Introduction

This is a sector where it’s important to use a variety of approaches to job searching. This means applying to advertised jobs but also reaching out to new or existing contacts in the sector. LinkedIn is a great place to start and you’ll find hundreds of LSE alumni who are working in health organisations listed on the site.

If you’re looking to gain experience

If you’re just starting out, then doing an internship or volunteering whilst you’re at LSE is a good way to gain experience.

If you’re early on in your career

Whilst there are some graduate schemes in the large pharmaceutical companies, health consultancies and government departments & agencies (applications for which are usually accepted in the Autumn), the majority of opportunities are in smaller organisations which advertise jobs as and when a vacancy arises. Clinical and physician roles usually have specialist recruitment procedures.

If you have more experience

Most positions are gained by applying to advertised jobs or using personal networks. For more senior jobs you can also use specialist recruitment agencies such as Carrotpharma and Barrington James

If you’re changing career

Depending on the role you are moving into, specialist qualifications at Master's level may be required or, in the case of clinical and physician roles, more substantial retraining.

Not sure what to do next?

We’re here to talk over your career plans with you. It doesn’t matter what stage you’re at, so don’t feel you have to have it all worked out. You can book a one-to-one appointment with a careers consultant on CareerHub.

There are a huge number of different job roles in this sector. We’ve outlined some of the ones likely to be of most interest to LSE students (but don’t be constrained by this!) with links to where you can find more information. If you can, try and talk to someone who’s doing the job you’re interested in, so you get a real flavour of what it’s like.

• Health Consultant – employed by large management consultancies or specialist health consultancies. Work can be varied and involve a wide range of areas such as Analytics, Market Access, Pricing and Health Systems. Visit our Careers in Consultancy page for more information.
• Researcher–most opportunities are located in universities, research institutes and government departments. For universities and research institutes a Master’s is usually the minimum requirement, often a PhD. Visit our Careers in Research page for more information.
• Health Economist – can be found in a variety of organisations both in the private and public sector, working on areas such as market access and public policy making and scrutiny. Candidates have usually studied economics at undergraduate level as a minimum, but often have a Master’s level qualification too. Visit our Careers in Economics page for more information.
• Market Access – enabling pharma and biotech organisations to navigate regulatory and pricing frameworks for their medicines to be approved and distributed. Carrotpharma has a good summary of the work involved.
• Physician and other clinical roles – Encompass a wide range of roles ranging from doctors to nurses to clinical scientists. Prospects has a good overview of over 70 different roles.