Jobs in history

[Derfasciti]

hey all,

I'm a high school senior and am going to definitely major in history and probably minor in political science when I get to college. I had a meeting with my guidance councilor today and now I have a bunch of questions. Besides teaching, what jobs and careers can I get with a history degree. I want to get a doctorate degree in preferably European history. if not, general history would have to do. My councilor said just regular "History" on my degree will allow me more opportunities, is this true?

my question is, besides being a teacher/professor. What other jobs could I get? I saw this one site but it didn't seem all that informative for me. This is definitely the year to really learn this stuff and now I really need some information so I can start deciding my future.

[KrooK]

In Poland many people after history join police :P

[Samurai Waki]

You want my honest opinion? Not much. Most Historian or Orator jobs are very chancy if you do manage to come by one. From what I've seen of the US Educational System is that as long as you have a degree, you're chances of getting a job are much greater than not having one.

Yeah, so if you get a History degree and want to stay in that Field, chances are you're probably going to start out as an Orator, but since your in Virginia, your chances are greatly increased if you move to Washington D.C. as there is always probably something you could get at the Smithsonian.

Now if it's going out to Archaeology Digs that you want, dump the History degree and find a good Science Institute for Archaeological Studies.

[Derfasciti]

What exactly is an "orator" in that context?


Well if archaeology has anything to do with science and/or math I'm pretty sure I can't do it. Me and science don't get along too well and me and math abhore eachother's presence.

[Tamur]

Besides teaching, what jobs and careers can I get with a history degree. I want to get a doctorate degree in preferably European history. if not, general history would have to do. My councilor said just regular "History" on my degree will allow me more opportunities, is this true?

Good questions, and it's very good you're asking now instead of three years into a BA programme

End jobs can be all sorts of things, it's what you do after your Bachelors that makes the difference.

As an example, I was part of a group of friends who were all in a Classical History programme for our undergraduate work, and who moved on in very different paths. There were nine of us, and here's where they all ended up:

• doctoral work in Classics, professor at Uni level
• masters work in Library Science, museum acquisitions director
• doctoral work in Classics, school district administrator
• law school, research lawyer
• law school, a full-time mom (much busier than the rest of us)
• law school, Forest Service ranger
• graduate work in Marine Biology, technical writer
• masters work in Computer Science, programmer
• no graduate work, small business owner

This is not to say that only these are possible -- instead, it's to show that an undergrad degree doesn't lock you into any one path if you're not planning to teach.

As for the general "History" degree versus any more specialised degree, if you're not planning to be in an academic field (teaching, research, archaeology) it makes little difference. If you are, then it can have a very large impact on future possibilities. But that's a whole different question!

[Samurai Waki]

What exactly is an "orator" in that context?

Well it depends, mostly doing lectures at Historical Societies, and/or well... A Tour Guide.

before I went into my Major, I considered History, but I asked around and wasn't too impressed with what most People Got as an end result.

Granted though, having any degree is better than not having one at all.

[Derfasciti]

Hmmm...


Well then heres a couple more specified questions:


What types of job(s) can I get in research exactly? I really don't have any idea at all about what this division entails...except for possibly researching stuff


And archaeology, is any math/science needed in that type of field. I suck at that but the idea of doing this is pretty intriguing.

[Avicenna]

I'd think no. If you dig up lots of stuff, just give it to the scientists to carbon date it and all.

You could also do those jobs which don't require a specific degree... ie everything apart from law, medicine, accounting, architecture.

[Red Peasant]

And archaeology, is any math/science needed in that type of field. I suck at that but the idea of doing this is pretty intriguing.

I don't know how it works in the States but here in Britain archaeology can be either science (BSc) or humanities (BA) based, depending on your preference. I know a couple of working archeologists who manage to find 'regular' work but it tends to be seasonal and they have to move around a lot i.e. all over Europe to where the work is. This can be fun if you are young, willing to work very hard, and prepared to live like a gypsy , but it's not really a long-term option for the majority. However, it is very good experience and may help you in formulating your own research interests with solid field-work, which is all very useful in obtaining a comfy research post somewhere as an armchair academic.

[Tamur]

Archaeology in Canada (and the US) is the same, BA or BSc depending on whether one is a forensic/technology (BSc) or cultural/social (BA) specialist, with a lot of travel (mostly to Arizona, New Mexico, the Yucatan and surrounding area), short jobs where the money is, and a lot of living in tents during the summer and fall. With a focus only on archaeology, one has to be very good at writing grants, buttering up government agencies, that sort of thing -- a lot of non-archaeology work involved to make it successfully unless you can get on at some well-funded private university.

Indiana Jones would have lost his post after the first year

[Derfasciti]

And what about this "armchair academic"? This sounds pretty nice

[Red Peasant]

And what about this "armchair academic"? This sounds pretty nice

It's just a jokingly derogatory label that 'diggers' use for those archaeologists and historians who don't do any spadework but who compile and research the mountain of information -that they 'discover'- from the comfort of an office or a library.

