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Graduates from the Department of Government at LSE leave with a degree from one of the largest political science departments in the UK.

Students benefit from a cosmopolitan teaching environment which enjoys strong links with numerous departments and research institutes at LSE.

While there are few careers where a degree in government is essential, an understanding of complex political and cultural issues and an appreciation of a changing political environment can be highly beneficial to many occupations

The LSE's Careers Service| provide a variety of information for students including news about careers fairs, destinations and personal development plans.

For up-to-date information about destinations of leavers across the School, please visit the LSE's Careers Destination Website|.

National results

Nationally, 58% of graduates completing politics-related degree courses went solely into employment, 7.5% were combining work and study and 19% went solely into further study.

Find out more from Prospects - Options with Politics| and What do graduates do? (Politics)|

Employability skills

Studying within the Government department you will have the opportunity to develop specific subject knowledge alongside a set of highly valuable and transferable employability skills, including:

effective written and verbal communication skills in order to present opinions and conclusions
the ability to interpret and present statistical or numerical information
the ability to work independently and collaborate with others to achieve common goals
strong research skills with the ability to gather, organise and analyse information from a variety of secondary and primary sources in order to construct reasoned arguments
encouraging particular skills which can be appropriate to a range of business and professional roles
investigating problems and exercising critical judgement when formulating and advocating solutions
becoming adept at managing their own learning self-critically and using feedback constructively

Personal development planning

What is PDP?

Personal Development Planning (PDP) is a means through which you can identify the skills, competencies and experiences you want to enhance and develop while at LSE, whether for your academic, personal or career development and the actions you will take in support of this, as well as to reflect on your progress and learning.

All LSE students can get support from the Careers Service and their personal tutor when working on their very own personal development plan - you can even keep a record your achievements online as part of LSE for You!

PDP for Government students

During your time at the LSE you will have a chance to develop a variety of skills and have a range of experiences which will help you decide on your future career choice and improve your employability. To get the most intellectual satisfaction from your degree it is important that this is your main focus. Your degree will help develop subject specific skills and transferable skills such as analytical ability and critical thinking. Find out more in the employability skills section above.

However also ensure that you make optimum use of your time at LSE, by practicing the skills you are developing through your studies in contexts outside of academia and, by adding to your range of competencies, skills, experiences and achievements through involvement in extracurricular activities and work experience.

For example, you could help run a society, get involved in student mentoring or other volunteering, assist in teaching secondary school children or undertaking paid work. Whatever the activity, it will help you to understand what you enjoy doing and provide evidence to employers that you have the skills needed for the job.

LSE Careers Office Services

The LSE Careers Office| (contact details and opening hours are available at the bottom of their homepage) provides services to current students of the LSE.

There are many services offered by the LSE Careers Office and those which may be of particular interest include (details reached via the services page):-

CV writing
Careers advice interviews
Practice job interviews
Vacancy information
Recruitment fair information

In addition, you may wish to refer to Fairs and Networking Events on the LSE Careers site. Previously events have covered career areas such as Banking, NGOs and the Media amongst others.

The Careers Office can provide information on Internships and work experience|.

Online vacancy service

A new online vacancy service has just been launched by the LSE careers service. Using your LSE user name and password, you can search for vacancies targeted at LSE students and graduates and you can do this from anywhere in the world. Log on to Careers Service| for further details.

Other useful sources of careers information

The Inside Careers Section of the LSE Careers Service| (registered users only) features a comprehensive overview of potential employers in the European Affairs, International Development, Government, Multilaterals and other fields.

The site, jobs.ac.uk| advertises mainly UK vacancies in research, science, academic and related professions over all subjects, as well as clerical vacancies and postgraduate studentships.

This EU website |will provide you with everything you need to know if you are considering a career working with one of the institutions of the European Union. You can also sign up to receive a free newsletter containing the latest job vacancies.

The European Commission Personnel Selection Office| website will help you find information on career opportunities in the European Institutions, guide you through the application process, answer your most common questions, and tell you where you can find more information.

AcademicCareers.com| is the ultimate global academic job site to search or announce teaching, post doc, endowed chairs, administrative and senior management opportunities at (community) colleges, universities and research institutes around the world. Applicants can search current job openings, submit resumes and request e-mail alerts when matching job opportunities are listed.