To all those who have studied or study history

[Strike For The South]

Whatever you say Strike.

I work in a place that is considered a last resort for most and entry level for some. Never seen a grad turned away because they were to educated.

Laziness is not an admirable quality. Farmers know this. Of course farmers know shooting up a pig carcass with an automatic weapon is dumb too.

[Vuk]

I work in a place that is considered a last resort for most and entry level for some. Never seen a grad turned away because they were to educated.

Laziness is not an admirable quality. Farmers know this. Of course farmers know shooting up a pig carcass with an automatic weapon is dumb too.

Neither are stupidity, ignorance, and arrogance.

[Strike For The South]

Doesn't feel very good, does it?

[a completely inoffensive name]

I'm in the process of switching from chemistry to chemical engineering soooooooo, I don't think I can help you out much OP.

[Major Robert Dump]

I have seen people turned away for being over qualified, but there are underlying reasons.

In cases where they think you will jump ship at the first opportunity at a better job, they will not hire you if there is lots of training involved OR if you have a history of quitting on short notice.

In other cases, they want someone who will stick with the company long-term due to having few options, and a college grad/talent is not what they are looking for. It makes for a predictable business. In my Big Box days my best employees were the ones who were borderline retarded. Another reason companies want longevity is because they want you to compete for promotions and take ownership in the company, which results in more productive employees.

I don't think you will be seeing this at large corporate customer service type jobs, like McDs, walmarts etc. It happens mostly at smaller businesses where an emplyee is not a number, and especially in start ups where they lure you in with promised benefits down the road

[CountArach]

Never seen a grad turned away because they were to educated.

One of my friends was turned down for a basic sort of desk job/general office worker job. He is also doing his PhD in Italian Renaissance Studies. They specifically said that he was too qualified and they realised that he would not be staying with the company for as long as they wanted because of this. So it does happen. I agree that people always use it as a truism or an excuse for not being given a job they wanted, but yes. It does happen.

As for the OP, I'm currently writing my PhD in Ancient History and am planning on academia, so I'm not really sure what use I would be beyond urging you to follow your passion. If you would be a good academic, you would realise by the time your last year rolls around. If you aren't going to make it as one, or wouldn't find the lifestyle interesting enough, then you can always change degrees.

[tibilicus]

One of my friends was turned down for a basic sort of desk job/general office worker job. He is also doing his PhD in Italian Renaissance Studies. They specifically said that he was too qualified and they realised that he would not be staying with the company for as long as they wanted because of this. So it does happen. I agree that people always use it as a truism or an excuse for not being given a job they wanted, but yes. It does happen.

As for the OP, I'm currently writing my PhD in Ancient History and am planning on academia, so I'm not really sure what use I would be beyond urging you to follow your passion. If you would be a good academic, you would realise by the time your last year rolls around. If you aren't going to make it as one, or wouldn't find the lifestyle interesting enough, then you can always change degrees.

I'm interested to know what you consider the traits of an academic are? If someone for example enjoyed academia but produced work of a 2:1 standard, would you encourage them to pursue academia? Likewise, if someone consistently gets firsts but carries a sort of indifferent attitude to study, who, in your opinion, would be best suited to an academic career?

[CountArach]

I'm interested to know what you consider the traits of an academic are? If someone for example enjoyed academia but produced work of a 2:1 standard, would you encourage them to pursue academia? Likewise, if someone consistently gets firsts but carries a sort of indifferent attitude to study, who, in your opinion, would be best suited to an academic career?

Either of them could do it, but they would have to accept their limitation and work on it. Quite frankly, the person in the first case, that is someone with relatively poor work performance, is unlikely to ultimately go particularly well regardless of how good their work ethic is, unless they can learn how to produce better work. It all depends on what sort of thing they were looking at. If they can find something that fires their imagination then they can still perform well in it - it is just a matter of picking the right field of study. Personally, I started off close to the second example, but since I started this I sort of fell into a subject which no one in the University ever taught me, but I loved it so much that I will happily pour over books for hours despite being a bit work shy in regards to a lot of other things. So providing you find the right thing, you can overcome a general unwillingness to work.

EDIT: But if I had to choose, I'd say the second person is more naturally academic, simply because there can be other reasons for not working as hard as they can beyond being generall unwilling, like not being challenged or not being taught something that interests them.

Ultimately, you need a combination of the two things, but you can work around either.

[SoFarSoGood]

I did Classics and Philosophy and was hired by the Foreign Office before I left Uni. Historians are vastly under-rated in todays jobs market in my opinion. Without the perspective that a study of history gives you cannot see the bigger picture, nor begin to fathom long term consequences of decisions made today.

[Hax]

I decided to respond to this even though I don't major in History, but what the hell.

In fact, I major in Arabic and have been taking a lot of classes that are historical in nature (e.g. the first semester of my first year I took the obligatory "History of the Middle-East" class that continued into the second semester, and took an additional class on Modern Islamic philosophy and Sufism). Next semester I'll be taking a class called "History of Modern Iran" and plan to take additional history classes throughout my career. In fact, the honours course is part of the department of History.

Majoring in a language and doing a minor in History is something I'd advise for myself, but not necessarily to everyone. My mother always says you gotta do you what you like. She studied French, by the way.

[tibilicus]

I did Classics and Philosophy and was hired by the Foreign Office before I left Uni. Historians are vastly under-rated in todays jobs market in my opinion. Without the perspective that a study of history gives you cannot see the bigger picture, nor begin to fathom long term consequences of decisions made today.

Interesting. What was your CV like in addition to your degree though? And I'm assuming you went to a Russel Group university. Apparently the civil service fast stream tends to take on a lot of historians.

[tibilicus]

I did Classics and Philosophy and was hired by the Foreign Office before I left Uni. Historians are vastly under-rated in todays jobs market in my opinion. Without the perspective that a study of history gives you cannot see the bigger picture, nor begin to fathom long term consequences of decisions made today.

Interesting. What was your CV like in addition to your degree though? And I'm assuming you went to a Russel Group university. Apparently the civil service fast stream tends to take on a lot of historians.

[edyzmedieval]

Perhaps consider Political Science as an alternative to history?