Along with the broad knowledge gained from a geography degree, students can have the opportunity to put their learning into practice with a work placement, but where can you go? Placement officers and students share their experiences
Megan Evans, BSc Geography student at Aberystwyth University
Placement: The Cooperative
Role: Undergraduate Food Policy Coordinator for the Ethics, Sustainability and Policy team
Megan Evans: ‘I worked on the development of a policy for sustainable packaging and food waste, holding working groups, undertaking research, analysing data and ensuring policy was followed when developing new products. My placement was for 10 months.
‘I was able to apply the learning from my course to a real company and develop both professionally and personally. My placement has demonstrated the types of roles and responsibilities I might enjoy in a graduate role and has helped me to shape my career path.
‘Gaining work experience while you study helps you to stand out when applying for graduate jobs.’
Joe Donnerstag, BSc Geography student at Nottingham Trent University
Placement: Delta Simons
Role: Rotational placement, finally settling in the ESG team
Joe Donnerstag: ‘The place I went to on my sandwich year – environmental consultancy Delta Simons – turned out to be the place where I got my graduate job. I graduated on the Friday and started working full time on the Monday!
I had some help from the employability team at NTU getting in touch with various different consultancies. They were really useful with CV writing and interview prep. Then once I was at Delta Simons I went on a rotational programme doing all sorts of different things.
First of all I was working in the environmental transactions services team – they produce environmental reports that support the buying or selling of a piece of land. I moved into the site investigations team and finally I settled in the ESG team, so that’s environmental, social and governance consultancy. Essentially, it’s what I like to describe as sustainability performance within your business.’
Dr Tristram Irvine-Fynn, industrial placements and international opportunities coordinator at Aberystwyth University
Placements available: Students on our Year in Industry and Year in Employment schemes work with me and a careers advisor to identify and apply for relevant opportunities for placements. Recent students have worked in natural and built environment agencies, governance and the public sector such as Network Rail, the Welsh Government, and in educational settings such as schools and the Field Studies Council.
Dr Tristram Irvine-Fynn: ‘Placements provide an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in a new working environment; one that can’t be replicated in the lecture theatre, seminar room or lab. Students returning to the department after their placements demonstrate more confidence and an increased sense of purpose and direction, which undoubtedly translates into better performance in their assignments.’
Isabella Mellow, BSc Geography student at the University of Chester
Placement: NHS Cheshire East
Role: Sustainability consultant
Isabella Mellow: ‘As part of the Sustainable Futures module, I worked with the NHS to promote green spaces as an element of healthcare. I interviewed other organisations with similar projects and built research to help create a case for introducing more green spaces for public health. As a team of students, we presented our findings back to the NHS and wrote individual reports about how people use green spaces in their daily lives.
‘My degree taught me that geography is interconnected with so many other aspects of life. I never imagined I’d be working to help the NHS as a geographer, but it’s taught me that I can study the world in many different ways.’
Emma Shuttleworth, programme director for geography with professional placement at The University of Manchester
Placements available: Recent students have completed placements in environmental consultancies, transport and planning agencies, the charity sector, engineering, banking and finance, sustainable fashion, communications, government, the NHS and many more.
Emma Shuttleworth: ‘Geography graduates go on to lead such varied careers, so there is no limit to the kind of placement students can apply for. As long as they can gain quality work experience that supports their career aspirations, then we will support them through the process.
‘Placements can expose students to jobs they did not know existed and open up opportunities to work with a diverse range of people on exciting projects. Some of our students have even been offered jobs or places on graduate schemes before they finish their placement!’
Tom Roland, Lecturer in physical geography and professional placements coordinator at the University of Exeter
Placements available: Students work with a number of large companies like GSK, Johnson and Johnson, Ernst and Young, IBM, Fisher, Savills. We currently have students working in project management with the NHS, in marketing with Unilever and with the UK Hydrographic Office doing spatial analysis.
Tom Roland: ‘There are very few jobs which geographers can not do. As a result, we have students heading out to all sorts of placements. Our placement year programme offers students an opportunity to ‘try a career path out for size’, while also providing valuable work experience and demonstrable skills development for their CVs.
‘Some students fall in love with the type of work they undertake on their placement, while others use the year to explore different options for their futures. Either way, our placement students learn to become more adaptable, resilient and independently motivated whilst they’re on placement.’
Thom Sullivan, placement and international exchange at the University of Sheffield
Placements available: Lab and field research with environmental or wildlife groups; social research, policy and planning for local and national government and NGOs; consultancy roles in global business operations; even an eco-housing start-up.
Thom Sullivan: ‘Our students have been doing placements with Transport for London, working as assistant planners. These placements allow students to experience the relationships between transport planning, development and regeneration in a global city, working on exciting, large-scale projects that involve numerous stakeholders.
‘I am always struck by the increased confidence of students when they return from their placement year. We always tell students that a geography degree allows them to develop technical and transferable skills that are highly sought by employers, but a year working in the real world can help students to recognise this for themselves and in different ways.’
