<p>There is another thread on the Law School forum about the glut of lawyers. There's been recent threads about the glut of would-be college professors.</p>
<p>I'm interested to hear people talk about non-law, non-academia professions or business or other pursuits that might follow from a humanities BA. </p>
<p>I have one kid majoring in an area of social sciences, one an English major. They are both strong students and very engaged with their areas of study. Neither would under any circumstances be a science, math, or business major. It is just not in their genes and would be a recipe for misery.</p>
<p>I was a humanities major, hubby got an MFA. He has made a stable career for himself in his art, and has not had to wait tables, paint houses, or take a professional detour. I know how fortunate he is in that, and how unlikely it is that things work out that way. (In fact, virtually everyone he was in grad school with is now doing something else.) I have veered between "practical" jobs and jobs that were arts related, and spent the a big chunk in the middle being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom (...educating my children in the humanities. ;))</p>
<p>So what are other people's stories about life post-college for humanities grads that pursue neither law school nor a life in academia? I would not for a moment suggest to my kids they should not spend these years studying what they love (no, they will not graduate with any debt), but what kinds of interesting, sensible options are out there for after they graduate?</p>
<p>My English major son has a corporate job lined up for post-graduation this summer. It’s in a fun city with a big, well-known and good company. (I jumped all over him when he bailed on the law school plan. I insisted that he wouldn’t be able to get a job…)</p>
<p>H, a German lit major, was in journalism for years until he ended up in academia. His humanities background has been very useful in his journalism work.</p>
<p>Are either of them interested in teaching? I taught elementary school grades for several years after earning a degree in philosophy and music. Later, I worked for a major publishing house, first in New York and then again when we moved back to California, as a textbook editor. That was a blast.
It seems that the publishing houses have merged quite a bit over the last 20 years so there aren’t as many opportunities, but they still exist. I know that Boston has a fairly good market for educational publishing, as well as New York, of course.</p>
<p>I have an undergrad degree in Visual and Environmental Studies. I’m now an architect. Though I worked as a part-time college librarian for a professor’s collection during a brief period of underemployment.</p>
<p>Both my sisters-in-law have English degrees. One has been a librarian, a bus driver, a journalist for a small town paper, a nursery school teacher, a high school teacher and a real estate developer. The other has worked with non-profit music centers and organized a US tour for a jazz group.</p>
<p>I have a degree (BS) in Psychology. I have had a wonderful career working in the nonprofit field. And I’ve done a bit of everything - fundraising for a health care organization, volunteer coordinator for a children’s hospital, development and marketing for a disaster releif organization, even director of a vintage railroad. All with my degree in Psychology. So many people look down on this sector but I feel truly blessed to have had so many opportunities to work for these amazing organizations and the people they serve.
[NCCS</a> | Data & research on the US Nonprofit Sector](<a href=“http://nccs.urban.org/index.cfm]NCCS”>http://nccs.urban.org/index.cfm)</p>
<p>I would strongly encourage offspring to think through what they will do the day after graduation. It is so easy to strive in the happy (and challenging) university bubble and postpone thinking about what comes next. </p>
<p>What are recent grads from the program doing? Are your kids doing internships, work/study ANYTHING that puts them in front of future employers?</p>
<p>One of my absolute favorite sites is the career services center at Penn. It has really great lists of major-specific jobs students took after graduation. </p>
<p>I got a BA in Religious Studies, with a concentration in ancient and archaic religions. I currently work in IT (Personal Computers didn’t even exist when I was in school) at a university. I joke with my co-workers that when the arts faculty have glazed-over looks and say it’s Greek to them, I am ready because I studied the Ancient Greek language for several years! I think because of my liberal arts background I am able to relate to non-techies very well.</p>
<p>MOWC- congratulations on your son’s job offer! Was it an on campus recruitment or the offer was from an application? My son is a junior year English major, no luck getting any writing or editorial internship the last 2 summers, was quite depressed. He would like to teach secondary school English, but college does not offer licensure, so plans to get his MAT right after graduation. But if he can get a job right after his undergraduate study, he probably will take it instead of going to grad. school. I have read many posts on cc regarding internships and first job search, a few with good news, but majority is not that great. It is just sad to see your child so frustrated, all I can do is keep encouraging him and tell him it is not him that’s the problem, it is the downturn of the economy. He has and will be applying to a few more summer internships, including the unpaid ones. And I wish everyone here who has a child going through the job hunting process the best of luck!</p>
<p>This is not a good economy for humanities majors.</p>
<p>My eldest graduated from Colgate in 2008 with an English BA. She worked for six months then was laid off. She is now getting ready to apply to grad school. I agreed that this would be a good time to continue her education.</p>
<p>His offer was through on-campus recruitment but through a lead at a different university than the one he attends. This company doesn’t interview in the northeast, and my son was targeting cities outside of the northeast (south and southwest).</p>
<p>H teaches Philosophy at a small LAC. Here are some of the things his ex students(majors) are currently doing: one chairs a NGO that provides service in Mongolia (she can skin and gut a goat in under 5 minutes, take THAT Sarah Palin!), one is an animator whose has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, one is lead guitarist with a major current rock band, one is network trouble shooter who flies all over the world, one is fire jumper in Montana, at least two are chefs, one runs a chain of independent coffee shops, and then he has many in academia and Law School. </p>
<p>I have a degree in American Studies and Midwestern Studies and have worked in my field my whole professional life, including museum work and preservation work. Great fun and I make a living.</p>
<p>I graduated with a BA in Psychology and went straight into the Navy, where I did everything from budget analysis to drug and alcohol program policy. Now I’m a technical writer/editor at an Army command.</p>
<p>A lot of it depends on what kinds of preparation they already have. Other than teaching, they could work at an NGO or work in government (you don’t necessarily need a law degree to work in politics these days, and there’s a lot more to political work than law or business). If they like writing, maybe pursue blogging as opposed to seeking work in traditional journalism (join a growing field, not a shrinking one!). That can be a great way to get paid to write and be creative. All of that though is going to require them having done internships and built contacts in the field or they should plan on interning after graduation if they can afford it. Otherwise it will be very hard going.</p>
<p>My BA Anthropology major S is an analyst with the Budget and Finance Committee of the State House of Representatives. He was hired right out of undergrad after having received a great lead and recommendation from his on campus job in the Finance Office.</p>
<p>How interesting the varied responses are! I love to hear of these very unique and individualistic paths.</p>
<p>I’m not worried about what my humanities-major kids will do. I’m just curious to hear different avenues people take. Thanks for the links to books, websites. That’s very interesting stuff.</p>
<p>My kids are both sophomores, so the “what next?” issue is not imminent, but I can tell it crosses their minds frequently.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities have many jobs other than teaching. My first job was as an admissions counselor. There are lots and lots of jobs in associations–every professional group has one and there is a book the size of an unabridged dictionary that lists most of them.</p>