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Recently, I have been doubting my major. I like what I am studying(I am a History major), but I recently heard that not all degrees were equal. I would like to go into publishing or possibly public relations/non profits and I picked a degree where I like what I study. I am not like most traditional students and I did not major in business. I have been worrying however that my choice of major may not be as marketable as English. I feel that English may be a more respected degree with employers in terms of marketability and what you learn. Is this the case or am I over reacting? Are the job opportunities for a degree in English the same as a degree in history? I also heard that your degree does not matter a few years into your career. Is this true?
You have to market yourself, no matter which degree you get. It is up to YOU to convince those hiring that you have gained knowledge and skills that are applicable to them and the job they need filled, which is something that is your responsibility to prepare for. It's less about the degree than it is what you learn, and what you are prepared to do with it.
well so far publishing seems to appeal to me the most, I guess that every time I tell someone my major or read something on the internet, it is always, "You majored in that? Are you gonna teach?/You are not going to make money in that" And while yes, people say that about English as well, it seems that they say it more about History, I don't know, but maybe its me. One more thing, it will be hard to market myself, when human resources sees my degree and automatically think, History? nah we are looking for someone with a psychology/political science/english degree
Recently, I have been doubting my major. I like what I am studying(I am a History major), but I recently heard that not all degrees were equal. I would like to go into publishing or possibly public relations/non profits and I picked a degree where I like what I study. I am not like most traditional students and I did not major in business. I have been worrying however that my choice of major may not be as marketable as English. I feel that English may be a more respected degree with employers in terms of marketability and what you learn. Is this the case or am I over reacting? Are the job opportunities for a degree in English the same as a degree in history? I also heard that your degree does not matter a few years into your career. Is this true?
Get your degree in whatever your interested in and go into computers, website design, IT, and/or database consulting.
I know people who make 6 figures with degrees in everything from History to Psych to Architecture.
I don't know how they do it, but I wish I knew. I should have done that instead of spending time and money on school.
Recently, I have been doubting my major. I like what I am studying(I am a History major), but I recently heard that not all degrees were equal. I would like to go into publishing or possibly public relations/non profits and I picked a degree where I like what I study. I am not like most traditional students and I did not major in business. I have been worrying however that my choice of major may not be as marketable as English. I feel that English may be a more respected degree with employers in terms of marketability and what you learn. Is this the case or am I over reacting? Are the job opportunities for a degree in English the same as a degree in history? I also heard that your degree does not matter a few years into your career. Is this true?
Depends on what you want. There's going to be some overlap between those majors, as obviously some of the marketable benefits are the same (being able to sustain arguments, write well, etc.), but clearly there are going to be some differences. If you wanted to become a history teacher you'd need the history background, for example. Beyond specifics like that, I doubt it matters.
I was a history major, and actually think the English majors get held up a lot more as an example of "useless" degrees. Perhaps it's because so many people major in history as a precursor to something "useful" like law school.
I doubt that in most situations there's going to be any difference between those degrees. Both are classic liberal arts degrees, and the employers who value one are going to value the other. Or, vice-versa, the HR person who cares more about "useful" degrees is going to go with someone with a degree in something like communications or marketing.
The choice of major is just one part of the total package. I wouldn't worry about it. Build your resume in other ways (through jobs or internships while in school, for example). Do well in school, get additional experiences outside of the classroom, and don't forget that the total package is going to be far more important than just your choice of major.
a history degree will be an extremely difficult degree to leverage into any job other than a job that you would get with a McDegree....any McDegree....so you better have top grades....some type of job experience doing something already, and be prepared to apply for "jobs"
I seriously doubt a history degree will help with publishing unless you are going to publish in history, you still have writing/editing skills (obviously I don't), or you are going to work for some historical society that has a magazine or website they send out/update frequently (get some web skills as well)
A history degree will be useless in public relations/non-profit again unless it is a historical society and you should have some public relations and speaking skills as well.....otherwise for just any non-profit they will hire someone with a degree in public relations 99% of the time
English is a broad field......if you want to have a chance of success in "publishing" I would strongly suggest looking a technical writing and along with that I would suggest (and many that buy the product would be thankful) that you get some actual technical skills like taking a programming class or two, taking a web design class or two (many technical things will have their manuals online now days) and you learn how to use many of the popular software packages for publishing online like Adobe and others......that is about the strongest "English" field out there for actually getting a job in your field
this last part will not be nice, it is not intended to mean this is how YOU ARE, but it is the truth of how you will have to be
if you want to be in "public relations/non-profit" I would suggest you lose your spine, lose your conscious, dump your morals, and be prepared to be slime for a long time to come......because the vast majority of non-profits are run by slime and are set up and funded to pay the salaries of the people that they employ and the rest is just BS and fluff to bring in dollars while squandering those dollars on overhead....and as the front person for that.....you are the one pushing that the hardest....those that are not that way will probably not be hiring at the entry level because they have such a large pool to pull from because they are reputable and they will probably be pulling from the corporate for profit pool because they already know the realities of the vast majority of non-profits out there
a history degree will be an extremely difficult degree to leverage into any job other than a job that you would get with a McDegree....any McDegree....so you better have top grades....some type of job experience doing something already, and be prepared to apply for "jobs"
I seriously doubt a history degree will help with publishing unless you are going to publish in history, you still have writing/editing skills (obviously I don't), or you are going to work for some historical society that has a magazine or website they send out/update frequently (get some web skills as well)
A history degree will be useless in public relations/non-profit again unless it is a historical society and you should have some public relations and speaking skills as well.....otherwise for just any non-profit they will hire someone with a degree in public relations 99% of the time
English is a broad field......if you want to have a chance of success in "publishing" I would strongly suggest looking a technical writing and along with that I would suggest (and many that buy the product would be thankful) that you get some actual technical skills like taking a programming class or two, taking a web design class or two (many technical things will have their manuals online now days) and you learn how to use many of the popular software packages for publishing online like Adobe and others......that is about the strongest "English" field out there for actually getting a job in your field
this last part will not be nice, it is not intended to mean this is how YOU ARE, but it is the truth of how you will have to be
if you want to be in "public relations/non-profit" I would suggest you lose your spine, lose your conscious, dump your morals, and be prepared to be slime for a long time to come......because the vast majority of non-profits are run by slime and are set up and funded to pay the salaries of the people that they employ and the rest is just BS and fluff to bring in dollars while squandering those dollars on overhead....and as the front person for that.....you are the one pushing that the hardest....those that are not that way will probably not be hiring at the entry level because they have such a large pool to pull from because they are reputable and they will probably be pulling from the corporate for profit pool because they already know the realities of the vast majority of non-profits out there
just a simple truth
To make it in the editorial-related positions in publishing, one probably needs at least a master's in either English/History or another among the humanities, but probably a PhD. For publishing sales, I'd guess one would probably need at least an MBA or some kind of management degree.
I have a BA in philosophy/history and I worked in public relations, yet I knew the folks who hired me (but that doesn't mean that I didn't have to sell myself).
I think uptown hit the nail on the head here. Any kind of humanities degree is probably going to require some work experience along with it, but more than likely, an advanced degree or professional training like law school.
Oh, and vines really hit the nail on the head re: non-profits. They pay well, but you have to do some scum sucking for it.
Last edited by DiogenesofJackson; 07-11-2012 at 11:07 AM..
Reason: add line that explains why I quoted vines
For what you want to do, I don't think an English degree will be better than a History degree, however I would consider getting an a MA in Communication or an MPA with a non-profit concentration
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