Politics graduates: is a degree in politics worth it?

I have immense passion for politics and am involved in my local Labour party massively.

However, although I am about to embark on a degree in it, I'm massively worried about employment prospects afterwards.

Luckily it is only 50% of my degree.

Do you think marketing would be a wiser choice?

Do you ever regret your degree choice in today's very difficult employment landscape and what did you go on to do?

(From what I have heard, many political-related careers would recruit a marketing graduate at the same rate, if not higher than a political science graduate.

It seems to me that the only thing you would actually *require* politics for is if you were planning to become an MP, and I am not.

If I was to working in campaigning or consulting, it seems marketing would be equally if not more useful.

As part of my degree, I will get to do an internship with an MP, which my uni raves about improving employability. Doubtlessly this will enhance my CV, but I guess still pretty useless unless I actually want to become an MP.

Your thoughts much appreciated! :smile:

Reply 1

jelly1000

21

Original post by J_89

I have immense passion for politics and am involved in my local Labour party massively.

However, although I am about to embark on a degree in it, I'm massively worried about employment prospects afterwards.

Luckily it is only 50% of my degree.

Do you think marketing would be a wiser choice?

Do you ever regret your degree choice in today's very difficult employment landscape and what did you go on to do?

(From what I have heard, many political-related careers would recruit a marketing graduate at the same rate, if not higher than a political science graduate.

It seems to me that the only thing you would actually *require* politics for is if you were planning to become an MP, and I am not.

If I was to working in campaigning or consulting, it seems marketing would be equally if not more useful.

As part of my degree, I will get to do an internship with an MP, which my uni raves about improving employability. Doubtlessly this will enhance my CV, but I guess still pretty useless unless I actually want to become an MP.

Your thoughts much appreciated! :smile:

Original post by J_89

I have immense passion for politics and am involved in my local Labour party massively.

However, although I am about to embark on a degree in it, I'm massively worried about employment prospects afterwards.

Luckily it is only 50% of my degree.

Do you think marketing would be a wiser choice?

Do you ever regret your degree choice in today's very difficult employment landscape and what did you go on to do?

(From what I have heard, many political-related careers would recruit a marketing graduate at the same rate, if not higher than a political science graduate.

It seems to me that the only thing you would actually *require* politics for is if you were planning to become an MP, and I am not.

If I was to working in campaigning or consulting, it seems marketing would be equally if not more useful.

As part of my degree, I will get to do an internship with an MP, which my uni raves about improving employability. Doubtlessly this will enhance my CV, but I guess still pretty useless unless I actually want to become an MP.

Your thoughts much appreciated! :smile:

You've misunderstood a couple of things. Firstly becoming an MP does not require having a politics degree, plenty of MP's studied other subjects too. Secondly an internship with an MP would not necessarily help you become an MP but would be very valuable experience post uni for pretty much anything else.

Politics, like with virtually every other non vocational degree, ticks the 'I have a degree box' that graduate recruiters have, the rest is down to you- to get work experience, to determine what jobs you want to apply for and to put together a strong application. I don't believe that marketing would make getting a job post uni any easier. So its up to you to choose the subject you prefer.

Reply 2

999tigger

19

What do you intend doing after? What advantage do you think it will give you?

Reply 3

J_89

OP

15

Original post by 999tigger

What do you intend doing after? What advantage do you think it will give you?

So, I would like to work for an NGO or a Think-Tank.

I am already certain that I will do a masters in marketing.

I realize a BA in politics will give me no vocational skills to put to use; but it may make me slightly more desirable to employers to have a degree in politics - maybe?

My other reason is the amount of internships that my politics department offers and the opportunities it may provide to that extent.

Any further thoughts?

Reply 4

pmc:producer

20

Most graduate roles don't requre a specific degree. And I certainly wouldn't place markting above politics unless you want a marketing career.

If you're passionate about politics, study politics. It's challenging, requires a critical mind and will equip you with what you need to apply for jobs post-graduation. As some else has said, the rest is up to you.

And on the internship front; there's about a million marketing internships out there so don't worry about that.