Any liberal arts majors having trouble?

I got a BA in history last month. I have a steady retail job but obviously want something more professional. I have applied to like 15 NGO related things since March but only had 1 interview. Anyone else?

If you're going to limit your search to NGOs then you're going to get fewer offers no matter what kind of degree you have.  I know someone with an Anthro degree who's basically only looking at NGOs right now and has been for a couple of years.  There are positions out there for Anthro majors, but none of them in a specific field that they want to specialize in.  I keep saying they should just start putting in interviews, getting to know people, and maybe they'll find a job they'd like that they weren't aware of, or take one of these jobs in a field they're not specializing in and maybe that'll open something else up down the road.  People shouldn't be so picky with these things, especially when it's just getting their foot in the door.  It's not like the first job you take out of college is going to be your career for the next forty years.

yeah I hear liberal arts majors have been having real trouble in the job market. It's weird to think I'm doing better with a Associates Degree in my field of study (information technology) than those with BA's in liberal arts.

No offense, but majoring in Liberal Arts is useless. Major in something that'll find you a job; fields in medical, business, mathematics, etc. Ackad

[QUOTE="Ackad"]No offense, but majoring in Liberal Arts is useless. Major in something that'll find you a job; fields in medical, business, mathematics, etc. ferrari2001

Then you can study it on your own. You don't need a degree.

I've learned more from reading then I did from my degree in Finance.

Unless you want to be a teacher, the "Arts" are not going to pay you much.

And even as a teacher you're not going to get much these days with BoE cuts being so drastic in recent years.

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"][QUOTE="Ackad"]No offense, but majoring in Liberal Arts is useless. Major in something that'll find you a job; fields in medical, business, mathematics, etc. SpartanMSU

Then you can study it on your own. You don't need a degree.

I've learned more from reading then I did from my degree in Finance.

Did you have an idea of a job in mind when you started your studies?  I think that's the key if you're using education to further your career.  You need to pick a field which is in demand, and you have to have an end goal in mind.  That said, it's certainly possible to make an arts career work if your expectations are reasonable.  I've made it work by supplementing my teaching/performing (for which I went to school) with investing (which was self-taught).  Between the two, I do awfully well for myself.

I think all college grads are having trouble.Fightingfan

That's what I hear as well.  Too many experienced workers had their retirement portfolios trashed by the economic collapse, and so they're not retiring.  New grads don't stand a chance when they're up against people with 20 years of experience in the field.  But it's not impossible to get a job.  Just tougher.

No offense, but majoring in Liberal Arts is useless. Major in something that'll find you a job; fields in medical, business, mathematics, etc. Ackad

Eh, I hear this all the time.  If arts degress were useless, I wouldn't be working in an arts-related field.  It's not like there are no opportunities.

[QUOTE="SpartanMSU"]

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"] Not everyone goes to college just to get a job that pays well. People often want to pursue something they love. Rather then have more income and be miserable they choose to do something they like even if it means difficulties along the way. ferrari2001

Then you can study it on your own. You don't need a degree.

I've learned more from reading then I did from my degree in Finance.

I hate to say it (and by that I mean loathe myself for thinking this way), but right now is one of the worst times to try to find a job with a liberal arts degree. Not only are there a very limited number of jobs to recieve in that particular field, but the degree can be expensive as hell to obtain. The fact is you most likely won't get a job even with a liberal arts degree, and you will most likely end up in debt,

I'm all for going out and nabbing a job that you actually enjoy, but you also need to be practical about the prospects of what you choose to go after.

I was never good at math, which limited my opprotunities extremely. I studied history because I was good at it and it interested me, but not anymore.

If you're going to limit your search to NGOs then you're going to get fewer offers no matter what kind of degree you have.  I know someone with an Anthro degree who's basically only looking at NGOs right now and has been for a couple of years.  There are positions out there for Anthro majors, but none of them in a specific field that they want to specialize in.  I keep saying they should just start putting in interviews, getting to know people, and maybe they'll find a job they'd like that they weren't aware of, or take one of these jobs in a field they're not specializing in and maybe that'll open something else up down the road.  People shouldn't be so picky with these things, especially when it's just getting their foot in the door.  It's not like the first job you take out of college is going to be your career for the next forty years.

theone86

I have a BA in psychology and got a decent job in my field about a month after graduating. My problem, and a problem with a lot of liberal arts majors is the lack of career growth without having a higher degree (MA, MS, PhD, ect). With my BA I'll be lucky to ever make over 50k a year, however with an MA or PhD I could be making 70k+. Looks like I'll be heading back to school again. . . 

