Careers with philosophy
Employability advice
Our Employability and Careers Centre is here to help you develop the skills you need for a successful
graduate career. Our friendly staff and excellent resources equip you to make
informed future career choices and succeed in entering your chosen field.
We actively assist our students with their professional development and search for employment or further study. We encourage you to speak to any member of staff about your plans for the
future, but particularly to Dr Lisa Wade, our careers link in the School, or to Lynne Jordan, our dedicated adviser
for philosophy in our Employability and Careers Centre.
What can you do with a philosophy degree?
A philosophy degree is highly advantageous and relevant to a wide range of professions. As more and more areas of employment, from government to business, have become aware
of the importance of wider ethical and philosophical issues, philosophy graduates are increasingly attractive to employers.
Transferable skills
We encourage you to be aware of the transferable skills you develop during your course. This will be particularly useful for writing CVs, job applications and interviews.
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As a philosophy graduate, you will be able to:
- define the task you are engaged in and exclude what is irrelevant;
- seek and organise the most relevant sources of information;
- process large volumes of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
- compare and evaluate different arguments, and assess the limitations of your own position or procedure;
- write and present verbally succinct and precise accounts of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
- be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate your own views in ways that are accessible to them;
- think laterally and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities, and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
- maintain intellectual flexibility and revise your own position if shown to be wrong; and
- think critically and constructively.
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The skills philosophy teaches are widely recognised in the media:
- ‘A mind sharpened by the study of philosophy is ideal for today's workplace’, Times Higher Education
- ‘Philosophy graduates are suddenly all the rage with employers’, The Guardian
- ‘What can you do with a degree in Philosophy’, The Guardian
- ‘Studying philosophy equips you with an adaptable mind and vital life skills’, The Independent.
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Our graduates go onto to find work in a wide variety of careers:
- Administration in higher education and local government
- Army
- Banking sector
- Celebrity PR officer
- Charity and aid work
- Civil Service
- Compliance Manager at HM Revenue and Customs
- Fire service
- Freelance writer
- Journalism
- Law firm
- Librarianship
- Lecturer
- Police force
- Radio presenter
- Recruitment consultant
- Researcher
- Television presenter
- Teaching English as a foreign language
- Teaching/PGCE
Many of our graduates also pursue postgraduate study at Masters and PhD level. Read about the
some of the careers paths our graduates followed after leaving the University.
Gain experience during your studies
Our Employability and Careers Centre helps you make the most of all the available opportunities for personal and professional development
during your studies, as well as assisting with finding jobs, CVs and making applications.
There are many chances to gain work experience while you study with internships and our frontrunners
work placement scheme. We also offer a variety of options for study abroad, while our Languages for All
programme allows you to learn a language for free alongside your course.
Support after graduation
You can use the services of our Employability and Careers Centre for up to three years after you graduate.
Our staff also regularly provide references for our students and graduates to assist with applying for jobs and further study.