Hi i am a college student and i am highly undecided on my major. The one topic i have most interest is History

Question

I have asked some friends and relatives if i majored in history, what kind of jobs would i get. alot of them say teachers. problem is, i dont want to be a teacher. im not a leader type. i also want to make a decent income.

so, what are some jobs out there for history majors? and how much do they pay about? just give me an estimate. i though about majoring in law and becoming a lawyer but would that be too off subject?
i really like history and if i could major in history i would be happy to go to school.

History classes are the only class where im ok to happy to go, other classes i cant wait till its over.

thank you for your answers!!

yes i totally agree and want to point out that alot of people go to college and major in something because it makes the $$$, but they're miserable.

i would much rather 10x be happy with less money than more money but miserable at my fulltime job!!

Answer 1

Most employers are happy to hire history majors, as they actually learn how to write which is not true of all fields. If you want to work in history, you will probably need a masters degree. Law would be a fine way to go, and plenty of people do undergraduate degrees in history and go to law school. However, you could also train to be an archivist, work in a history museum, or work in historic preservation. These are all things that you can get into with a bachelor's degree, but it will be easier to get an interesting job with a masters degree.

I have a masters in history with a graduate certificate in historic preservation - which just means that about 2/3 of my classes were in applied history, though in some schools it means that you took extra classes. I work for a cultural resource managment firm. Most of my coworkers have masters degrees, though there are a few PhDs. Though my job title is research historian, I'm basically an architectural historian. The other historians that I work with generally concentrate in public or environmental history, and have specializations within that. Various government entities hire historians - the National Park Service probably hires the most but there are others.

I'd go into more detail, but this would get really, really long and doing further investigating yourself may help you to hit on what you'd really love.... In any case, there is work out there for history majors besides teaching. Good Luck!

Answer 2

I think you should go for it! I totally believe in majoring in what interests you vs. picking a major because it will help you find a job. College should be about finding yourself as a person just as much as preparing to join the economy. I love history too, but chose to major in political science. Many of my classmates in law school were history majors.

However, you should also pursue a career that interests you. Except for jobs that require a technical background, you can probably train for just about any entry level position you are interested in.

Keeping it real though, the job market is tougher for social science majors, so try to do internships and get other work experience on the side.

Answer 3

With a degree in history you can do any job you want.

History graduates work in television, journalism, education, publishing, law enforcement, Information Technology... and those are only the ones in the brochure.

Some jobs may require a science degree, and of course law and medicine (including dentistry, psychiatry etc) are regulated, but the vast majority of jobs requiring a college degree do NOT specify which degree.

Alot of subjects have a major history element. Art is a lot of art history, theater has a history, so does literature. Law has some very interesting historical elements (you do a lot of historical research in it, like prior legal cases, constitutional events, etc)

Most people don't have jobs directly related to their major. Until recently, you couldn't major in human resources or journalism in many countries.

In the old days, people who weren't lawyers, doctors or accountants had degrees in History, Philosophy, Literature, etc.

There are still librarians, store managers, police chiefs, and businessmen today who have unrelated degree fields. I've gotten interviews for web design, auditing, administration and programming jobs with a film and TV and french degree. A history major could be my competition to getting any one of those jobs.

In the USA, history is a good pre-law major.

Do the history degree. Unless you want to be a medical doctor or a blue collar worker like plumber, it'll help. (and I even know of a plumber with a history degree)

Answer 4

Maybe you could write historical novels? This would take alot of research in the particular time period but very little supervision, structure, and no leadership required. Only self motivation. Other than teaching history I imagine maybe there is some need for market research on buying trends of the previous generation. So maybe transition to anthropology/sociology and set your sights on a high paying coporate job. People who like history tend to have a fascination with the activities of people, so the fields cross over eachother frequently. Good Luck!

Answer 5

super question for your course counselor at college

problem - I cannot think of anyone hiring a history major -
other than education

unless you want to go on to earn a juris doctorate and be a lawyer