To ask what career you’d go into after a History degree?

[dearfatherpraybuildmeaboat]

DD has almost finished and is in a rut. She’s the first in our family to go to uni, and hopes to get a 1st. She is at a RG uni and studying History, but now unsure what to do. She’s considering becoming a history teacher but isn’t very passionate, and from what I’ve read on here it’s a bad idea.

Apart from that she is stuck, and even after research she seems to have understood her only other decent options are law and accountancy, but thinks her chances for these are tiny. Her main aim is to earn decently and move away from our tiny deprived town in the North— but what careers would allow for that? I’d love someone who knows about skilled jobs to throw some ideas into the mix

As someone married to a history teacher…10000% not that!!

I was going to say accountancy before I read your post!

Living historian (what I do) , archaeology, museum work.

I am an RG History grad, also first in my family to go to university and I work in Civil Service Policy. Lots of History grads in the CS! Plus with levelling up it’s not just a London job anymore.

Surely she could do further studies to specialise, archeology? Anthropology?

I used to be a lawyer and quite a few had history degrees

I did a post grad in social work after a history degree. I'm now in nursing. Like your daughter, I wasn't keen on teaching. Social work is hell. Tell her to avoid it if she can. Academia or the Arts would be nice if she can get into it( competitive). I needed to earn money and have a stable job as had a child.Good luck!

There are lots of careers that don't really care what degree you have, only that you have one. Has she been to the university careers service? They usually have loads of information on vacancies.

If she is about to graduate she is already too late for the "milk round" which is where large employers seek out students for graduate schemes but she should still go down there and ask them for advice.

Ex-lawyer here with a history degree as well. (The fact that I am an ex-lawyer says exactly what I think about going into law though).

I did politics, so not history, but "adjacent". I'm 20 years into a career in HR. Started in recruitment and moved into Talent and Culture.

My degree, like hers, taught me analytical skills, data literacy, and the ability to weigh up different perspectives to build a narrative.

History opens many doors, and having worked in early careers recruitment and development, I'd say it's more important she thinks about the kind of company she wants to find, and the kind of skills she wants to develop, than about a specific job title.

I'd recommend the finance industry.
History degree I presume gives different transferable skills etc, what about the university itself or eg a museum or library ?

@dearfatherpraybuildmeaboat

You can do a post grad in nearly everything these days like Law/LLb conversion course. If she is set for a high classification degree, she can do anything really !

People I know with history degrees are in a wide variety of professional jobs. A selection of the ones I can think of:

Civil service (including treasury, international development and home office)
Charity sector (international organisation helping refugees)
Actor/director
Journalist
Vicar
Event planner
Museums outreach officer
Police officer
Marketing executive for a famous search engine
Working for Ofcom
Barrister
University administrator
GCHQ (code breaking etc)

And, yes, history teachers and academics.

Anything she wants really. Some things might require a master's to progress, but usually not straight away. Take a look on a jobs site (e.g. Guardian Jobs), see what looks interesting and what experience/quals it needs. Lots of organisations just need any degree.

NHS Management graduate scheme. Well paid jobs all over the country for people who have gone through that.

DH is an editor at a national paper with a history degree (and history PHD but I don’t think that’s necessary) he was also the first person in his family to go to Uni.
pays not great and needs to be in London so wouldn’t recommend although he does love it, and is very good at it.

her RG uni should have a good careers department- surely they can advise? There will be milkround recruiting happening too? Many big business grad schemes don’t really mind what you have done. I studied two really random things and went on to a v prestigious grad scheme

also the 10.000 hours website can be an interesting way to discover how she would most like to spend her time in work.

networking is V important. encourage her to speak to the careers sept about networking skills courses, mentors etc - help her to build additional social capital and a ladder to a career outcome she wants. Kids from privileged backgrounds get this backed in from the start, but uni can really help close the gap in a mindful way. I wish I had been more deliberate about networking skills in my early career.

good luck to your daughter.

Stacks of jobs. She could look at the civil service (I was keen on the foreign office), or any large corporate career such as consulting, banking, or a masters in anything - I know someone who did criminology who is just completing a masters in marketing. A friend of mine ended up in HR. There are very few careers she couldn’t do, aside from eg medical/finance etc. MI5 we’re advertising recently…

She could apply to a graduate scheme of any of the big social research companies. There are no requirements in terms a particular degree subject, and she would learn on the job. History would probably set her up quite nicely to train in qualitative research.

I know history grads who went into the civil service. A few joined the department of justice as policy writers, someone else joined the treasury.

Currently in the Civil Service and before that I worked in welfare to work but left that as it did not pay well and the constant flux of contracts

I don't think it is particularly difficult to get into accountancy. I'm an accountant and have interviewed plenty of graduate accountants. Most don't have as good a degree as your DD is on track to get.

Civil Service? I know someone who went into the Cabinet Office after a history degree. Policy jobs in local government (writing and analysis skills are very valuable). A friend with a PhD in history went into UX design and made a huge success of it. If your DD has decent grades in maths at GCSE she could do an MSc in IT/computing which opens up a lot of doors.

most of the people I know with a history degree work as Archivists

I've got a first in History, not RG though. I'm in marketing. DD also has a History degree - I shared my love of the subject with her - she's in finance but is just finishing a Masters, also in History. Her dream job would be something in public history but the pay is a bit pants.

I did a Masters in International Development and work in the not for profit sector which I love. Pay is ok but not on an accountancy or law level - prob akin to teaching / social work

Some brilliant suggestions here, thank you very much! She did have her heart set on museum work, but from what she’s read the pay is low and obviously there are very few museums outside of London.