Public Administration/Social Policy

Public administration/social policy courses teach a range of skills that are essential for a career in public administration or social policy. Over the course of your degree you develop a wide mix of subject-specific and technical skills, you should consider these 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.

Prospects

A 2010 HESA survey of 2009 graduates indicates that six months after finishing their course, 60% of public administration/social policy graduates had entered employment in the UK or overseas, with around 8% going on to undertake work and further study.

Of those entering work, just over 16% went into social and welfare professions and 10% went into management in the commercial, industrial and public sectors. Around 6% went into jobs in business and finance. Around 30% of public/administration/social policy graduates initially went into non-graduate jobs, taking clerical and secretarial positions or working in retail or catering to gain experience and earn a living while deciding on their future career.

Where are the jobs?

Graduates of social policy/administration degrees have a wide range of career choices to choose from, with the majority going on to work in:

• local or central government/Civil Service;
• the voluntary sector;
• law enforcement agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or the police;
• further or higher education;
• market and social research organisations;
• private sector areas such as retail.

For an insight into potential employment explore the followng:

• Government and public administration - local government is essentially the management of our towns and cities by local authorities or councils. Regional and national government develop and implement government policies, often working with local authorities and other agencies related to policy administration
• Health - the UK health sector employs about two million people from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. National Health Service (NHS) infrastructure support is vital and includes occupations such as IT, legal services, personnel and finance.
• Charity and development work - defining this sector is very difficult due to the huge range of areas it covers, but it includes organisations such as charities, housing trusts, not-for-profit organisations and community groups.

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Social researcher
• Civil service administrator
• International aid/development worker.
• Charity officer
• Advice worker
• Local government administrator

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Education administrator
• Housing manager/officer
• Human resources officer
• Town planner
• Trading standards officer
• Health promotion specialist
• 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.

You can find more about the skills you develop during your course, the jobs listed above, plus case studies and where to find these jobs at Prospects.

Included with the permission of AGCAS. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk