<p>This is reposted from another forum, so I apologize to anyone who's seeing it for the second time: I'm a humanities major and am beginning to worry about employment after college. I (and I'm sure lots of others!) would appreciate any suggestions re: how humanities concentrators can enhance their employability. I'm thinking of taking 4-5 courses in a practical field, but which one? Applied math? Statistics? Economics? Computer science? Which of these fields is the most pragmatic if a student only has the time to take a a few courses in one of them? I've also heard of students doing things like earning certifications online in skills like accounting. </p>
<p>Having a good ability to do mathematical analysis, as well as good basic computer skills is key these days, so statistics would be the area I’d suggest. If possible, taking introductory classes in macro/ micro economics classes would also be a good idea. Graduates need to have more than just a “basic” idea of what makes the world go round these days.</p>
<p>Great question and great topic for a thread.</p>
<p>If you have strong quantitative skills, stats and applied math are terrific additions to a humanities background. Econ is always helpful. Comp Sci is great.</p>
<p>So the question is- what are you interested in?</p>
<p>The best thing that you can do, is to get a job (any job) right now. Working part-time during the school year and full-time during vacation periods will help you learn about the work place. Even that famously horrible job flipping burgers at a fast-food chain has something to teach you: timeliness, sanitation, organization, handling money, handling customers, etc. Doing well at that job will mean that you have at least one supervisor who can write a letter recommending you for a different position somewhere else. It also can lead to promotion within that business - which can lead to a surprisingly successful life-time career if you want it.</p>
<p>If you think now that you might like working with numbers, look for a job where you work with money (cashier or the like) and pay attention to the possible management tracks above you.</p>
<p>There is nothing unemployable about a humanities major. The recession is slowly improving. The economy is key, as well as demographics perhaps, and those are out of your control.</p>
<p>I would think about taking classes in things that can be used on the job in humanities-oriented positions, such as polishing Word, Excel, Powerpoint skills, learning database management, taking a grants-writing class or workshop, desktop publishing and website design, that kind of thing.</p>
<p>People have always gotten jobs waitressing and working in stores after graduation. People seem to have a different attitude about that now, partly because expectations are higher, and partly because everyone is in so much debt from college.</p>
<p>I would say finish your BA according to your interests. Think about volunteering or interning and getting a job for cash, or starting in an organization you would want to work for, at entry level. Take some classes or workshops for the skills mentioned above. Have faith.</p>
<p>Best by far is what happymomof1 suggests. Plan on three summers of intern positions, and focus on doing those jobs extremely well. Choose them on the basis of career value, and avoid considerations of location, recreation opportunities, and such. Identify one or two professors in your college, ideally ones who have ongoing research projects. Find a way to connect to such projects, even if this means that you are not paid. Work hard, and strive to become one of the researchers listed on publications. Look at the community surrounding your college, and see if there’s a non-profit or an educational organization that needs help, ideally in areas that are related to your area of study. Sign up and do a very good job.</p>
<p>Ideal, and not uncommon, is for one of your intern positions to transition into a first job.</p>
<p>As a fine arts/humanities (language/area studies) double major, I’m interested too. I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a Computer Science minor (yes, I’m one of those kids), but have plenty of doubts about how much help that would be. Please keep the suggestions coming!</p>
<p>I’m sure you have great writing and critical thinking skills. It would be great if you have good public speaking skills too.</p>
<p>For quantitative, I would suggest that one course in each of statistics, computer programming, microeconomics, and accounting and doing well would definitely demonstrate 4 different and valuable lines of quantitative thinking that can contribute to a business. Also be competent in Microsoft Office especially Word, Excel and Powerpoint. If you can write excel macros even better.</p>
<p>Statistics teaches you to deal with and model uncertainty.
Programming teachers you how to solve problems by breaking them into increasingly smaller problems and solving a bunch of easy ones
Microeconomics teachers you basic optimization and tradeoff concepts, and some really fundamental things.
