or visit them on Queens Road,
Brighton.

Opportunities in the UK on Do-it www.do-it.org

Paid placements abroad with VSO www.vso.org.uk

Local Organisation Concordia www.concordiavolunteers.org.uk
also run UK and international volunteering projects.

You can find more links on our website:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/volunteering

Work Experience
First jobs are often stepping stones to greater things and can help
you develop a really interesting skills portfolio. Gaining a range of
experiences while you are an undergraduate will give you
opportunities to test out what you like and dislike in different
environments and with different types of people.

Part time work and work experience provide opportunities to learn
about work places and you can see yourself in different work
environments as well as providing useful income! Opportunities are
advertised at www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs we also produce a
booklet: Looking for Part Time Work.

In the Careers and Employability Centre we have lots of links with
local employers and organisations. You can find out more about
them on our Researching Employers webpage where you can
search by type and location.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/researchemployers

Wired Sussex is a group of local firms and freelancers, on their site
you can find networking opportunities, jobs advertisements and
other opportunities in the digital and creative sector in Brighton.
www.wiredsussex.com

Thoughts:
I like politics and campaigning
I think I like getting things done ra-
ther than analysing and research
Didnt much enjoy the office
environment.
Community or welfare work?
Patterns:
Seem to have enjoyed groups of
people.
I like to make a difference to peoples
lives.
I enjoy variety and am energetic.
Not sure if commercial settings suit
me, but havent had a lot of experience
to draw on
Got place at Sussex for Politics.
Bit unsure what to expect but
Brightons really nice
Yr 1 - Part time work in
shop, this type of work not
for me! But helps cover my
costs
End of year exams not great!
Doing more shop work over
summer to fund some travelling
Yr2 - Getting involved in
some campus activity &
have written an article for
Badger Summer work experience in local
council office, getting to
understand filing and
bureaucracy
Yr 3 - More involved on
campus, enjoy
campaigning and
advocacy; might stand as
Sab next year but focusing
on finals now
Ive graduated! Am trying to get
some work lined up in MPs
office. Am wondering if I could
work in political research or
campaigning. Not sure how to
get started
Try plotting your experiences to date onto a diagram like this, add a time
scale and also note how you felt at different points. Noting when you felt
happy and motivated may help to identify interesting career ideas for
you. Patterns of skills and experiences can help identify themes you
might want to pursue in the future.
Identfying turning points and routnes
Thinking about your career
There are many theories around career exploration. If you have
completed the Turning Points exercise on the previous page you
will have noticed how much happenstance and luck can influence
the way you your career develops. Being aware of this will allow
you to take advantage of unexpected opportunities when they
arise.
In the Careers and Employability Centre we have lots more
worksheets that can help you start your career thinking. You can
find them, and other useful resources, on our website:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/interests
Another way into thinking about your career development is to
consider theories based in your degree disciplines:
An anthropologist might consider the cultural aspects of work and
their impact in decision making.
If you are studying education you might think about how we learn,
and apply that to how we learn about careers
A sociologist might look at the structure of work and work places
and how they affect us
Listening to the stories of people one or two years ahead of you
might give you ideas for how you want to make progress. Alumni
events at Sussex or video clips online can all provide good source
material. Setting up your own career investigation interviews will be
interesting and is often easier to organise than formal work
experience.
Your degree: www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/yourdegree
Your interests and motivations:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/interests
Information on the different employment sectors can be found in
our sector guides www.guides.careers.sussex.ac.uk
Social Science
Degree
High level
administrator
Further study
Political
researcher
Campaigner
Charity
administrator
Teaching
or lecturing
Counselling
Solicitor
Barrister
Account
manager
Recruitment
consultant
Retail sales
and promotion
Script writer
Advertising
Web content writer
External Affairs
Public relations
Communicating
key messages
Research
and Writing
Interpersonal
skills
Mind Map to show an example of linking
university skills to types of work roles
Generatng career ideas around
your degree experience

Political
awareness
and values
This is purely illustrative, and is not meant to be reductive about
your degree learning.
There are many other significant areas in which you might have
developed during your academic life: patience, linguistic ability,
being perceptive, dealing with uncertainty, identity, and lots more.
We suggest you engage with this mind map and create your own.
Investigative
journalist
Media
researcher
Market
researcher
Social
researcher
Banking and
Finance
Statistician
Management trainee
Office
manager
Event
manager
Librarianship
Visitor Centre
manager
Information Officer
Archivist
MI5 Security
Service
Statistics, data
and numeracy
Organising
Information
Destnatons
Careers with your degree
Social science is a broad based discipline and people often
consider going on to work in a wide variety of sectors. Some
require further professional training others have direct entry from
their degree. There is much more information about different
career areas on our website
sussex.ac.uk/careers/researchingcareers
Some of the jobs recent Sussex social sciences graduates have
gone on to include:
Teacher
Press Officer
Volunteer, Water Aid
Housing support worker
Assistant Economist, HM Revenue and Customs
Management Consultant
TEFL Teacher for the British Council
Parliamentary Assistant to an MEP
You can find our more about what our graduates do at:
www.ussex.ac.uk/careers/whatourgraduatesdo
About 40% of vacancies advertised for graduates in the UK do not
ask for specific degree subjects. The degree is taken as evidence
of intellectual ability and the employer is interested in the range of
transferable skills and experience you demonstrate.
These include jobs such as management traineeships in both
public and private sector, human resources, retail, marketing,
sales, banking, accountancy and administration.

Careers unrelated to your degree
As we showed earlier in this booklet your academic experience is
just one part of who you are. Your interests and skills may lead you
to work that is not (or does not appear to be) connected to your
degree at all.
Some of the less typical roles our recent social sciences graduates
have gone on to include:
Translator
Sports Journalist
Patent Assistant
Freelance Musician
Restaurant Manager
Going on to further study
It is possible to study at postgraduate level in either your current
subject or in another unrelated subject. Recently Sussex social
scientists have gone on to courses such as:
Anthropology of Conflict, Violence and Conciliation
Museum Studies
Criminology
Photo Journalism & Documentary Photography
Cultural History
Graduate Diploma in Law
Mental Health Nursing
Find out more on the Careers and Employability Centre website:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/furtherstudy
Or come to one of our workshops on postgraduate study
Further Resources
Our Website
Your degree: sussex.ac.uk/careers/yourdegree

Your interests and motivations: sussex.ac.uk/careers/interests

Information on the different employment sectors can be found in
our sector guides guides.careers.sussex.ac.uk

Events and Workshops
Check sussex.ac.uk/careers/events for our events listings.

Careers Advisers
You can talk to a Career Adviser weekdays during term time. Call
us on 01273 678429 to check availability.
A discussion with your Academic Adviser or departmental
Careers Liaison Tutor may also be useful.