Careers and employability
We know what employers want to see. We give you all the tools and knowledge you need to start in a wide variety of careers.
Launching you into your career
You will have various opportunities to gain professional and practical experience.
Alternatively, you could study selected course units from other courses around the University. This is through the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning.
You can also apply to spend a year gaining valuable workplace experience on a work placement.
I am now working in environmental sustainability – having an understanding of the historic landscape, as well as people’s relationships with their environments, has been incredibly helpful.
Soriyeh Carnegie / BA in Archaeology and Anthropology
What you'll take away from Manchester
Through your course, you'll learn rigorous intellectual skills of interpretation. You'll also learn to work as part of a team in demanding conditions. This will involve managing time, resources and people in the field. As well as completing essays and exams, you may:
- create broadcast content;
- develop wiki entries;
- devise marketing materials;
- manipulate complex data;
- produce portfolios.
You'll graduate in an advantageous place to offer employers many practical and intellectual abilities.
Archaeology students' acquisition of fieldwork skills will be followed via our Archaeology Skills Passport. You can also use it to record skills for future job applications.
Through our courses, you'll develop transferable skills including the ability to:
- assess information and data;
- communicate effectively;
- interpret;
- lead and take part in discussions;
- propose ideas and theories;
- show understanding of different cultures and societies;
- think logically and imaginatively;
- work to deadlines.
We also offer Classics for All. This is a national charity scheme to introduce Latin and Classics to school pupils. We're one of the Manchester scheme partners. Our students work alongside University staff to deliver sessions in schools.
Classics for All allows students interested in teaching to gain classroom experience. It also inspires younger generations to become interested in Latin and Classics.
Find out more on our Classics for All page and on the Manchester scheme website.
What you could do after graduation
Our university is the most targeted in the UK by top graduate employers (High Fliers). Our graduates have taken up roles as:
- accountants;
- barristers and solicitors;
- broadcasters;
- business specialists;
- commercial archaeologists;
- consultants;
- curators in museums and gallery assistants;
- editors;
- film-makers and producers;
- heritage and environment officers;
- journalists;
- members of the armed services;
- planning officers and advisors to local government;
- researchers;
- scientists;
- teachers;
- writers.
Our university is the most targeted in the UK by top graduate employers (High Fliers). Our graduates have taken up the following professions:
- archivist;
- computing;
- curator;
- editorial assistant;
- finance;
- heritage/museum administration;
- insurance;
- jobs in cultural tourism;
- management;
- media and marketing;
- law;
- social work;
- teaching.
Recent graduates have gone on to employment within:
- BBC;
- Google;
- government departments;
- museums;
- law firms;
- a wide range of educational institutions.
Since graduation, I have been working in the development sector in Turkey and Bangladesh as an English teacher for Syrian and Rohingya refugees… from academic tutors who helped you beyond their job roles to fellow students who encouraged each other to work hard and do well, I and many alumni will always remember the Archaeology department at Manchester as being the place where our differences were celebrated and in which we felt truly welcomed.
Radhia Shah / BA in Archaeology
