What Can I Do With My Degree?
About to graduate and wondering ‘what can I do with my degree?’ — we’re here to help you.
You don’t have to have a career in mind when you choose to go to university, you don’t even need to have it figured out by the time you graduate, either.
But, we know how annoying it can be when your family are asking about career plans, your friends are receiving job offers, everyone on Tinder is searching for an employed partner… so now even you yourself are left wondering what can I do with my degree?
Can’t we all just go to the woods and forage berries like nature intended? No, okay — banker it is then…
For real though, there’s actually a lot of jobs available for each degree. In many cases, just having a degree on your job application is enough, it doesn’t have to be directly related to the role or industry.
To help you out, we’ve got examples of what you can do with your degree and what jobs might be available to you.
If remote working is more your thing, or you want a part-time job that you can do while studying, we’ve got the best online jobs for students in the UK.
Jump to:
- What can I do with my degree?
- What can I do with a psychology degree?
- What can I do with a history degree?
- What can I do with an economics degree?
- What can I do with a business management degree?
- What can I do with a geography degree?
- What jobs can you get with a sports science degree?
- What can I do with a biochemistry degree?
- FAQs
What can I do with my degree?
Depending on your degree, there will be a range of jobs you’ll be able to do once you graduate. As mentioned before, your CV can appear more attractive to employers if it references higher education, such as a university degree.
Studying for a degree for 3 or 4 years is no easy feat, and many employers acknowledge that. It shows discipline, good work ethic, and tenacity, alongside many other traits that are needed in most jobs.
Roles like office administration, Human Resources (HR), and some in marketing, might not need a specific degree, but just proof of higher education — to show you have basic skills and can work under pressure and towards deadlines.
It’s worth applying for a job you like the look of, even if you don’t have a related degree.
What can I do with a psychology degree?
A psychology degree teaches a lot of valuable, transferable skills, as well as learning about the human mind and behaviour. With a psychology degree, you can choose to specialise in a specific area like counselling, forensic, or clinical (which may require additional education such as a Master’s degree).
Jobs directly related to a psychology degree:
- Chartered psychologist
- Psychotherapist
- Social worker
- Counsellor
Or you can use your undergraduate psychology degree for a variety of other jobs that don’t require a specific degree. Some jobs and areas you can work in with a psychology degree include:
- Advice worker — someone who supports clients and gives them advice
- Careers adviser — works with people on their career options, skills developments, how to write a CV
- Market researcher — specialise in collecting and analysing quantitative or qualitative research
- Advertising copywriter — specialises in copywriting across a range of formats to help advertise products/services. Psychology degree is handy here as you’ll have an understanding of marketing impacts how human behaviour
- Consultant — help businesses solve problems and manage change to operate more efficiently
What can I do with a history degree?
Studying history at university provides a really fundamental set of skills, such as analytical thinking, critical reasoning, and research skills. These skills can be applied to many different jobs and employers will value the degree regardless of how related it is to the role.
Roles that are directly related to a history degree include:
History is a subject that requires a lot of attention to detail and as it’s heavily essay-based, you’ll likely have picked up excellent communication skills, strong research skills, and self-discipline. These skills can easily be applied to jobs such as the following:
- Journalist — research skills and written communication are fundamental traits for a journalist, so may be ideal for history graduates
- Academic librarian — working in universities and helping make resources accessible for students and support them, as well as other staff and lecturers
- Archaeologist — you might need an archaeology degree but sometimes history (especially ancient history) can work, too. You’ll study the past through investigations and discoveries, interpreting and learning from them
- Publisher/editor — utilises grammatical skills, attention to detail, research, and discipline to help ensure material is accessible and credible
Museums are also good places for history graduates to apply for jobs. From retail assistants to visitor assistants and tour guides, museums are great places to share knowledge from your history degree.
History is a great option to study if you’re more introverted, and if that’s you, we’ve got the best jobs for introverts, too.
What can I do with an economics degree?
Economics is essentially a social science, looking at the impact of production and how the consumer, capitalist society works. You learn about profit, inflation, and recession — everything and anything to do with the economy.
