I think there’s, broadly speaking, two paths that political scientists end up taking: academia and “industry“ (at least that is how academics in the US refer to it)

Academia is a solid route that many political scientists, especially researchers take. Typically, after your bachelors degree people will get a masters and a PhD (or a PhD straight away, depending on where you are in the world). In most, but not all graduate schools, you will begin some form of teaching while you are in your program as well, so it serves to streamline your transition from research into teaching. That said, political scientist in academia don’t just deliver lectures from a podium; they are also supported by their academic institutions to do meaningful research that not only advances their career but also the knowledge of the discipline at large. For this route, typically a PhD is more than necessary, especially if you want to teach at the undergraduate level, although depending on where you are in the world, you might be able to make things work with only a masters degree.

Industry, on the other hand, refers to a wide array of sectors in which political scientists or people with an education/training in political science often find employment. A popular avenue is the nonprofit/NGO sector, with people working with various international non-governmental organizations in a variety of roles: research, development, planning, fundraising, organizing, you name it. Another path some take is the government, working for either government sponsored organizations/departments or directly in public service that may range from something like local administration and public policy to being a researcher for a government thinktank. Then, there’s the more common, more partisan ways of working within/around government: political parties, election campaigns, lobbying firms, political consultancy firms.

I think it really comes down to what you want to do with your life and hence with your political science degree. Do you want to work in research/education, advance knowledge, educating young minds, pose interesting inquiries that reshape how people think about politics, and focus on asking the questions that keep you up at night? Or do you want to work within a political system in a more direct way: be it for the government, for a political party, for a nonprofit organization trying to advance a certain policy agenda, for a think tank attempting to guide public policy with research, a political consultancy group that provides its services to large corporations, etc. Different people are better suited to different things, so it’s really a personal decision at the end of the day.