Accounting teaches you how business people think about, report and organize their business to be universally understandable.</p>
<p>I was a pure humanities major. Always. Nothing else. Never, ever had any problem finding work - I simply needed to prove to employers that I could write well (very, very rare) and present myself well.</p>
<p>Now, close to retirement, I hold a job that supposedly requires a Ph.D in epidemiological statistics, or an MPH plus 90 credits in same.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken a math course since high school.</p>
<p>The best thing for any major is to have some actual jobs on their resume. Jobs where they had to punch in/punch out, exhibit customer service, juggle multiple tasks. It is also beneficial to have an internship in the industry you are searching. Having some understanding of the business of the business is integral. I know I would have a hard as heck time hiring someone who had never in their life held down a job of any kind when there are probably a stack of similar resumes from kids that have been working part-time for five or six years or more by the time they graduate from college.</p>
<p>I worked at Nordstrom during college. I did it for the money, but I learned so much about customer service. I was amazed by how much this mattered in job interviews later on, even though I was interviewing for non-retail jobs.</p>
<p>Why are you taking the humanities? What did you want to do with it? CompSci is not just some “oh I think I will pick up a little” area. It is a demanding technical subject. Don’t ruin your GPA with something you are not interested in or good at. A high GPA is even more important for that first job. </p>
<p>So several things you can do - first and foremost maintain an excellent GPA. Then I agree with compmom. Word, Excel, Powerpoint skills, learning database management, taking a grants-writing class or workshop, desktop publishing and website design, that kind of thing can translate into an entry level job. Combine that with what happymomof1 said about getting a job, or even volunteer position to use those skills. Entry level jobs are just that. If grades and those skills get you in the door you can demonstrate your abilities in your field of interest - or find other areas if that is what you want.</p>
<p>The ability to write well is an important but rare skill (and becoming rarer, I am afraid, thanks to all of the standardized testing schools are imposing on students). Also, some experience–any experience–in the work world gives you a huge advantage in practical knowledge, compared to people who don’t have that kind of experience.</p>
<p>I was a humanities major and did exactly what classicrockerdad recommends. This has served me well and I have always been able to find interesting jobs. I do regret not taking even more quantitative classes. Take as much math as you can. </p>
<p>You must be interested in computer science to want to minor in it. I think that is a great idea. It will demonstrate your ability to excel in “hard” courses and you may find you enjoy it so much that you want to pursue it further at the graduate level. </p>
<p>Working part time during school and working every summer is good advice and will help land you your first job. But taking quantitative courses is, I think, even more important in the long term. There is no reason why you can’t pursue both strategies.</p>
<p>Almost any job for pay. Almost any internship/volunteer position in something you’re interested in. Leadership position(s) in school clubs/activities. Statistic – with some kind of real world project and/or practical experience. Basic accounting couses (intro financial, intro managerial). Knowledge and experience with Quickbooks and/or Salesforce even better. </p>
<p>These will make your resume stand out from that of another humanities majors.</p>
<p>What type of job are you interested in getting after graduation? Go to the company or organization’s website, or just do a search on a site like Craigslist for “Entry level” and see what qualifications they’re looking for. </p>
<p>Also…if there is a particular industry, organization or company you’re interested in, follow the leaders on Twitter and Linked In. Intelligently Tweet or blog about it yourself…although be VERY CAREFUL to use a different name if you are also using social media to post about your social activities. If you apply for a job and can show you’ve been interested in the company/organization/industry for a while…and have your tweets and blogs to prove it…it’s another way to help you stand out from others.</p>
<p>I would echo what others have said…customer service skills and quantitative/analysis skills.</p>
<p>Consider volunteering for a non-profit that interests you. They probably have a web site that is poorly designed and under utilized. Become an ‘expert’ (read a book) on web site analytics. Apply some basic analysis work for the site…recommend site changes based upon your analysis. Become an SEO expert (read a book)…apply some basic analysis work for the site…recommend site changes based upon your analysis.</p>
<p>Organizations don’t hire people just because they want to have more staff, they hire people because either they need someone new to accomplish what they are already doing, or they want to do more and need additional capability. In for-profit companies, that means they hire someone because that new hire will earn the company more than the new employee costs them. For non-profits, that means they hire someone because they need the new employee to accomplish their mission.</p>
<p>What does this mean? It means that to be attractive as a new hire, you need to be able to convince your new employer that you have some skills that will either make money (for-profit) or accomplish the mission (non-profit). Many of the above posts mention some of these skills. One that has been mentioned, but has not gotten enough “play” in my view, is grant and proposal writing. If you are good at writing grant applications or proposals, you will be able to help bring in money and work to your organization, whether it is a non-profit or for-profit. See if there are organizations at your school you can work with to get some practical experience in grant and proposal writing, in addition to taking whatever courses might be available. If you can honestly put on your resume “wrote grant applications for XYZ organization which resulted in $50,000 in grants over the past two years” that is something an employer will know how to use.</p>
<p>As for many of the other options already mentioned, I see two alternative approaches: either get enough credits for a minor in one discipline (like Comp Sci), or take enough courses to be well versed in an array of “practical” disciplines. I’m not sure, but if I were hiring someone to be an entry level programmer or systems analyst, I don’t think I’d look that seriously at a History major with a Comp Sci minor. Especially in this job market, there must be plenty of Comp Sci majors out there who would come more fully prepared to hit the ground running. So I’m a little more sympathetic to the view that you should take a few econ, stat, and similar courses, with an emphasis on getting working experience, either at school, internships or summer jobs.</p>
<p>Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.</p>