Hi everyone! This week I will be talking about career options and GSD. As an ambassador, this is something I get asked about a lot on open days – so I thought it would be helpful to shed some light on the kind of support offered within the GSD Department, what sort of roles you can go into as a GSD student and finally, I will share my plans for after graduation.

Throughout your studies at Warwick, you will develop a vast range of transferable skills such as, analytical and problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork skills which will provide you with a good base for any career in sustainability or beyond. On top of your studies, the GSD Department offers a range of certificates unique to the course which can enrich your CV, two that were available to me were the Certificate of Coaching Practice and Certificate of Professional Communication. Within the GSD Department, I have found that modules' assessments are designed with students’ personal development in mind, in my first year alone I had a variety of different assessments, not just essay writing – we had group projects, individual pitches and creation of policy briefs. This has given me evidence of tangible skills I have developed at university which I can talk about in interviews. If you want to see some examples of students' policy briefs they were published on the GSD website, here.

If you need any help writing your CV or with applications, the GSD department has a careers and placements officer, Bodrun Nahar who can provide individual guidance and runs skills sessions on employability. This is also really helpful when trying to figure out what you might want to do after university. Personally, I have found that with my degree the options after university are vast; as an expanding field sustainability is a really exciting subject to be studying with new roles opening up all the time, moreover I have found that when speaking to employers in different industries I have an advantage coming to the role from a different angle, with good knowledge of current world issues. If you want some inspiration as to specific careers GSD students are persuing, have a look at the careers aspiration section on our ‘Career Options’ page.

After university, I have been offered an Audit graduate scheme role at one of the Big Four accounting firms. This is a very exciting opportunity and will allow me to develop my knowledge about business and finance. As I have gone through the degree I developed a real interest in corporate sustainability due to the increasing role that businesses have on sustainability issues and policy. In the long run, I hope to persue a career that will allow me to combine the knowledge gained from my degree, with that from my graduate role.

Kristina Pugh

Final-year Single Honours GSD student

Monday 6 January 2020