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Honours

Career Prospects for Honours students

An Honours degree might be a pathway to further academic study such as a PhD or an excellent advantage in a competitive job market.

An Honours degree represents elite academic development and is a signal to employers that you have had a more comprehensive academic training than a Bachelor degree.  In particular, studying an Honours degree consolidates already mastered skills and develops new skills through teaching students to design and carry out research on a topic of keen interest. Skills such as specific and high level problem solving, project management, planning, applying analytical and statistical techniques, time management, report writing are all  developed through undertaking an Honours degree.

It is this skill development in conjunction with the academic achievement that makes Honours graduates more competitive in the job market.

If you would like guidance in making your career decisions, including whether to study Honours, you can talk to a Careers Counsellor at the UOW Careers Service. The Careers Service is located on the lower ground floor, Unicentre Building (behind Security), phone 42213325. More details are available on www.uow.edu.au/careers.

Higher Degree Research (HDR)

Students who have completed research degrees at the University of Wollongong have found employment in:

• government
• independent consultancy
• visual and performing arts
• educational institutions
• self-employment

Career Prospects for Research Degrees

There are many careers for which a research degree is desirable or essential, eg as a scientific researcher for a pharmaceutical company, or a commissioning editor for a specialist academic journal. It is important to be able to emphasise the transferable skills you gained while undertaking your research.

A common aim following a PhD is to remain in academia.  A PhD is usually a pre-requisite for an academic career as a university researcher or lecturer. Employment at UOW lists all the current vacancies available at UOW and will give you an indication of the skills and qualifications required to work at a University.

The University of Wollongong Careers Service provides you with support and information in pursuing your career interests.  You might find an individual appointment with a careers counsellor will help focus your career plans.  Other useful support includes workshops on a variety of topics including those related to job seeking and online information and resources available at Careers Service University of Wollongong.

The following links will help you in gathering information about career prospects for Postgraduate students to assist you in formulating your study and career plans.

Useful resources:

> Honours in Australian Higher Education 

This website is based upon the study 'The Role of Honours In Contemporary Higher Education'.

> Graduate Careers Australia (GCA)

GCA conducts Graduate and postgraduate destination surveys and compiles the data into reports.  The web page also provides a great deal of background information relating to career management and career profiles.  Free copies of the following publications are available at the Careers Service office or on line.

• A Degree of Certainty – Career Options for Postgraduate Research Students’
  Produced by ANU and Flinders University (2004) GCCA.*
  Graduate Careers Council of Australia booklet written by career professionals from ANU and Flinders Universities. Comprises useful information as well as case studies of previous postgraduate researchers and what they are doing now.
• Postgraduate destinations – The report of the Graduate destination Survey
• Postgraduate Research experience – The report of the postgraduate Research experience Questionnaire.

UKResources:

>The UK Grad Programme is a great resource ‘dedicated to realising postgraduate talent’.  It includes:

• Just for Postgrads which focuses on managing yourself and your research; planning your career; launching an academic career and marketing yourself to employers
• What Do PhDs Do? publications is a series on who postgraduate researchers are, where they go after graduating and the contribution they make to the economy.