Where are our 2020 graduates working now?

We reached out to them 18 months later as part of our annual Graduate Employability Survey, conducted between December 2021 and April 2022. The results of the survey confirm that Sciences Po graduates remain as employable as ever, despite the unprecedented context in which the 2020 cohort entered the job market. Read the key findings of this year’s survey.

> Read the full report 

The survey results in five key figures

• 9 in 10 graduates who decided to enter the workforce are now in employment (the same figure as last year).
• 80% of these found their first job within six months of graduating (compared to 82% for the Class of 2019)
• 65% now work in the private sector (compared to 64% for the Class of 2019)
• 38% are working outside of France (compared to 34% for the Class of 2017)
• The average gross annual salary (excluding bonuses) has risen to €40K (compared to €37.5K for the Class of 2019). Outside of France the gross annual salary (excluding bonuses) raises to 45K€

A consistently high employment rate

85% of graduates decided to enter the workforce, 12% have gone on to further study and 3% decided not to enter the workforce immediately.

Of the graduates who did decide to enter the workforce, 9 in 10 are now working (in either a stable job, an internship, as entrepreneurs or as trainee civil servants). This figure remains stable in relation to last year's survey, confirming the consistent appeal of the Sciences Po degree and the strengths of the university’s curriculum.

Waiting times for jobs remain short: 80% of Sciences Po graduates found work within six months (compared to 82% in 2021 survey, class of 2019), while 40% were hired prior to graduating.

Nearly three in four graduates are now in stable employment…

Of the graduates now working, 72% are in stable employment (permanent contracts or French and international civil service traineeships). 

• 48% are in a permanent contract
• 22% have joined the civil service in France or overseas
• 10% are in a contracted position at an international organisation, a figure that has increased continually over the past six years (from 5% in 2015)
• 5% of graduates became entrepreneurs at the end of their studies.

… And two in three work in the private sector

65% of graduates now in employment work in the private sector (compared to 64% for the Class of 2019); 23% work in the public sector (compared to 20% for the Class of 2019); 12% work in international organisations.

Sectors as varied as ever

Civil service and the public sector (20% of graduates); auditing and consultancy (16%); NGOs and civil society organisations (9%); banking, finance and insurance (8%) and international organisations (7%) remain the top choices for graduates of the Class of 2020. Others are employed in various posts in the legal sector (within law firms), urban planning, industry, the press, media, publishing, the environment and tech.

One in three graduates are working overseas

38% of respondents said they were working outside of France in 75 countries around the world (compared to 37% for the Class of 2019). Of these, 61% chose to work in the European Union, 12% in North America and the Middle East, 9% in the Asia-Pacific region and 7% in South America.

Professional experience and networking : key springboards for employment 

More than one in three graduates found their first job thanks to pervious professional experience (whether an internship or an apprenticeship) gained over the course of their studies. Meanwhile, 25% made use of their own personal and professional networks or contacts made while at Sciences Po.

About the survey

The 2022 survey was conducted by Sciences Po Careers under the academic supervision of Nicolas Sauger (associate professor at Sciences Po, director of the CDSP and a researcher affiliated to the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics and the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP)), with the expertise of Blazej Palat (a survey engineer at the Centre for Socio-Political Data (CDSP)).

FIND OUT MORE

• Sciences Po Careers
• Read the press release (FR)
• Read the survey in full