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My brother wants to major in History. He is attending a JC and will be transferring to a 4 year sometime in the next year. I think he plans on being a High School teacher but I know that it will be really hard for him to find a job right away. He says he also would be interested in being a museum curator. I assume this would be an even harder gig to land and the pay possibly even worse. I have two friends that majored in History. One is currently a lawyer the other works for a gun manufacturer and really seems to like his job. The degree of course though was not needed for the job.
Basically, I am wondering a couple of things.
1) What other job opportunities are out their?
2) What kind of things can he be doing while in school that can help his chances of getting a job out of college. Internships? Help professors with research?
NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Don't do it. As an individual that graduated with a BA in History, I found the truth the hard way. If he loves history, he should minor in it and or take courses at a community college once he finds a job post graduation.
If he goes through with it, he needs to select a minor that is in an in demand field and find a internship related to the minor so he has a back up plan.
Everything bamba_boy said, "I think that might be a common story for history majors. It's really just a piece of paper saying that you have a good brain, good work ethic, some cosmopolitan polish that you won't embarrass the company working with clients and then a chance to learn on the job at the kind of companies whose work really can't be taught in a university major.", is correct.
The only real options are: retail, food service, or management trainee programs.
Yes every once in a while i will hear people say something about getting a different job in a good field but it is rare. As for the career options, i dont think that goes just for history but all liberal arts
What can your brother do with a BA in History? Pretty much whatever he wants. I got a BA in history and have worked in City Government, IT Consulting, Process Improvement Consulting, and now do General Management. None of these things have anything to do with History, per se, but I use the skills I developed back in school every day.
Personally, I don't understand all the advice to focus on a "practical" degree. What is a "practical" degree, anyway? Every job, especially out of college, is going to require hours of OTJ training even if you have a BA in a field that supposedly qualifies you to do that work. A prospective employer isn't going to expect you to run a company on your first day out of college. What they're looking for is someone that is smart, presentable, and capable of learning what they need to teach you in order to do the job.
Your brother is far more likely to score high marks, earn acknowledgments and honors, and be noticed if he is studying in an area in which he is truly passionate, because he is going to work harder at it. Regardless of the industry, a hiring manager is more likely to give a chance to someone who has demonstrated commitment and shown success in an unrelated field then they would to someone who muddled through a supposedly "practical" degree.
What can your brother do with a BA in History? Pretty much whatever he wants. I got a BA in history and have worked in City Government, IT Consulting, Process Improvement Consulting, and now do General Management. None of these things have anything to do with History, per se, but I use the skills I developed back in school every day.
Personally, I don't understand all the advice to focus on a "practical" degree. What is a "practical" degree, anyway? Every job, especially out of college, is going to require hours of OTJ training even if you have a BA in a field that supposedly qualifies you to do that work. A prospective employer isn't going to expect you to run a company on your first day out of college. What they're looking for is someone that is smart, presentable, and capable of learning what they need to teach you in order to do the job.
Your brother is far more likely to score high marks, earn acknowledgments and honors, and be noticed if he is studying in an area in which he is truly passionate, because he is going to work harder at it. Regardless of the industry, a hiring manager is more likely to give a chance to someone who has demonstrated commitment and shown success in an unrelated field then they would to someone who muddled through a supposedly "practical" degree.
I too have a History degree. When I graduated, I felt like it was fairly worthless. With the hindsight of the three decades since, it turned out to be the most valuable preparation I could have had for my life's work. I get paid for understanding context and background, for knowing how current situations might turn out, for being able to analyze and synthesize large amounts of information and weave an understandable narrative, for applied research. I make a lot of money with these skills; more importantly, I derive a vast amount of enjoyment from them.
In my case, a deep interest in economics and business and some coursework in those areas was also important. But my major was History.
I too have a History degree. When I graduated, I felt like it was fairly worthless. With the hindsight of the three decades since, it turned out to be the most valuable preparation I could have had for my life's work. I get paid for understanding context and background, for knowing how current situations might turn out, for being able to analyze and synthesize large amounts of information and weave an understandable narrative, for applied research. I make a lot of money with these skills; more importantly, I derive a vast amount of enjoyment from them.
In my case, a deep interest in economics and business and some coursework in those areas was also important. But my major was History.
Wow i am very surprised by these comments, i think its time that I try to look for a professional position as well. I started thinking that maybe my problem is the area that i live in, since it is mostly blue collar work, most people have either engineer degrees or accounting ones. If anyone majors in a liberal arts, they always go into teaching, but hey maybe its different in large metropolitan areas. As for marcopolo, please let us know what kind of job you were able to procure as this will give us some hindsight as to what we might be dealing with and what we can look forward to.
Wow i am very surprised by these comments, i think its time that I try to look for a professional position as well. I started thinking that maybe my problem is the area that i live in, since it is mostly blue collar work, most people have either engineer degrees or accounting ones. If anyone majors in a liberal arts, they always go into teaching, but hey maybe its different in large metropolitan areas. As for marcopolo, please let us know what kind of job you were able to procure as this will give us some hindsight as to what we might be dealing with and what we can look forward to.
Yes, much of it will depend on the jobs that are available in your area, and unfortunately you might find that you have to move to find a decent opportunity, but this could be the case regardless of your degree.
You mentioned that you have an interest and experience in teaching, but those skills are applicable outside of a school setting, too. Have you considered looking for training roles in a corporate environment? Almost all large companies will have established training departments, and teaching experience will be very helpful in opening the door. You could also try focusing on call center industries that have constant training classes due to their high agent turnover. Plus, if they are outsourcing some or all of their work, you could have an opportunity to travel overseas.
Heck, there are also domestic opportunities - one friend had a degree in Fashion Design of all things, bounced around as a receptionist, then took a job as a trainer at a continuing education company teaching SAP basics. It didn't matter that she didn't know anything about SAP, but she was able to get in front of a room and direct a class. She then managed to leverage that into a consulting career and now actually works for SAP. It's all about making your skills and experience applicable to a particular job (you have to convince yourself that they are applicable before you can convince an employer), then continuing to work hard and network to make yourself a candidate for further advancement. It won't happen overnight, but it can be done.
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