What are some great careers for a history major other than teaching?

Certainly any kind of curating job, or research assistant positions, legislative assistant jobs, government jobs and writing positions are fair game for you. However, I encourage you to look outside of your major as well. I was a political science major (most of my classes also could have been taken for history credit). I joined a financial company as a writer immediately after college, responding to customer inquiries. Once on the job, I had a chance to prove myself capable of work involving analysis, research, writing and language skills. I connected with a few mentors, and volunteered for projects that enabled me to demonstrate not just writing skills, but analytical skills as well. I was able to move into client relations, and from there became a marketing analyst, a marketing manager, and from there a Vice President of Marketing and Brand Manager.

The lesson here is that once you are on the job, finding opportunities to showcase your SKILLS can open doors and lead to a very fulfilling career that enable you to utilize the same skills that you developed as a history major.

I think it is great that you are choosing a major that you are interested in. And don't let that deter you from exploring career options that are not "traditionally" thought of options for history majors. Working with your career center on your resume and developing your interviewing skills can lead to a job that results in a really great career.

In addition, I highly recommend that once you have worked enough or learned enough about yourself, identify a graduate program that corresponds to your vocational interests. Perhaps you decide to pursue an advanced history degree, which can lead to jobs in consulting for governments or non-governmental organizations (NGO's) or to scholarly careers.

Also, once you have some work experience your college major becomes less and less important. For example, I eventually embarked on a graduate program in career counseling because I found that the thing I liked most professionally was developing new talent and helping new hires manage their careers. Careers are full of surprises...many doors may open if you wish to explore outside of history. At the same time, there are a number of career fields (see first paragraph) that really work for history majors. Best of luck!

Hi!
There are plenty of routes, some thinking outside the box is required. I found this neat guide online you might want to review: https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/career-resources/careers-for-history-majors

Keep in mind that when you go to college, your four year degree won't always lead to a specific career and you have to work towards creating your own path. You can select a major you truly love such as History and then find an internship in another area you are curious about. You can study your chosen subject and get career experience in a different area. You would be surprised how your knowledge can help set you apart from other candidates for potential jobs. Best of luck!

Hi Stephanie,

There are many careers you can enter into with a degree in history. In fact many companies have entry level positions for recent grads with a bachelor's degree in any field. Some areas which you can consider would be: analyst, archivist, broadcaster, congressional aid, editor, information specialist, journalist, legal assistant, researcher. It all depends upon what is of interest to you. You may start in one career field, find out that it is not a good fit for you and change to something else. That's okay too. Just remember once you find a job you really love, it won't feel like work anymore.

Best of luck.

You could work at a museum as a curator or work as a librarian.