Your future

A degree from the School of Politics and International Studies provides you with the knowledge and transferable skills for a successful career.

Rewarding careers

In recent years our graduates have gone on to work in public and private sector roles across the globe, in organisations and government such as:

• UK Parliament
• Civil Service
• BBC
• Deloitte
• Leeds City Council
• British Council
• The Home Office
• Jefferson Communications (PR)
• Temple Translations (specialist legal and financial translators)
• Mackenzie Stewart (Global Executive Search and Selection).

Gaining experience

Throughout your studies, you’ll have a number of opportunities to develop key employability skills, including the chance to:

• undertake a work placement year to gain experience relevant to your career aims, or to test a potential job choice whilst gaining practical experience
• apply for a parliamentary placement if you are studying BA Politics
• study abroad to experience life in another culture — all of our courses allow you to undertake a study abroad year and BA International Development also offers a semester abroad route
• gain the quantitative skills valued by employers with Q-Step option modules
• develop entrepreneurial skills with help from our Enterprise Centre
• broaden your experience with 250 student-led clubs and societies.

Find out more about our wider enrichment opportunities.

This July I know that I will graduate with confidence about finding a good career, a better understanding of the world we live in, friends for life and countless happy and fun memories of my time at Leeds.

Surfacing skills

The University of Leeds provides programmes of study that are not only academically excellent and discipline-focused, but also relevant to the workplace in terms of the transferable nature of the skills that you will gain. 

Each of our programmes enables you to 'surface' those transferable skills through practice, assessment and reflective opportunities (aligned to real-world issues), meaning that you’ll leave us with the confidence that you can apply the skills gained through your degree in your chosen career.

Careers support

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers. Whether you know exactly where you want to be, or you’re just wanting to make the most of all the opportunities available, we are here to support you.

You’ll have access to the University’s award-winning Careers Service, who are on hand to support you throughout your time at university and beyond. We offer one-to-one support for creating your CV, searching for jobs and internship opportunities, application support and mock interviews, as well as specialist career discovery modules.

Once you graduate you will still have access to the University of Leeds Careers Service.

For those graduates who can't visit the Careers Service in person, but need advice, then you can ask your questions using the e-guidance service. Alternatively, you can contact the Careers Service on +44 (0) 113 343 5295 or email: careerscentre@leeds.ac.uk

You can also register for a graduate log in to access the exclusive MyCareer database of local, national and international job opportunities, as well as many student and graduate internship opportunities. 

The School of Politics and International Studies also offers an in-house careers service run by Employability and Placements Officers who offer 1-1 careers appointments in which you can ask any questions you may have related to all things careers and your future. We also arrange career related events and workshops throughout the academic year which you can book onto through MyCareer. To get in contact with the in-house careers team send an email to poliscareers@leeds.ac.uk 

Recruitment fairs

There are a number of graduate and internship career fairs throughout the year, where top employers come to campus to recruit our students. 

Leeds for life

Your personal tutor, who you’ll meet with regularly, will be involved in guiding your academic and personal development. Using Leeds for Life, they will encourage you to keep a personal and active record of all you have achieved. This will help you to complete application forms and prepare for interviews.

Find out where some of our prominent alumni are now.