Environmental science : Your skills

Studying environmental science equips you with some very specific skills according to your particular course or specialist area but also encourages the development of a broader set of transferable skills. These specific and the generic skills prepare you for a variety of jobs both highly related and totally unrelated to environmental science. These include:

• research skills and the ability to solve problems, useful in both environmental and non-environmental-related jobs;
• competence in developing arguments from different points of view including scientific, ethical and philosophical perspectives;
• the ability to plan and manage projects which might include time management, risk assessment, teamwork, problem-solving and analysis;
• the ability to gather, analyse and communicate complex and often diverse technical data to others, developing both written and oral communication skills;
• field survey techniques needed for specific environment-related jobs;
• the flexibility to work in all kinds of environments, developed through field-work experience;
• an understanding of the application of statistics and measurement techniques, which will demonstrate your numerical skills and confidence in the use of IT;
• a broad understanding of local, national and global environmental issues.

You develop these subject-specific skills in addition to your own personal skills and abilities. Qualities such as self-motivation, teamwork ability and leadership may also be gained through non-academic activities and work experience.

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile. Take a look at job application advice for some useful tips.