[Mount Suribachi]

And archaeology, is any math/science needed in that type of field. I suck at that but the idea of doing this is pretty intriguing.

PM Frogbeastegg, she did archeology, don't know what she's doing now tho (gearing up for FBE's guide to MTW2 no doubt ;) )

[Derfasciti]

I just might PM her.


Now, it looks like archaeology might be open if I choose to do that.


So besides being a teaching proffessor, or a full time writer, or archaeologist, what are the other possibilities if any?

[highlanddave]

politics and law would be two possibilities. a third would be working at a newspaper or magazine as you must have good writing skills and would be paralleling journalism a little bit. i saw history people on television giving advise to the istanbul subway project so working with construction near historic sites would be another. in the usa you could work for the parks system giving tours and managing the park. when i was an engineer we had people writing technical manuals with history degrees. there are alot of directions you could go.

[Derfasciti]

This is all very enlightening and I thank everyone for all their help. But I still don't know all that I need to know. While all these ideas are good, specifically I am thinking about a decidedly academic lifestyle. What seems ideal to me right NOW (could change after 8 years of hard studying) is a job where I'm payed to... well... study. either that or maybe something like hypothesizing how history could have happened or something like that. Is that what a think tank is? I don't know how possible any of this is but any information would certainly be welcome.

[Pontifex Rex]

A job where you are paid to study would be teaching,....at what ever level. However, the road to an academic life is long and not guaranteed to land you a job as a professor. There are more than a few Masters and Ph.Ds out there working in business. As far as musing on what history couyld have been, that falls under the category of fiction or alternate-history writer. These are also few and far between (Stirling, Pournelle, Drake, Flint and the like).

In the strictly academic-university world, the discussion of 'what-ifs' is rightfully ignored and almost impossible to logically defend. Simply tweaking one or two events unlocks so many other possibilities that things begin to look too much like fiction and proving a point with comparitive study becomes impossible. Counter-factuals are a circular dead-end

If history is what you really love and what you want to work at you should give it a go at the under-grad. Your grades, experience, talent and finances will play the largest parts in what follows after that.

Cheers and good luck.

[Samurai Waki]

Well I did some local research at UCLA, Derfasciti.

Some people on the forums are saying that getting into an Academic job isn't at all easy, and with the current trend, it simply isn't. However, statistically speaking, most of the Professors here, will be retiring within the next 10 years, and a likely trend will occur throughout the country, as Generation X is becoming elderly very quickly, Generation Y (Current Gen) will have to be able to keep up the pace in all fields, this is compounded by the fact, that there are less people in Generation Y than Generation X, and more to the point, there will be less people with Teaching Ph.Ds than the current generation.

Ironically however, there is likely to be more people from generation Y with Medical Ph.Ds than generation X.

I don't think you'll have too much to worry about, if you can wait 10 years to become an Academic.

[doc_bean]

I wouldn't make the choice of becoming an academic too early. High school books are written to be interesting, most academic works aren't. They're meant to be informative, and it seems, to show off how incredibly smart the writer is (big words, bad sentence structure, boring). You should have some experience with the involved literature before you decide to dedicate your life to it.

From what I understand of the US educational system (granted, not that much, it's very different here) your Bachelor doesn't matter as much and still gives you the opportunity to follow several distinctly different Masters, so I'd say follow your gut and do what you want to do now. Changing from History to Archeology or vice versa certainly shouldn't be that hard.

As for job opportunities, a lot of history majors end up bus drivers here But a substantial amount also works for magazines and newspapers, and of course, a very large part goes into teaching. They're not the greatest jobs ever, but if history is really what you want to do I'd say go for it. What else are you going to do with the rest of your life ? If you don't want math or science then economics, engineering and medicine are pretty much out, so unless you do law your always going to end up with a 'social sciences' degree (or am I missing something here ?) and the jobs you can get with those tend to be pretty similar, at least around here.

[Derfasciti]

Wakizashi: Waiting ten years won't be so bad since it will take me at least 8 to get my Ph.D Thanks a bunch for the research.


doc_bean: Yes I do have experience reading that kind of stuff and you're right it is very boring, heh. But I've always enjoyed history immensely and the only field I think I could do well in is history. I have a strong hope in the saying " If you work at a job you love you never really work a day in your life." and that's what I'm desperately trying/going to try to find.


I've sometimes heard of Historical Societies and what not. What exactly are these and what job(s) do they encompass?


Sorry for all the questions guys.

[Samurai Waki]

If an Archaelogist Finds Old Things, and Historians research them, than a person from a historical society presents them to the public, and catalogues any information on sed subject.

Mostly people who work in the higher echelon at Historical Societies will actively work with Archaelogists as an advisor on where to look, what they've found, and the significance of it. While for the most part, if something new is found, they can offer opinions, but the research is for someone else. Most Historical Society Professors are masters in only the era of history that they've decided to research.

I believe a job like that (as a professor), will go around the country and do lectures at Universities and Public Meetings on their historical research. You might also find yourself cataloguing (sp?) new finds, or working as an advisor to Archaelogists and other Historians.