Getting ahead in your career in Sustainability: is an MSc necessary?

"What jobs do MSc graduates go on to?". The voice on the other end of the phone can be male, female, young or older but always the same question. It's a fair question. If I was applying for a masters and paying fees it would be my top question too. It is true that a masters degree does enhance employability but the reasons are complex. It is documented that employers want postgraduates with specific skills and knowledge. Employers particularly want graduates with work experience and relevant practical skills. Tricky to deliver in an interdisciplinary course like ours. There is a balance between delivering a consistent, high quality learning experience and giving a tailored experience, giving them relevant employability skills and allowing our masters students to align their experience to their career destination. Not easy but definitely do-able. We are proud of our distinctive graduates who stand out from the crowd.

It's not easy standing out from the crowd

From my experience the magic key to unlocking employment potential  has been a three-way process between our masters students, our teaching staff and employers during the course. This makes sure that employers are at the heart of our teaching and telling us what they want and how they want it. Masters students have the opportunity to develop a relationship with employers and to develop relevant dissertation projects and gain that all important CV fodder, experience. The driver of this process is the staff member who works behind the scenes, oiling the cogs and managing expectations on both sides of this relationship. 

We are fortunate to have great support at Keele University to foster these links and to grow these relationships. This year there are two different internship programmes that will enable our graduates to flex their knowledge and get their teeth into some real work experience. We know this works. I had so many messages this Christmas and New Year from ex-students who have gone on to be academics or professionals in environmental organisations, local authorities, the NHS, businesses and charities. You can see what some of our graduates have done by clicking  here.