Finding a job with a Sociology degree should not be difficult. Graduates from this discipline possess a wealth of skills and experience that can be applied across many sectors and in a variety of industry roles. The understanding of people and their behaviour goes a long way in many sectors, while the academic skills Sociology graduates have developed while at university make them a stand-out candidate for many professional positions.
What can you do with your sociology degree?
Sociology graduates can find a wide range of opportunities that they can apply for. The skills and knowledge that Sociology graduates would have left university with will be plentiful and they will find themselves able to apply to plenty of different roles. Similar to History or Psychology, they have a mix of practical and valued skills for the work place, while complementing that with a high level of specialist knowledge, which can provide insight into areas that businesses and companies are constantly looking to explore.
Jobs for Sociology graduates could be in a range of sectors and a sociological insight into people, behaviour and trends could be perfect for businesses and agencies in a variety of industries. Having an understanding of cultural trends, patterns of group behaviour, social policy or inequality and diversity, to name just a few, will be areas that employers are desperately keen to expand in. Alongside this, graduates can offer a superb set of work place skills that allow them to hit the ground running when they start.
What can you offer to employers?
Analysis - Much of the work undertaken by Sociology graduates will be research driven and have required painstaking efforts to have been spent by its students picking through the detail meticulously and accurately.
Communication - Verbal and written communication were essential for completing a degree in Sociology. Through presentations, essays, assignments and dissertations, Sociology graduates perfected the art of articulating complex ideas and issues in written and spoken formats.
Data work - A lot of the basis of Sociological work has its roots in data. Whether this is age-old censuses or the latest crime statistics, Sociology graduates are not phased and are confident in manipulating and managing data in various forms to get to the information they need.
Reasoned argument - Sociology graduates are skilled in the academic art of forming and executing reasoned and balanced arguments. This has been proven in university assignments but can now lends itself to being persuasive and influential in the professional world.
Specialist knowledge - Equality, crime, behaviour, social policy, the list is endless. Sociology graduates often have the exact knowledge that employers want to help them improve in their area or function.
Team work - University tasks might have forced Sociology graduates to work in teams, this may have led to excellent delegation skills and forced graduates to proactively develop their skills of listening and working collaboratively.
Source HECSU - What do graduates do? 2013.
What employers can you impress?
Sociology graduates looking for jobs can be a little overwhelmed about where to initially turn once they have graduated, but the options open for them are wide and varied. Sociology graduate jobs can come in a whole host of sectors, but if graduates are looking for something that is directly related to their area of expertise, the Public sector and Health sectors are likely to host most roles related to things like social work, social policy and addressing many of the issues that Sociology students will have covered during their degree. Similar to this, if some Sociology graduates want to make a difference, a career in the Charity sector could allow graduates to put into action some of the things they have learnt about while studying.
For graduates that are looking to break away from this specialist niche but not look too far afield, areas like Marketing and Research can provide excellent career choices for graduates from a sociological background. Whether this is applying their understanding of social groups and the reasons behind this, they can also harness their understanding and command of communication, data work and analysis to be successful.
It has been known for Sociology graduates to find jobs and be extremely successful in the business world. If they look for work in such functions as Management, Human Resources and even Finance, Sociology graduates are able to utilise their knowledge of things like team work, communication, understanding of people and their backgrounds and work with figures. Roles like Human Resources also allow graduates to build on their understanding of people and apply it in a lucrative field.
