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I obtained a bachelors degree in history in 2005. Since then I've never used the degree, never had a job that required a bachelors degree, and still have yet to make 30,000 dollars or more.
I currently work in two jobs. One job is a teacher aide at an elementary school that pays 13,500 a year. The other job is a retail sales associate job that pays 8.25 an hour.
I work 7 days a week working 50-55 hours a week. I've calculated that I would be making around 18,000 dollars after taxes.
One of my degrees is similar to these listed above. I tried to get into the Foreign Service, but never could pass the exam.
I worked in the federal government a few short years, but the jobs were temporary. Then I had temped some and found a job in IT where I have stayed while now.
I obtained a bachelors degree in history in 2005. Since then I've never used the degree, never had a job that required a bachelors degree, and still have yet to make 30,000 dollars or more.
I currently work in two jobs. One job is a teacher aide at an elementary school that pays 13,500 a year. The other job is a retail sales associate job that pays 8.25 an hour.
I work 7 days a week working 50-55 hours a week. I've calculated that I would be making around 18,000 dollars after taxes.
Thanks! I am doing well, though it was pretty tough on all levels for awhile - I worked full time throughout 6 months of chemo while living 1000 miles away from my family and barely scraping by. It feels good to get this new job where my cancer history does not play into anything at all and a salary that allows me to save. In a few years, I hope to be in a position to make relocation not quite such a bear (I live in one of the most expensive metro areas in the country and even with a 50K salary and no student loans, could not begin to afford even the dumpiest of 1 bedroom apartments).
I actually do not consider myself strong at math... or at least, strong in the traditional sense. I was always encouraged to focus on languages (both English and foreign) and social studies with the hopes of going into law, so my math skills atrophied. On the other hand, I understand math when directly related to projects: i.e. statistical analysis. Math is the one subject where I'm a visual learner, so I supplement everything I do with graphs. Luckily, that's how most people best interpret the data so the more I can learn about visualisation, the better. I learned through experience that math is a lot less difficult of a beast for me than programming, so rather than focus on the computer science side of digital communications, I went the analytics route.
The MS in strategic analytics is brand new program focusing on big data, especially with regards to digital marketing and social media, though people in the program come from all backgrounds. The program can take a few different paths depending on your background - for instance, I have no technical background in database management so I am not going to take the programming-heavy track given existing expectations. Instead, I'm focusing on the marketing side where we take raw data and make it useful for supervisors, clients, and other stakeholders while also learning how to glean business decisions ourselves out of the data. It's a great program for someone like me who is fairly early in my career and looking for a way to seperate myself from the pack. It helps that it's free for me due to tuition remission - I might not be so excited to join a first cohort without seeing end results if I was paying myself! It's giving me some time to think about getting an MBA, but not jump into it immediately.
My interests in politics have always been on the international scene. I double majored and double minored by accident - in taking as many international politics courses as I could, I accidentally ended up with the politics major and environmental science minors. I found that I only had to take a handful of extra classes to achieve each. My dream is to go back into international development or corporate social responsibility from the communications angle. I'd also be happy risking through the ranks of higher ed or going into hospital communications or fundraising, particularly for cancer centers.
I haven't lost sight of changing the world, but realize the best way I can do that is by staying on the technical/behind the scenes side of things. For every program officer out in the field, there are a ton of people behind the scenes raising money, courting donors, writing compelling content to attract legal and social attention, and people maintaining the websites and technical systems. Those people might not become the head honcho, but can have a strong career while still doing good for the world.
Glad you are doing well. Now you may not consider yourself strong I math but I would bet you are being modest. People who can complete several degree programs amaze me. I went to grad school for one semester (MA in comparative/international politics) and dropped out. I was burned out from my undergrad program. I just didn't have it in me anymore to write long research papers but I went on to do other things (work in a brokerage firm and study investment; get a broker's license in real estate) and I still love to study poly sci on my own. I doubt I will work in international development, which is a great field(poly sci seems to be making a lot of headway in the area of political economy) but who knows when it come to local development which I find interesting too. Big data is shaking the world of business and politics and its a revolution that's just getting started. It seems to me that colleges and universities will want to teach classes on big data to their social science and business majors. You have a lot going for you. Please keep in touch with regard to your future career developments
I obtained a bachelors degree in history in 2005. Since then I've never used the degree, never had a job that required a bachelors degree, and still have yet to make 30,000 dollars or more.
I currently work in two jobs. One job is a teacher aide at an elementary school that pays 13,500 a year. The other job is a retail sales associate job that pays 8.25 an hour.
I work 7 days a week working 50-55 hours a week. I've calculated that I would be making around 18,000 dollars after taxes.
Good to hear from you. Just don't give up. Keep looking for ways to add to your skills and experience and I don't think that necessarily means grad school. It could be lots of things, even volunteer positions that sometimes have more responsibility than you would think. I worked on a political campaign as a volunteer and was able to get very involved in fundraising. I read on another thread on city data from a history grad that it took him 20 years(he is 42 now) to get the kind of job that he liked but he did it. Now I know you don't want to take 20 years but the point is that you just need to be open to opportunities. I hope this help some. Also read other threads here on city data that might give you ideas. Please post back and keep us updated on your prospects.
One of my degrees is similar to these listed above. I tried to get into the Foreign Service, but never could pass the exam.
I worked in the federal government a few short years, but the jobs were temporary. Then I had temped some and found a job in IT where I have stayed while now.
Good to hear from you.It sounds like you are making some career headway. I think its the same for a lot of liberal arts grads. The stories are similar. Temping and volunteering to get experience and building on that experience to get a better job.
Yea, I went through Region 11 alternative teaching program of Fort Worth back in 2008. Did the program, took the tests I needed and passed them (those were some hard tests), then went to student teach for two and half months in the fall of 2009 but wasn't recommended by the teacher I was assigned to. This is my last year with that program and then I can be released from them permanently.
Have others here with history/poli sci degrees worked on political campaigns or for nonprofits? I have worked on 2 governor's races, 1 congressional race, 1 senate race and 1 presidential campaign. I have done both fundraising and field work in 5 states on the east coast ( New York , Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia) and have spent time in NYC , Philadelphia, Washington DC (Houlihan's in Georgetown was cool when it was open) and Atlanta. I am interested now in nonprofits that raise money for cancer research.
Have others here with history/poli sci degrees worked on political campaigns or for nonprofits? I have worked on 2 governor's races, 1 congressional race, 1 senate race and 1 presidential campaign. I have done both fundraising and field work in 5 states on the east coast ( New York , Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia) and have spent time in NYC , Philadelphia, Washington DC (Houlihan's in Georgetown was cool when it was open) and Atlanta. I am interested now in nonprofits that raise money for cancer research.
Wow, you have some fantastic experience and probably a great understanding of politics in different regions!
I have a poli sci academic background and have worked for a large nonprofit as a policy analyst. I had the opportunity to prepare submissions to Cabinet (I live in Canada) on some interesting social and economic issues and it was a great opportunity to generally see how government works.
I would say that if one has an interest in finding a nice intersection between the nonprofit world and politics/government, try to seek out opportunities with larger organizations/charities that have some research or policy capacity. The organization I worked for was a large non-partisan charity (with local offices all over Canada and the U.S.) and was funded by a huge corporate donor base. It represented the interests of citizens from a vast range of political/socioeconomic backgrounds and therefore was taken pretty seriously by government (at least in my region) when it actually took a strong stance on a public policy issue.
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