Be BRUTAL, is politics and international relations a useless degree??

I’m so passionate about politics, geopolitics, international relations etc. And I would LOVE to do it. But my mother side eyes it every-time I mention it or tells me how I’ll be jobless and that it’s useless. She really wants me to go into medicine but my hearts not in it.

Is it really as bad as she says it is? My worst fear is to end up not being able to find a job related to said degree or being jobless.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated! Especially those who have graduated with the degree! Thank you 😊

In my experience (Masters in IR, but no desire to work in the sector, just observing colleagues) the challenge is quality.

The challenge for IR graduates is that perhaps more than any other degree, it is open to a global market. So you are competing with the very best graduates from around the world. They have invariably got superb English as well as a mother tongue and often fluency in multiple languages.

So unless you've got a good grade, from a high ranking UK uni, you are probably going to face the same job prospects as the average English, History, Politics student. The UN etc aren't going to look at you.

So make sure you've got a top institution on your CV, plus a Masters is standard, and hopefully some relevant volunteering, or work experience, overseas experience beyond travelling and maybe fluency in a second language.

Thank you for the advice. That's honestly frightening. I was really hoping to get into the civil service or work for an NGO but it all just seems rather impossible

My university choices are; Newcastle, Leeds, Edinburgh, Durham or Manchester. Would you consider them to be good enough?

I feel like I'd only go into medicine because of the job security and not because I'm passionate about it. I honestly don't even know what to do.

Once again, thank you so much for the advice!

Civil Service and you'll be fine, UK NGO you'll be fine. And I was probably rather IR biased in that REPLY, it's more straightforward with a Politics degree, it's just the same as English, History etc. But too many people think that IR, even from a decent mid-ranked UK uni will get them into the UN etc, and it very rarely will.

I am going to study IR next month and intend to do a Masters after. I am currently fluent in 6 languages. If i were to gain civil service experience would i have a chance for a NGO?

I’m so passionate about politics, geopolitics, international relations etc. And I would LOVE to do it. But my mother side eyes it every-time I mention it or tells me how I’ll be jobless and that it’s useless. She really wants me to go into medicine but my hearts not in it.

Is it really as bad as she says it is? My worst fear is to end up not being able to find a job related to said degree or being jobless.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated! Especially those who have graduated with the degree! Thank you 😊

look into my uni, St Andrews which has the top undergrad International Relations school in the UK (joint top with LSE on research output etc.)

hate to sound like a paid rep which i'm not but IR at St Andrews' has a particularly good rep in the States, so we have thousands of Americans coming to St Andrews, mainly to study IR, but loads of other international students too. at LSE most internationals will be Chinese, BUT at St Andrews you get people who all speak three, four even five languages so employers know its a good pool for graduates..

the key though is in Scotland you study 3 subjects in your first year and up to 3 subjects in your second year (grades don't count first two years), so you get plenty of time to decide what you want to study before your final two years

Ty! I’ll definitely check them out.