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

When I worked in investment banking 90% of the analysts were history grads. While the preference is for STEM if she’s on track for a 1st they might consider her anyway.

My brother did a masters then civil service graduate scheme.

She also considered a master’s but seems dismissive of that as they’re expensive and she’s not so sure they’d help her ‘stand out of the crowd’ if she does another thing she’s interested in but doesn’t directly lead to a decent job.!

My son did a History degree then started the NHS Graduate scheme.

Didn't really enjoy it so dropped out after 1 year, though most people do seem to do well on the scheme. He's now working as a data analyst for the local council.

Consulting, grad schemes in many industries, civil service fast stream or standard entry, researcher in think tank then into politics... so many possibilities in so many interesting places!

IT sales....to pay for law conversion course! Stuck with IT as i was pregnant at 24 and there's more money in it. Moved over to bids and tenders. Now a senior bid manager. I'm very glad I didn't go down the law route.

I’ve got a history degree and some of my
year went into
PHD
Masters in eg HR/Marketing
Law
Teaching - school and at college level
Civil Service
Archivist/working in Museums
Broadcasting/journalism
General graduate programmes - banking/retail etc

When I read posts like these I truly wonder whether I’m much stupider than I think. I can’t even imagine what any of these jobs might entail, except anything politics related which seems a world away. Off to google!

Thanks again everyone, DD will be very pleased when we chat about this

Lots of journalists have history degree. She might need to do an internship first.

My sister did history at RG uni, moved into journalism as now works in PR for a finance company and earns good money. Writing, research and analytical skills are really useful.

Another friend did history, then accountancy and moved into project management.

I'm a bit baffled as to how she's come up with the idea that only 'law and accountancy' are her options when online sites like TargetJobs have a long list of graduate schemes that take ANY degree.

Has she used the university career centre, or attended career fairs?

My personal recommendation though would be technology. Plenty of non-coding tech grad schemes. Or Operations, , Marketing. Compliance etc for financial services firm.

There are literally thousands if different jobs out there, many of them quite niche. You can often move around companies once you've got a foot in the door.

Librarianship. Academic or special libraries, not public libraries. There are well paid jobs, a proper career path, range of different specialisms, and some really interesting special libraries (sports bodies, charities, government, members organisations). Plus there are library jobs all over the UK.

if she is interested in museum work, there are museums all over the world, she isn’t limited to the UK necessarily. I did one of my postgrad degrees in the US, and worked with various heritage projects, including at the National Park Service’s Historical Parks.

I admire your daughter for going to uni and getting her degree well done to her OP, but did she not have a plan on what career path she wanted to do before doing her degree?

Im in marketing and my degree is graphic design (I went into a company as a designer and quickly moved into marketing) it’s such a varied vocation and if she found the right type of company, a masters in marketing to top her degree, could be a good career pathway.

My son has a History degree and joined the Civil Service via the fast track. A History degree, like an English degree will give you analysis, writing and research skills which are applicable to many careers.

Tell her to go to some careers fairs, not just at her uni. But yeah, grad schemes. Mu niece joined a grad scheme with a market research firm. Started on £21k she’s currently on £60k after 7 years

Civil service, HR, PR, advertising, marketing, strategy, communication, NGO stuff, research, publishing, accountancy, sales, operations, broadcasting. I could go on and on.

The world is her oyster

Civil service
Communications
HR
Accountancy
Sales
Politics & local government

Civil service. A young woman I taught who got a history degree works for No 10 now.

This. My history teacher warned me " You like history too much. I like history too much. Don't teach!"

No, there are loads of museums outside of London.

If she’s going to get a 1st from a RG university lots of options open to her - would recommend a high end consulting or Investment Banking internship if she find a slot which even if she doesn’t do long term will provide some experience and help later. If she’s unsure at this point Teach First is a good way to get some real world experience and access a broad range of future non-teaching opportunities .

Unless she’s properly passionate about it and / or has a trust fund (sounds like not) would not recommend museum / Librarian options - pay will be weak and there are much broader opportunities elsewhere with opportunities to come back to the arts later.

the good news is having for this far the world is her oyster.

History has so many transferable skills. Ability to digest, analyse & summarise large amounts of information. Ability to argue a particular point of view & back it up with evidence. Writing things up clearly & concisely. Critical thinking & evaluating information.

I have a history degree and work in charity sector doing policy & research. DH has one and works in health & safety.

Nah you're fine mate, a lot of this stuff is only obvious if you're exposed to it. But send her off to careers fairs, get her on LinkedIn, plenty of people very willing to give advice there and actively recruiting grads. They may be impressed by proactive people reaching out, even if the cold calling approach feels a bit cringey to her