Linguistics Graduate Destinations
How does a degree in Linguistics help with my career?
A degree in Linguistics from SOAS gives students the ability to engage in analytical thought, to carry out research-like work on unfamiliar data and to control and understand the use of language. It provides students with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek including the ability to transcribe and analyse language; to present linguistic data in different formats and research analysis techniques. Graduates from the Linguistics department have found that their language skills are in demand from a wide variety of organisations.
Who do graduates work for?
SOAS Linguistic graduates have gone on to employment in a range of professional roles in both business and public sectors, such as national governments in many parts of the world, international organisations, and development agencies, educational and cultural establishments, non-governmental organisations, and academia, various United Nations organisations, publishing and media organisations.
Destination of 2015 graduates (Undergraduates)
All undergraduate students are contacted 6 months after graduation (so for undergraduate students this is in January) to find out what they were doing - working, studying or something else, such as travelling. We find out this data in the summer, so here is the latest information from the 12 known destinations of the 2015 UK, EU and International graduates of single and joint honours studies within the department.
Example employers
| Blue Square Marketing |
| British Airways (BA) |
| Cratus Communications |
| Korea Trade Centre (KOTRA) |
| Rehash Studios |
Example occupations
| Assistant Manager |
| Communications Intern |
| Freelance Software Engineer |
| Marketing Campaigning Officer |
| Recruitment Co-ordinators |
Destinations of 2015 graduates (postgraduates)
All postgraduate students are contacted 6 months after graduation (so for postgraduate students this is in April) to find out what they were doing - working, studying or something else, such as travelling. This data is added to the Undergraduate survey the following January and we receive the data in the summer (i.e. approximately 18 months after graduation). Here is the latest information from the 40 known destinations of the 2014 UK, EU and International Postgraduate and research degrees within the department.
Example employers
| International Finance News | Precise Media |
| Japan Centre | Prince Sultan University College for Women |
| King Saud University | Selby District Council |
| Ministry of Defence (MoD | Timor Aid |
| Minority Rights Group | Zhejiang Normal University |
Example occupations
| Graduate Teaching Assistant | Policy Officer |
| Immigrations Adviser | Post-doctoral Researcher |
| Lecturer in Translation | Project Assistant |
| Media Analyst | Public Relations (PR) Account Executive |
| News Reporters | Senior Strategy Officer |
What do graduates do
Job Profiles and Careers Information
- Occupational profiles for 600 career areas on Prospects
- Postgraduate study information and database on Prospects
- For more information about careers, visit Careers Tagged
Relevant Organisations
- The Chartered Institute of Linguists
- The Institute of Translation and Interpreting
- The Association of Translation Companies
- The International Association of Conference Interpreters
- Civil Service Jobs Online
- BBC World Service
- National Centre for Languages
- Directorate General for Interpretation
- Directorate General for Translation (DGT)
- EU Careers
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
- Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR)
- National Languages Strategy
- National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI)