Work Placements

Two work placements in the UK or abroad

As part of the four-year degree, Anthropology students participate in two work placements, which may involve what anthropologists call ‘fieldwork’. Such placements help students to gain a real competitive edge and develop a range of transferable skills, which prove invaluable once starting their careers. While on placement, academic visits are organised to ensure the smooth running of the student’s placement and help in keeping the link with academic studies.

Fieldwork placements can be conducted either in the UK or abroad. Students are supported by the Work Placement office, which will help students find the right placement in order to best serve your career aspirations. Students can either choose from a variety of available placements, or propose and set up their own. Over half our students do a fieldwork placement abroad, in places such as India, Nepal, Australia, southern Africa, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador and Jamaica. Recent UK placements include the BBC, Foreign Office, Campaign for the Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Amnesty International and the Department of Health.

Career opportunities

With a year of work placements in a related field by the time they complete their degrees, Brunel students gain valuable experience and contacts vital for future employment in a world that increasingly expects job candidates to offer something more than a degree certificate.

Employers really value the experience work placements give prospective employees. Because of Brunel’s fieldwork placement programme, anthropology graduates have a head start in the job market and go on to work in organisations like the World Bank, UNICEF, the NHS, along with NGOs and charities such as Oxfam and Save the Children, as well as in local government, and legal sectors, business and the media.

Students who intend to go on for further study at the Masters or Doctorate levels also benefit from the fieldwork placement programme.

Find out about Craig's placement in Nepal.

Find out about Emily's placements in Russia and Romania.

I thoroughly enjoyed my studies at Brunel University, where I learnt about various cultures and ethnographic techniques. This inspired me to carry out my own research in Nepal. I stayed in Nepal for six weeks volunteering in a school and with a Women’s Rights non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Part of my time was spent living with a Nepalese family, who became my own family whilst I was there. They gave me the Nepali name ‘Kabita,’ which means ‘poem’. For the rest of my stay I was based in a school. I lived with some of the children who stayed in the school’s hostel. I also spent some evenings with children who lived at Every Child Counts. This is an NGO that helps fund the school fees of children from poor families. The children stay there during the week and return home for the weekend.

I am glad I researched Nepalese culture as it was so different from my life back home and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to do my fieldwork there.