Geography & Environmental Science

• Studying: 23%
• Employed in graduate job: 31%
• Employed in non-graduate job: 30%
• Unemployed: 9%

• Average graduate salary: £20,212
• Average non-graduate salary: £14,341

Geographers look at issues from a wide perspective and develop a range of skills that are attractive to a very broad range of future employers. Specific technical skills directly relevant to geography-related careers include field work, research and report writing, preparing maps and diagrams, and using social survey and interpretative methods. Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile. 

View the best universities for geography & environmental science degrees.

Prospects

A 2010 HESA study of 2009 graduates shows that six months after graduating just over half of geography graduates had entered paid work, with a further 8% combining work with study.

Geography graduates entered into a wide range of jobs in a variety of sectors. Initially, around 30% of those employed went into non-graduate roles, such as clerical/secretarial positions, retail, catering or bar work.

Where are the jobs?

Examples of employers include local government, the armed forces, private companies, environmental consultancies, environmental protection agencies, utilities, charities, information systems organisations, education authorities, further and higher education institutions, commerce, industry, transport, tourism and the civil service. Geography graduates have excellent transferable skills, which also attract employers from the business, law and finance sectors. 

Jobs directly related to your degree

The career area you choose may depend on whether you are more interested in physical or human geography. You can consider jobs that are degree-related, jobs that appeal because they incorporate other interests or elements of your degree, or jobs that are not related to your degree at all.

• Cartographer
• Environmental consultant
• Geographical information systems officer
• Planning and development surveyor
• Secondary school teacher
• Town planner
• Commercial/residential surveyor

Jobs where your degree would be useful

Other jobs in which your degree in geography and environmental science may be useful could include:

• Logistics and distribution manager
• International aid/development worker
• Market researcher
• Transport planner

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it's not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Included with the permission of AGCAS and Graduate Prospects. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk. We would welcome your comments on this section of The Complete University Guide. Please email us at admin@thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk.