Graduates
Graduates
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Feel free to scroll through the page, or use the table of contents below to jump straight to what you want to know.
What career options do I have with my degree?
What career options do I have with my degree?
There are 2 main course of action to take after your undergraduate degree. One being to go on and work professionally, likely in a graduate scheme, and the other being to carry on with postgraduate study.
Many students are surprised to learn that the majority of jobs don’t require applicants to have studied for a particular degree, rather they just look at the skills you learn during your degree. However, there are some where an Economics degree would be seen as essential or highly advantageous. This may be because they require subject-specific knowledge, or because the skills are usually developed by studying for an Economics degree, such as:
Data numeracy and problem solving – handling complex data and applying statistical analysis methods
IT, software and analytical skills – using software and specialist analytical methods to find conclusions in data
Written and verbal communication – presenting and explaining complex data (often to non-specialist audiences)
These skills are highly-sought after for jobs in the Civil Service and the finance sector.
You also develop a wide variety of soft skills whilst studying an Economics degree, such as teamwork and leadership through courseworks, organisation within dissertations and essays, and other skills like time management and resilience.
This means you have a lot of career options available to you, and that you can research and apply for jobs that align to your strengths, interests and personal circumstances.
Option 1 - I want a Graduate Scheme and to work professionally
Option 1 - I want a Graduate Scheme and to work professionally
What are graduate schemes?
What are graduate schemes?
If you have applied for industrial placements or spring weeks, you will be more familiar with the application process for graduate schemes. If you have not, there is plenty of information on this website to guide you through each step of the process.
A graduate scheme is where you work for a company in the august/september/october after you graduate, and you work for them on the duration of the scheme, which is normally 2 years, where you will then be offered a permanent position. This is one of the most common methods for students to get into the job market and start earning post-university, however this has recently become extremely competitive as companies are offering less graduate schemes.
Jobs will open for grad schemes in the september/october of your final year, and these will be the larger companies usually. Recruitment then takes place over winter, with offers being sent out from christmas to spring.
How to get applying
How to get applying
The How to start applying page is extremely useful in taking you through preparing your CV, Cover Letter and Excel Tracker for your first applications, to make sure you are as ready as possible to be successful. There are even separate pages for your CV and Cover Letter tips, as well as creating your tracker.
The page on the application process talks you through the potential stages you will encounter, and provides tips for wherever you are in the process.
If you want to do a graduate scheme, you'll have to find opportunities to apply for. Luckily, there are several websites you can check:
Gradcracker / brightnetwork / Target Jobs / Ratemyplacement (making an account helps)
Trackr (don't need to make an account)
Career Connect (Log in with your Uni email)
Use your contacts – More and more graduates are finding jobs through speaking to their contacts. This could be friends, family, their friends and family… as well as other Sheffield graduates and people at a careers event or talk.
Set up your preferences to get alerts for graduate jobs in particular industries or locations. Also look out for the SEED newsletter in your email inbox that will contain vacancies that might be of particular interest to Economics students. You can find past editions in the SEED newsletter archives.
Advice and support available to me
Advice and support available to me
There is a wide range of careers support available at the university, both for general enquiries and graduate-specific support.
The graduate careers page on the university website is an amazing place to start if you are stuck on what's next. There is so much information available, and it is all tailored towards graduates. Additionally, there is a graduate careers support page that helps you identify what you need support in, including booking appointments with careers advisors.
Career Set: A software used to rate CVs and Cover Letters, and help you tailor them to jobs
Graduates First: Practice online tests for big corporations, as well as other features like assessment centre preparation for a wide variety of companies
Shortlist.Me: Practicing online interviews and getting scores / feedback based off your practices.
Sheffield Connect: A mentoring service offered by the university
Option 2 - I want to enter post graduate studies
Option 2 - I want to enter post graduate studies
Instead of seeking employment immediately after graduation, some students choose to pursue postgraduate study. This allows you to study topics you find interesting in greater depth whilst gaining further skills and improving your CV.
Masters degrees in Economics are typically 12 months in length, requiring students to take two semesters of taught courses and write a dissertation over the summer. Shorter and longer programmes of study are available at some universities.
PhD degrees are research-based programmes (typically 3-4 years in length in the UK) and generally require you to have completed a Masters degree first.
The University has a webpage that goes into a lot more detail on postgraduate courses that you can find here.
The School of Economics offers lots of different MSc courses, watch the videos below to learn more about two of them:
If you are interested in postgraduate study, you may want to consider these three key questions:
What do you want to study? – Do you want to specialise in a particular area of economics (econometrics or health economics, for example) or do you want to take a broad economics Masters degree?
Where do you want to study? – At Sheffield, within the UK, or internationally?
How will you fund your studies? – Postgraduate courses typically attract tuition fees and you may need to consider your living costs as well.
Finding a postgraduate course
Start with the following websites:
Findamasters (allows you to filter by subject, country, region and degree type)
Once you have narrowed your options, look at individual university webpages for more details. Applications are made via each university rather than a centralised system.
Funding
Tuition fees vary by course and university. You may wish to consider the following funding options:
Postgraduate loans for study in the UK. More information (including eligibility requirements) can be found on the Prospects website.
International students studying in the UK may be eligible to apply for a scholarship through the British Council.
University scholarships and bursaries (offered directly by individual universities). These may be awarded for high academic performance or widening participation. You can find information about these from each university’s webpages (this is the web page for Sheffield).
Sheffield alumni bursaries. University of Sheffield graduates receive a discount on Sheffield postgraduate fees.
If you are considering PhD study, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provide “1+3” funding for a one-year Masters and three-year PhD. Apply through the University you wish to study at.
Suggested activities
Suggested activities
Take the Prospects “What Jobs Will Suit Me?” quiz to get some initial ideas for jobs to look into
Complete the Careers Service’s “How to Find a Job You Love” course (you may need to log in using your university account details to access this)
Sign up to be mentored by someone working in a job that you think sounds interesting (applications usually open at the start of each semester)
Visit the Career Connect event planner to see if there are any employer or alumni talks that might give you some inspiration.
Fancy More?
Fancy More?
Follow this link to read more about working in the Financial Services:
Follow this link to read more about working in the Civil Services:
Follow this link to find the Sheffield alumni site, which allows you to see what careers previous graduates have taken:
I'm an international student. Can I work in the UK?
I'm an international student. Can I work in the UK?
All you information you need is in this talk, where we discuss the visa restrictions that apply when you’re working during and after your studies. You’ll also discover the different routes you can take into work, how to prove your right to work, and what kind of jobs you can do.
Please note that the information given was correct at the time (13th October 2021). Immigration rules can and do change regularly, so please contact the Immigration Support Service for up to date information.
Still feel a bit confused? Think this page is missing something? Contact us at seed@sheffield.ac.uk, and we'll be happy to help.
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