<p>If you’re looking strictly for political science jobs on job boards, you’ll probably have a difficult time finding them. For those free thinkers who aren’t completely strapped to the idea that you can only do X with X degree, there are other options for you. I got into supply chain management after I graduated college and worked my way up to where I’m at now. Now I’m a data anlalyst for a telecom firm making close to $70k/yr. I’m not Oprah rich, but I’m doing well enough. </p>
<p>Wow. I’m late on this thread, but I’ll post anyways. </p>
<p>I am 2009 college graduate with a BA in Political Science. I graduated in December of 2009 from a state college that is the most competitive school to get into in my home state. I did not find a job until July of 2012. That’s right - I was unemployed that long. I had bent over backwards to find work - any work - and networked to the point I was disillusioned. I ended up getting a job in contract security as a security guard in July of 2012. It paid me a few dollars above minimum wage, and it did not even remotely require a college degree. Frankly, the job barely requires a high school diploma. The only reason I think I go the job was because I ‘looked the part’ (clean-cut, military disposition, etc). I had been previously told by other employers I was “over qualified.” When I did apply for government jobs, especially federal jobs, I was turned away - every time. I didn’t even get as much as an interview. I was told - unofficially - at one point that people with Master’s degrees and PhDs were applying for Bachelor degree level jobs. As a result of how the government hires people, I was not considered because I was “not amongst the most qualified applicants.” I saw that phrase so many times it has become imprinted in my memory… and that’s if I got a response at all.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you how many jobs I applied for using my BA in Political Science, but it was hundreds, if not thousands. I applied for everything I could find… Wal-Mart, Target, banks, local/state/fed government(s), defense contractors, booksellers, public relations, museums, human resources, my own alma mater as a receptionist. I tried everything. I did political campaign work, and that went no where because I was not given any real work to do. I was just free labor. I seriously considered joining the military, but that never happened because I was disillusioned with how Obama and his military advisors have handled foreign affairs. I was eventually diagnosed with a medical condition that would have disqualified me for military service, so that was a done deal. I thought about police work, but having worked with police officers in my security job, and I saw it as a dead end. Most police officers seem to retire just to become security guards/officers because they can’t find a job with their police background (or criminal justice degrees).</p>
<p>When I returned to my alma mater to speak with my Poli Sci professors who taught me Middle Eastern Politics, International Relations, Law & Public Policy, etc., I was told by one to “go be a waiter and network” - no joke. Another professor shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t know, let alone care when I asked for genuine career advice. Another professor basically only confirmed the fact she had lived in the ‘ivory tower’ too long, and was with out question disassociated from reality. That was the last time I went to my alma mater asking for career advice/help in the summer of 2011. It is ironic that they are sending me monthly letters begging for money for their college initiatives when I feel like I should get a refund (that will never take place). I hold a lot of responsibility for choosing Poli Sci as a major, but I was likewise lied to about my career opportunities and how difficult it would be to get a job with a Poli Sci degree. I had one guy who works at my alma mater in the education program tell me he got his BA in Poli Sci in the 1980’s, and was a garbage man for a while after he graduated because he couldn’t find a job. </p>
<p>I have finally accepted reality at 28. I have decided I have no other alternative but to return to school to get another degree in another field. I am disillusioned with higher education for a number of reasons, but given my options, it is the only practical one if I want to have a normal life that may one day lead to a middle-class existence in a country where the middle-class has all but died away. I am aiming for a BS degree in biomedical sciences with an emphasis on medical microbiology, though I am considering IT as well. One of my fellow Poli Sci graduates - who was three people behind me walking across the stage on Graduation Day - never found a job since 2009, and ultimately chose to go back for a paralegal certificate. He has almost completed that program, and hopes to find a job soon. He has been ‘lobbying’ me to go to law school with him, but I realized how saturated the law job market was a long time ago. Getting a JD costs a mountain of money you can never escape short of dying or paying it off, and the job prospects for law school grads are not particularly great. </p>
<p>I know it is a long post, but maybe it will help some with regard to the marketability of Poli Sci degrees. </p>