Tyler goes from Geography grad to influencing government policy

A Geography graduate from the University of Northampton is using the skills he forged on his course to influence government policy.

Tyler Spencer Pote joined the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) as a social researcher in 2020 – the government social research profession supports the development, implementation, review and evaluation of government policy.

The 2018 graduate credits his university grounding for helping him to complete his day to day work duties.

“At first you might think geography and working in the civil service don’t really go together, but in fact they do. There’s a broad range of options to choose from in the civil service, and geographers have some excellent transferable skills. In social research, I use all of the skills I developed during my geography degree,” said Tyler.

“One in particular that’s vital to my role is report writing – and writing up my research into reports was a key skill I developed on my course.

“In my job I write reports on a daily basis and it’s essential I am able to communicate succinctly and concisely because I will be summarising research for government ministers who don’t want to read long reports that they might not understand.”

Tyler is currently involved in a research role where he evaluates the current disability benefit assessment process through work with claimants and DWP staff. His work will feed into the ongoing transformation of the support offer provided by DWP to those with disabilities.

He said: “My work will help claimants have access to an improved system, so it’s something that will actually improve the lives of people.

“Everything I do goes towards influencing government policy, so there’s so much job satisfaction to be gained.”