Hi all,

I have received offers from University of York, Cranfield and University of Glasgow for the courses in Corporate Sustainability and Management/Public policy and Management.

I am confused regarding which University will be the best option. Kindly suggest. Thank you.

What are your goals? These are very different courses, so the key question is whether you want to work in the public sector or in business. 

Thank you Duncan, for your response. I want to work in Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability sector. I have around 4 years of experience in India in public policy and development sector and want to expand my horizon, gain some international experience and exposure. I hope to find opportunity to work in the UK/ EU after completion of the course. The courses in York and Cranfield have similar subjects with more focus on environment in York. All seem very interesting, hence the confusion. 

[Edited by R Sharma on Dec 20, 2020]

When you describe CSR as a sector rather than a function, so you mean you want to work for an organisation specialised in CSR? You should focus on identifying those organisations and seeing which schools they hire from. The course content will be secondary. 

Unless you write and speak French or German to a professional level, I am unsure that you have opportunities in the EU.

Yes, I want to work in CSR roles. Thank you for the suggestion. It helps. 

It's important to think of there being three sorts of CSR roles: in organisations that provide CSR services; in-house roles in corporate CSR teams; public sector roles. They will hire from different places and look for different skills. The more you focus on one, the easier it will be to find the perfect path for one goal rather than a sub optimal path to all goals. 

Other things being equal, Cranfield will have the best careers support and educational experience between these schools. It's has the great advantage of being in the region around London. 

Thank you Duncan, this is very helpful. I want to go for in-house roles in corporate CSR teams, which I feel has more scope and job opportunities and corporates might be more open to hiring international candidates for improving their organisational diversity. Public sector roles seems won't be easy to get into for international candidates, in a foreign country and Organisations that provide CSR services have to keep struggling for getting funding and projects, which will be a huge challenge at present due to the pandemic. 

I just searched for UK people in LInkedIn with profiles containing MSc and CSR. The top schools are:
- The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

- University of Leeds

- Imperial College London

- University of Cambridge

- University of Nottingham

[Edited by StuartHE on Dec 22, 2020]