Careers Service

What next with your degree?

Your career choice can be closely related to your degree - but it doesn’t have to be!

What careers are directly relevant to your degree? Are there areas where it might be useful, but not essential? What about if you want a graduate job but don't want to use your subject knowledge? Find out what your options are. 

What are your broad options with a degree? 

When it comes to employment, the answer is - a lot. The UK labour market is such that your choices are not restricted by the subject you have studied. If you look through graduate vacancies, you'll see that a large number of employers - as many as 60% - will accept graduates of any discipline. 

What jobs are related to your degree? 

The Prospects website lists degree subjects and, for each one, outlines jobs where the degree subject is essential, and jobs where it would be useful but not essential.  Each section also includes profiles of various related jobs, how to get work experience and typical employers for the field. 

Most  undergraduate degree subjects are covered: 

Options with your subject (Prospects) 

What Do Graduates Do?

The most recent issue of What do graduates do? was published in December 2022. It examines first-degree graduate destinations across the UK 15 months after graduation.

The data is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency's Graduate Outcomes survey of students who graduated in 2019/20 and is produced by Jisc and AGCAS.

Download it here:

What Do Graduates Do? (Prospects)

Get inspiration from alumni 

  • Use Platform One, our online community for University of Edinburgh students, graduates and staff. You can use it to research graduates from your degree, see what backgrounds alumni have and network with them. Find out more on the Platform One website:  

       Platform One 

  • Our blog, Inform.Ed, features case studies and guest posts from alumni, talking about their jobs and how they got there. 

       Inform.Ed 

  • Alumni events organised by your School are an ideal way to hear their stories. 

Graduate Outcomes Survey 

This national survey asks graduates, 15 months after graduation, what they are doing.  

Graduate Outcomes Survey