What can humanities majors do to enhance their employability?

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<p>In addition to the above, perhaps also consider adding courses in logic (typically offered in the philosophy department; proof-oriented math courses also include that, but may not be suitable for a student only average in math) and calculus (which may be needed for statistics or microeconomics, or may allow taking a more in-depth version of those courses) to help hone the quantitative and logical thinking to go along with the qualitative and humanistic thinking. I.e. a “well rounded liberal arts education”.</p>

<p>Also, writing and communication intensive courses on various subjects (major and out of major) should help.</p>

<p>But also seek jobs and internships aggressively.</p>

<p>Not intending to hijack the OP, but maybe a little more specificity:</p>

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<p>This is sort of what I’m grappling with. I know what Comp Sci entails - my parents are engineers and I started learning programming from my dad when I was 10. I haven’t done any serious programming for years, but I’ve maintained an interest in the field, and have always wished I’d gotten a proper foundation. So yes, I’m very much interested in it for its own sake. I have science requirements to fulfill, and taking CS classes to fulfill them would go halfway towards a minor as it is. However I’m wondering if the pressure of a minor makes sense, versus taking part-time classes or maybe pursuing a certificate program. And I don’t know how much difference it makes on the employability front.</p>

<p>A minor or just course work in CS can be helpful in getting into CS type of jobs, if you choose your minor courses carefully. Some, not all, employers are accepting of those with CS minors or course work and/or self-education, as well as those with CS major degrees – but a CS minor may not have had the breadth of courses in the more advanced topics that a CS major is more likely to have had and that employers may ask about in interviews. Specific advanced level CS courses that are most helpful for general industry software jobs include operating systems, networks, algorithms and complexity, databases, security, and software engineering (though you would probably be close to a CS major if you took all of them).</p>

<p>I would be flexible about where you take that first job. Think Minneapolis vs. San Francisco, for example.</p>

<p>I assume that you have calculus already if you go to Harvard</p>

<p>I want to emphasize, that in suggesting those 4 areas, statistics, programming, microeconomics and accounting, I wasn’t suggesting that you might get a job that might otherwise go to someone who majored in those areas. I think your value is being able to interface to them, communicate with them, and maybe hire them. Being a little versed in the thought processes of these areas, gives you additional versatility that your competition doesn’t have, but you will not likely be an expert in any of those areas, so I don’t think there is any point in trying to do a minor in any one of them. I think the breadth of one class in each area will serve you better in the long run.</p>

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<p>Harvard’s quantitative reasoning requirement:
[FAS</a> Handbook: Chapter 2: The Core Curriculum Requirement](<a href=“http://webdocs.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/ugrad_handbook/2003_2004/chapter2/corecurr.html#options]FAS”>http://webdocs.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/ugrad_handbook/2003_2004/chapter2/corecurr.html#options)
can be fulfilled by an introductory statistics course for social studies majors, or an introductory computer science course, or a first semester freshman calculus course.</p>

<p>What can humanities majors do to enhance their employability? . . . work out at the gym ; )</p>

<p>I think a better question would be “What can pre-professional field majors do to enhance their career prospects beyond their entry-level job?”</p>

<p>I’m in a pure humanities major in a very hard-hit economic area and the way that my friends are getting jobs is almost solely through job experience, good recommendations (from employers, people they’ve volunteered for, and professors… in that order), and internships/volunteer experience.</p>

<p>“What can humanities majors do to enhance their employability?”</p>

<p>Get a good haircut. Work out at the gym.</p>

<p>Take a high quality general accounting class at a high quality community college in summer. I was in a position last summer to observe other people doing this (ages of students ranged from frosh in college elsewhere to young to middle-aged adult), gaining solid skills and from what I was told, having viable opportunities for employment. I think one student was a recently retired young military person and one owned his own (small) business. I got the definite idea that accounting could be “applied” across a lot of areas of employment!</p>

<p>Being a wiz kid with Microsoft products pays dividends in many a work place.</p>

<p>A former in-law graduated in the early 70s with a low-employability degree (bachelor’s in library science) and could only find a job in fast food. He went to a CC and got certified as a legal paraprofessional, has never wanted for well-paying work since, and says his library science background has helped him significantly in his career.</p>

<p>just an aside, as this gives me an opportunity to mention it, bachelor’s in library science isn’t the “real degree” in the library world: a MLS or MLIS (Master’s degree in Library Science or Library and Information Science) is necessary for recognized professional level library jobs.
The library field has not done a very good job of clarifying to the public (or academic clientele or business clientele) the distinctions between the clerk level employee (HS grad) checking out books (circulation duties) and sophisticated professional library work (acquisitions, special collections, cataloguing, reference, subject specialists, consultation)</p>