Jobs that you can do directly related to an economics degree include:
Studying economics at university is a good all-rounder, thanks to the plethora of skills it teaches. Heavy on numeracy, problem solving, and analytical skills, an economics degree is a good basis for several jobs, such as:
- Data scientist — turn raw data into information that is accessible and meaningful for organisations and businesses to improve their systems
- Quantity surveyor — manages the costs and risks in relation to building and engineering projects; uses numerical and analytical skills, as well as attention to detail and methodical thinking
- Business development manager — help identify opportunities for businesses to grow and help them improve their profitability and revenue; uses strategic thinking, communication skills, and analytical skills
Banks and charity organisations are great places to look for roles relating to your economy degree, as well as government organisations. Due to the financial side of the industry and knowledge of consumers, these types of businesses tend to employ economic graduates.
What can I do with a business management degree?
A business management degree covers a lot of different topics and modules where skills can be applied to almost any role, job, and industry.
You’ll typically study modules like financial accounting, fundamentals of human resources, entrepreneurship and other areas like marketing and leadership, too.
Directly linked to a business management degree, your job choices can include:
However, due to the wide skill set you’ll gain from your degree, you could apply for a variety of other roles that will make use of any skills and knowledge from your studies. These roles might include:
- External auditor — examines financial statements and data to show businesses how they’re performing and make recommendations accordingly. Uses communication skills, critical thinking skills, and analytical skills from your business management degree.
- Mortgage adviser — help people to find and apply for the best mortgage they can get. Numerical skills, along with excellent communication and analytical skills will come in handy here from your degree.
- Marketing executive — promotes products and services via marketing and advertising. Uses skills from a business management degree such as commercial and business awareness, strategic thinking, and self-motivation, as well as working well under pressure.
What can I do with a geography degree?
A geography degree will dive into both human and physical geography, learning about the Earth’s features, and the why and how people live in certain areas of the world. You’ll look at areas such as climate change and migration.
Directly related careers include:
A geography degree provides some basic knowledge and skill that can be transferred onto other careers and roles.
You’ll pick up planning and problem-solving skills, understand how to conduct thorough research, and analyse and evaluate. These traits can open other roles up to you, such as the following:
- Sustainability consultant — helping businesses to become more sustainable
- Travel agent — helps plan and book travel for customers
- Landscape architect — creating innovative environments to help maintain the natural world
What jobs can you get with a sports science degree?
As a sports science degree goes into the understanding of sports performance and factors that can affect behaviour, you’ll gain a basic understanding of biochemistry, nutrition, and physiology. This can open a lot of doors for you career-wise.
Directly related to a sports science degree, you can choose the following careers:
With the transferable skills from a sports science degree, you can go down other career paths that aren’t directly related, including:
- Nutritionist — uses food science knowledge to help individuals make better and healthier choices
- PE teacher — teaching students about fitness and sports
- Health and wellbeing coach — support people and their journey to a healthier lifestyle
The science background of the degree is handy as it can take you through to many different health-based roles.
What can I do with a biochemistry degree?
A biochemistry degree will usually teach you about topics like how biomolecules interact in essential processes in our cells, as well as how enzymes work, plus drugs, genetic engineering, and molecular biology.
Directly related jobs include:
Because of the skills you’ll be taught in a biochemistry degree, you’ll be able to apply for a range of different jobs that utilise the skills. The complex biological knowledge and research/data skills give you a good foundation to branch into other careers like the following:
- Science writer — research, write and edit scientific papers, journals, articles for business and publications. Uses scientific and technical knowledge from your degree, combined with an interest and talent in written communication
- Toxicologist — investigates the impact of chemicals, medicines, substances, and other materials on humans, animals, and the environment
- Health and safety inspector — ensures businesses and employers comply with health and safety regulations and laws, includes hazardous goods
FAQS
What degrees are best to have?
There is no right or wrong answer to what degrees are best to have — you should choose a degree because you want to, not because of anyone else.
But there are some degrees that are considered better to have than others, mostly due to the career prospects. These degrees include:
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Veterinary Science
- Education
- Architecture
- Medicine-related
- Business
If you want to know which jobs pay out the big bucks, check out the highest paying degrees and jobs in the UK.
What are the hardest degrees?
All degrees are hard work. Going to university after A-levels/college is a huge jump, and you might be surprised when you get your first assignment back…
There are some degrees that might involve more work such as a working placement or more exams, or the workload in general is more complex and challenging. Here are some of the degrees that Reddit users deemed hardest:
- Medicine
- Law
- Maths
- Computer Science
- Chemistry/STEM subjects
- Engineering
However, each degree will have its difficulties, and with some subjects owing to subjective marking like creative subjects (English, Art), it might be harder to get the top-end of high marks.
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