Employment opportunities for graduating geographers and environmental scientists

It being the end of the academic year, I’ve pulled together this list of jobs and careers sites to help people looking for employment.  Inevitably, this cannot be exhaustive; nor does it attempt to be.  Please regard this as a work in progress.

While I list a selection of major jobs portals below, I encourage you to think about your career strategy carefully before you start applying for jobs.  What are your greatest strengths?  What is most important to you?  What does your ideal career look like? Where to start?  Our award-winning Careers Service offer resources on-line to help you with these considerations, and will also support you in the years after graduation as you review your options and develop your career.  Check back to the resources they have brought to your attention in careers sessions through your years of study.

What do geographers (and environmental scientists) do?  Remember that your career may be based on the skills you’ve gained over the course of your degree studies, and may not necessarily look like a geographical career on first inspection, in terms of the knowledge you have gained.  Check out the range of resources (inc. videos) offered by the Royal Geographical Society.

Graduate opportunities

This is not an exahustive list, but a few that I found.  The point here is these are graduate employment opportunities, typically from larger employers.  Many offer an explicit training element within the opportunities they advertise.  Many will be in careers not directly linked to your geographical knowledge (general management schemes – good pay, responsibility, prospects and opportunities for travel; accountancy, HR, some IT roles, market research…), but in which your skills (research, analysis, synthesis, critical evaluation, GIS, numerical & statistical analysis skills, writing and presentation skills, teamwork, independent working, etc….) may put you at a useful advantage.

Prospects: this is the careers portal for the UK careers services.  “We guide millions of students to make the right choice. Match your skills and personality to 400+ job profiles.”  Maybe just what you have been looking for.  Listings of jobs and work experience opportunities.

Guardian Jobs  More than 1000 graduate positions – waiting for your application?

Teaching – Would you like to inspire the next generation of young people?  Several jobs sites are available, but remember you will almost certainly need a postgraduate teaching qualification first.  Planning for a teaching career needs to start early.  The Careers Service can help you get the additional experience that you will need to gain during the course of your undergraduate studies.  Teaching jobs sites: TES, MyJobScotland, EducationJobs … there are many more too.

I have no particular knowledge of these others, but they may be worth a look:

 

GIS jobs

Academic jobs list: you need to sign up to: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=GIS-JOBS

ESRI – you should know who they are!

 

Jobs portals: general, including graduate careers

s1jobs.com – major Scottish jobs site, offering 000s of vacancies, with good search tools for location and “core skills” which look like main employment sectors.

indeed.co.uk – major national site (“millions” of jobs internationally), including GIS jobs or social science graduate jobs – search for whatever your thing might be – “policy officer”, “conservation”, “water” ….

targetjobs – refine your search and set up alerts

Civil Service jobs – Find jobs in the Civil Service and central government organisations

My Job Scotland – portal for all public and third-sector employers in Scotland

jobs.ac.uk – jobs in academic & research institutions – main categories for academic and professional/managerial/support services; also offers career guides (such info is also available through our Careers Service)

ENDSjobsearch – environment and energy focus (links to ENDS report which is worth reading for environment news – could help in your job application/interview)

NHS jobs

If you would like to make suggestions for additions, please get in touch and I will add.

Looking for further ideas?  Look at the careers and employers our graduates have gone into via our Dundee Geog & ES LinkedIn group (which you are encouraged to join).  Our graduates post job opportunities and details of internships here too, so it really does benefit you to sign up. 

Further study

FindaPhD.com – probably a large majority of the opportunities advertised here are funded.  2.1 or 1st class degree normally required.  Masters often advantageous.

FindaMasters.com – key resource for finding Masters courses everywhere, including details of funding opportunities (highly competitive)

Note also Dundee masters courses led or taught by Geography staff:

 

Environment & Water employers

Scottish Water – see also their work placements and internships scheme.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) (note, it’s not the Scottish EnvironmentAL Protection Agency) – look out in particular for their annual graduate trainee scheme (applications to 2019 scheme closed in March).

www.environmentjob.co.uk : UK-wide and international jobs, and volunteering opportunities

Consultants (including renewable energy sector) – some of these may state a preference/requirement for MSc graduates:

  • https://www.jacobs.com
  • https://www.mottmac.com
  • https://www.aecom.com
  • http://www.fairhurst.co.uk
  • http://jbaconsulting.com
  • https://jobs.innogy.com
  • https://www.arup.com
  • http://www.rabconsultants.co.uk
  • http://recruit.net

See also:

  • http://nature.scot (Scottish Natural Heritage)
  • http://ceh.ac.uk (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)