Geography Degree? What is your DC doing now?

[BigToe2]

My son is looking to do a degree in Geography. Personal statement completed and has chosen his top 3 universities. Still undecided what last 2 should be.

DC considered engineering for a while, but didn’t do physics, considered economics but was unsure about doing a purely maths heavy degree. Considered joint honours Geography/Economics but the best degrees are at universities he doesn’t want to go to.

He feels it’s the most logical choice for him
as he is interested mostly in human geography in geopolitics, economics, foreign aid, sustainability. that sort of thing.

His A levels are Chemistry, Maths and Geography.
he began with Economics but had to drop an A level so he dropped economics although he did find it interesting and useful.

Predicted A* A A*

Won’t be applying for land economy at Cambridge although some people have said it’s the perfect degree for him. He prefers Oxford if he was to go to Oxbridge.

What does the future hold for him?

i didn’t study Geography but work in asset management (hedge fund stuff) and this world is filled with Geo grads, especially in climate / impact investing. These guys get to do an interesting job, very well paid and get to invest in stuff that makes the world better and cleaner. Good use of a degree!

I work in construction consulting. One of the big top ten businesses in the sector. Geography graduates in our business can become:

project managers
bid/proposal writers
quantity surveyors
land surveyors
sustainability consultants
planning consultants

Pay is good in consulting and don’t assume construction = sitting in a site office with a hard hat. I work with many highly paid professionals who never go to site and spend most of their day advising and consulting to clients or project teams from the comfort of a posh city centre office or home office. Lots of great grad schemes on offer in the industry too.

I often do school careers fairs and talks and am always disheartened by a turning up of the nose at construction related professions. There are so many roles out there that don’t involve bricks and mortar! And very well paid too.

I had three friends at uni that studied geography - two are now teachers and one is a town planner.

I was torn between geography and business/economics and ultimately went with business/economics, but really wish I’d done geography as that was what I actually found interesting. I work in accountancy and we have grads of all degrees, I don’t think the subject really makes much difference.

My brother did Geography - we used to call it GCSE/ALevel ‘colouring in’ (as that’s what it was seen as - basically colouring in maps)

He’s now president of a global beauty brand 🤷‍♀️

No! He started as a middle manager and worked his way up.
He had some training/qualification secondments in house and externally.
It was over a 30 year period, I bet it's not available now.

Gives me hope !

Air traffic control and now HR

The geography graduates I know ended up in a variety of different fields including, health, education, town and country planning, IT, and the environment. The majority with public sector rather than private employers.

My OH did human geography and works for one of the big 4 as a consultant.

Hard agree with this. My DS has just started a geography degree and a couple of his friends are doing environmental science. My DP is an engineer working at senior level in sustainability and reckons that’s where a lot of the growth will be as we adapt to climate change. If I had my time over again I’d be learning to fit solar panels, heat pumps, and insulation, because as someone who is mid house renovation I can tell you that’s where the money is!

@Dandeloosha My DH is a CEng. Structures and Civils. There’s more money in engineering if you play your cards right and get into consulting. Engimeerjng is about designing the solutions. Environmental scientists just try and work out what the issues are but Env Science attracts lower salaries than engineers and it’s too narrow. Geography is a better launch pad. DH earned way more as an engineer than a solar panel fitter!

Maybe disaster risk management might be an interesting career direction?

www.rgs.org/professionals/professional-practice-groups/disaster-risk-management-ppg/resources/careers-in-disaster-risk-management