Your future
A degree from the School of Sociology and Social Policy provides you with skills valuable for a successful career making a difference. You'll have lots of opportunities to gain experience in a range of settings to make you more employable, and the support to help you to decide where you want your degree to take you.
Rewarding careers
In recent years graduates have gone on to work in the public and private sector in roles such as:
- Project Support Officer
- Market Researcher
- Trainee Policy Officer
- Copywriter
- HR Services Officer
- Graduate Management Trainee.
At companies including:
- The Home Office
- Leeds City Council
- Hays
- NHS
- Omnicom Media Group
- Capita
Gaining experience
You'll have a number of opportunities to help you get to where you want to be including the chance to:
- undertake a work placement year
- study abroad to experience life in another culture
- complete the 'Beyond the University' module with Sociology in Action
- gain the quantitative skills valued by employers with Q-Step
- develop entrepreneurial skills with help from our Enterprise Centre
- broaden your experience with 300 student-led clubs and societies
Find out more about enrichment opportunities
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
The Careers Service
You’ll have access to the University’s award-winning Careers Service. They are on hand to support you from day one. They 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 Sociology and Social Policy 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 sspcareers@leeds.ac.uk
Recruitment Fairs
Employers regularly visit campus to recruit our students. There are a number of graduate and internship career fairs held throughout the year attracting employers in the private, public and third sector looking to recruit Leeds 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 done and achieved. This will help you complete application forms and prepare for interviews.
To get an idea of where some of our alumni have gone, check our prominent alumni page.