Anthropology

A degree in anthropology opens the door to a range of career opportunities, including roles in charities, local government and international aid

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Charity officer
• Civil Service Fast Streamer
• Community development worker
• Government social research officer
• Housing manager/officer
• International aid/development worker
• Local government officer
• Market researcher
• Museum/gallery curator
• Secondary school teacher
• Social researcher

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Care manager
• Chaplain
• Equality, diversity and inclusion officer
• Palaeontologist
• Policy officer
• Political risk analyst
• Public relations officer
• Social worker

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Gaining relevant work experience in your area of interest is a good way to show employers you are committed to your career.

For example, if you want to get into a charity or international aid role, volunteering for a charity, locally or overseas, during your summer break will strengthen your application.

You could try contacting local council offices or museums and galleries for information about project activities and ask if they need volunteers to help out with the organisation or running of events.

Involvement in a student society can also help you develop relevant skills and experience in, for example, publicity, campaigning, and public speaking.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

You may choose to become an anthropologist, either as an academic or a researcher, but only a tiny proportion of graduates take that route. A more common option is to build a career directly on your anthropology knowledge and transferable skills. For example, you could work in social policy or teaching or for a development/overseas agency or non-governmental organisation (NGOs).

A high proportion of anthropology graduates work in the public and not-for-profit sectors, all branches of the Civil Service, local government, charities, central government bodies, universities, international organisations, such as the United Nations (UN), museums and voluntary organisations.

You could also pursue a role in:

• advertising
• conservation
• health and social work
• heritage management
• museums
• sales and marketing.

Find information on employers in charity and voluntary work, marketing, advertising and PR, and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Your social science degree equips you with general skills, including:

• written communication
• analytical and critical skills
• the ability to gather, assess and interpret data
• oral communication and presentation skills
• time management
• discussion and group work skills
• statistical and computing techniques
• clear, logical and independent thinking
• organising and planning
• problem solving
• the ability to construct an argument.

You'll learn theories and methodologies for research work, which can be applied to many job roles. You may also be able to offer subject-specific knowledge, including topics such as genetic and biological traits, globalisation and society, an understanding of how cultures function and their common traits, and the importance of language and power.

Further study

Postgraduate courses that follow on from your anthropology degree include:

• criminology
• development studies
• environmental anthropology
• industrial relations
• journalism
• law
• marketing
• public health
• teaching
• youth and community work.

Some students go on to study a Masters degree, specialising in an anthropological area, such as visual or medical anthropology. While others pursue related disciplines, such as community health, sociology, social research methods, politics, human geography and economics.

Vocational courses are also available, such as museum ethnography, counselling, health and social work.

To find a course that interests you, search postgraduate courses in anthropology.

What do anthropology graduates do?

5% of anthropology graduates are working as advertising and marketing associate professionals. Other jobs that anthropology graduates go into include sales and retail assistants, HR, events managers and organisers, social and humanities scientists, business and related research professionals, business associate professionals and welfare and housing associate professionals.

Find out what other anthropology graduates are doing 15 months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.