Do you have any tips for a budding anthropologist?

Hi Tasha,

There's a tremendous amount you can do with a degree in anthropology. The direction(s) you take your degree in is highly dependent on your interests. I'd recommend not taking the approach of "what can you do with a degree in anthropology," but suggest thinking about what you would like to do and then build up skills that are required to do those things. As you may have started to notice... there aren't too many "Anthropologist Wanted" jobs out there, but our holistic approach can be extremely versatile and valuable. More and more organizations are beginning to realize that. If you choose to stay within Academia, you will mostly be preparing yourself to be a professor, but I get the sense that you're more interested in learning about the types of careers anthropologists have outside of academia.

Reaching out to anthropologists directly including professors at your school is a great start. I would also strongly recommend reading a few books by Riall Nolan ("Using Anthropology in the World", Anthropology in Practice") who is perhaps the most prolific writer on the careers and skills of anthropologists. Lastly, getting on listservs, blogs, and anthropological association websites.