What jobs need an undergraduate degree?

Would it surprise you to learn that 85% of workers in Australia have earned an undergraduate degree or higher? 

What that tells us is that a lot of careers require a bachelor's degree. And even in fields where an undergraduate degree isn’t necessarily mandatory, it will set you apart from the pack and increase the number of opportunities that are open to you.

What can I do after finishing an undergraduate degree?

Your undergraduate degree isn't just a ticket to a job; it's your passport to a future where you can keep learning and growing – whether that’s on the job or continuing your studies with a postgraduate degree. If you want to kickstart your career, there are plenty of job opportunities for graduates with a bachelor's degree across every sector.

If you decide you want to pursue further study later on – whether that’s to deepen your expertise in a particular area to open up new opportunities or make a career change – there are loads of options awaiting you, from postgraduate certificates through to PhDs.

What jobs can I get with an undergraduate degree?

There are plenty of fields you can enter straight after finishing your bachelor's degree, no matter what your degree is or what you majored in. However, in some cases, you might need to complete certain professional qualifications, such as for Chartered Accountants. If you’ve completed a double degree, you’ll also double your career options. 

Remember that many people also end up working in fields that are completely unrelated to what they studied in their undergraduate degree. So, if you have your sights set on a career in business but you studied arts, don’t let it hold you back.

What high-paying jobs can I get with a bachelor degree?

There are many career paths with high-earning potential that don’t require any further study. Bachelor of Commerce graduates are one example. They can enter lucrative fields such as banking straight out of university, where the average annual salary is $165,000 in Australia. 

In the high-paying tech sector, software architects are in high demand with job growth predicted to be 27% in the next five years. The average salary reflects that demand, with software architects in Australia earning $168,000 on average annually.

While there is a common perception that Bachelor of Arts graduates don’t have high earning potential, that couldn’t be more wrong: 67.6% of the CEOs of ASX200 companies have a degree in social sciences. The average salary of a CEO in Australia ranges from $205,000-$225,000 - well above the national average.

UNSW is known to produce Australia’s most employable graduates* and our students go on to earn some of the highest median graduate salaries of all Go8 universities**. So, whatever you study at UNSW, you’ll be set up for career success.

^{*AFR Top100 Future Leaders Awards 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
**Highest graduate median salaries of Go8 universities (QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022)}

FAQs