Employability

Postgraduates from the School of Government and International Affairs pursue successful careers in a wide range of fields including local and national government, newspaper and broadcast journalism, the charity sector, business and finance, publishing, law, manufacturing, teaching and academia, and the armed forces. 

The School draws on its networks to help students develop the skills they need to succeed in a highly competitive job market. We hold a regular Civil Service Fast Stream event, in which Durham alumni give first-hand advice about how to excel in the recruitment process. The university’s Careers and Enterprise Centre holds an annual careers forum for government and international affairs students, bringing Durham alumni back to the university to talk about their different career paths. The School also invites individual speakers to talk to our students about career choices and to recommend strategies for success. 

Durham students have gone on to have great success in the political arena, with alumni job titles including Chief Operating Officer for the GB Equality and Human Rights Commission, Head of Defence Inquests and Disclosure in the Ministry of Defence and Political Officer in the British Embassy Mogadishu, while others hold senior academic and government positions around the world. 

Other recruiters include leading employers like the House of Commons, Clifford Chance, Accenture, British Airways, Ernst and Young, British Telecom, Goldman Sachs, PwC, the Royal Navy, House of Fraser, Aldi, Channel 4, HSBC, Teach First, Durham University, Black Rock, Parliament and the Audit Commission.