I got a BA in history last month. I have a steady retail job but obviously want something more professional. I have applied to like 15 NGO related things since March but only had 1 interview. Anyone else?

IronBeaver

Same here man. Got my BA in history last month as well. You're best bet is to invest a little more time into your education. History has become a more highly developed field over the past few decades, so the only thing you can generally do with BA degree is teach maybe, but even then you have to take certification courses. I suggest you go for your masters at least. With a masters in History or someting history related you can become an archivist, head librarian of some sort, teach at community colleges perhaps (but MA history professors are increasingly rare), and whatnot. The American Historical Association has some pretty good studies out there in terms of job prospects that you may want to look into.

I'm personally going to graduate school, and am planning on going for my PhD after I get my masters. I've always been planning that for years though. If you did really well as an undergraduate, and score incredible on the GRE you could possibly skip your masters, and go straight for your PhD if you want. PhD programs are usually fully funded, and universities don't accept more PhD students than they can fully fund. Master programs generally aren't as well funded.

If you do go into a masters program in history I would like to suggest a few things: don't go into American History of any kind. There are way too many American historians out there today, so the job market for them is flooded. I would suggest going into some sort of Asian history. That's where it is booming right now. African history is an under populated field as well, but whether or not the demand for such historians is there is debatable. Same goes for South America. World History is a growing field, but the last article I read seemed to suggest it was stagnating. So I'm unsure of that. But Asia is a certainty. If you are not very good at foreign languages, you can always decide to focus on American diplomacy relations and interactions with Asian nations. Those records would all be in English.

With a Masters or maybe even a BA you can go work for a Think-Tank, and do the other stuff I mentioned. If those don't interest you, I suggest looking into the FBI or the CIA. And I don't think you need anything beyond a BA either for those two. They always take in historians on a regular basis last I heard. Research skills are in high demand in those departments, and historians also tend to have a knack for understanding politics and culture along side basic analysis. It's a highly valued synthesis.

yeah I hear liberal arts majors have been having real trouble in the job market. It's weird to think I'm doing better with a Associates Degree in my field of study (information technology) than those with BA's in liberal arts.

Serraph105

The hell is liberal arts?

[QUOTE="SpartanMSU"]

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"] Not everyone goes to college just to get a job that pays well. People often want to pursue something they love. Rather then have more income and be miserable they choose to do something they like even if it means difficulties along the way. ferrari2001

Then you can study it on your own. You don't need a degree.

I've learned more from reading then I did from my degree in Finance.

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"][QUOTE="SpartanMSU"]

Then you can study it on your own. You don't need a degree.

I've learned more from reading then I did from my degree in Finance.

Diablo-B

I think a better question is "are any liberal arts major not having trouble"?

It is simple really... If you are successful and connected (via networking/participating/etc) in any field you are going to get a job.

I know that it will be difficult for me to get a job personally because I never do/did the connected part... I don't go to workshops, haven't done any internships, don't participate in any clubs or group activities at school... The fact that I am graduating with latin honors is inconsequential...

Too many people seem to think just going to school and getting a degree means guaranteed job... It is the same in liberal arts, business, or STEM, STEM/Business are simply more connected... When you go through STEM/Business, you are constantly connected to the business you will be working in... Your instructors aren't simply instructors most of the time, but actually worked in said industry and have connections/advice/insight to offer you... In liberal arts you learn from a doctorate in history/political science/etc... Yes they are experts in their field and know what they are talking about, but they aren't going to be able to offer the same insight in most cases... Your political science professor with a law degree might be able to offer insight into law school and the likes, but otherwise not really given the fact that their real world experience has been gaining a doctorate and then teaching... If that is your goal then you are golden, if you want to get a job outside of academia then you need to put forth the effort yourself because it won't be handed to you like in STEM/Business. 

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Graduating and then just sending out 200 applications and praying for interviews is NOT how to get a job (though it can work, it is simply a bad way).

Knowing someone/being recommended is like the only way any more outside of government (which they are trying to stop in federal jobs).  The company my dad works for right now has several position open to the public on their site with open applications but that those position would never be filled by people applying, he told me when he got the job he has he was simply asked by a friend if he wanted it over the top of hundreds of applications that were never even looked at.  You simply need to be connected.