Careers: Preparing Students to Enter the Job Market

Sciences Po encourages “learning by doing”. This begins in the first year, with a month-long voluntary placement focused on civic engagement. Further opportunities for practical experience are available throughout the programme right up until graduation. Whether in an internship or employment context, our students and graduates must be able to put into practise the skills they have learned during their education: an understanding of global issues, an analysis of societal changes, the ability to work on complex projects in an international context… We work hard every day to help them achieve their goals.

Throughout their education, students can meet one-on-one with a careers advisor to discuss their options for graduate study and their career plans. To improve one's résumé, develop self-awareness and hone one's interview skills, students can also participate in group workshops provided in French or English. Suck workshops are priceless opportunities to meet and speak to other students in similar situations.

During their one-on-one meetings, our advisors tailor their support to the needs of the student, helping them to better understand their goals and suggesting job search strategies that are suited to one's experience. Meanwhile, students themselves can choose from online resources on the Sciences Po Careers website and take part in events based on their needs.  

For Bachelor's students, who will go on to study in one of our 7 graduate schools if they so wish, we have launched a specific programme this year: The Orientation Path.

This programme enables students at the Undergraduate College to get to know themselves better, find out about Sciences Po's master's programmes and envision the sector of activity that might appeal to them or the career that is consistent with who they are and who they want to become.

It gives them the opportunity to become the driving force behind their own career choices.

Connecting students and employers is one of the main functions of Sciences Po Careers. Information and recruitment forums, business presentations and career roundtables enable students to learn more about the employers’ sectors, and find internship, apprenticeship and employment opportunities. These meetings are often in hybrid format, making them accessible to students from all our campuses as well as those on their third year abroad. This gives students the opportunity to connect with future employers, even while on exchange.

Staying on top of changes in the job market and in students' needs is an essential part of the planning process for our careers events. Themes of ecological transition and positive-impact careers routinely guided our choice of speakers to take part in roundtables, as they represent nowadays an area of real interest for students. 

Highlights for students include:

• The Sciences Po Careers Fair: A key annual event for all Sciences Po students and recent graduates. Each autumn, it brings together more than 1500 students who come to meet with numerous public bodies, international organisations and private sector businesses from different sectors such as consulting, luxury goods, media, industry, banks… A wide range of institutions that reflect the huge variety of opportunities available to our students. 
• Sector-specific careers fairs: consulting and law fairs connect students with consulting firms or law firm staff.
• The European Forum of Internships in Brussels: in partnership with the London School of Economics and the College of Europe, this forum enables students interested in a career specialising in European affairs - consulting firms, European institutions, think tanks - to find internship and job opportunities. 
• The International Organisations Careers Fair is a valuable opportunity for students to find out more about international organisations, from career opportunities and recruitment processes to internship programmes and the profiles they typically look for.

50% of Sciences Po students come from overseas, and almost a third of our recent graduates start their career abroad. That makes international opportunities a priority for us.  Many of our international students are keen to stay in France to work, so we inform them of the options and help them to understand the specificities of the French job market. 

At the same time, many of our students want to live and work overseas, and we help equip them with the tools they need to make that happen. 

Focus groups are regularly organised with alumni that focus on the professional opportunities and careers of our graduates in a particular sector or geographic area. These provide an opportunity to hear and learn from graduates of all Sciences Po programmes, whose careers have taken them all over the world.

During their studies, our students regularly meet alumni at networking events, roundtables and other careers events. 

Students can then continue to expand this professional network throughout their lives, thanks to our community of 90,000 Sciences Po graduates working across various sectors and regions around the world. This valuable network is there for graduates to draw on at every stage of their professional lives.