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

Also being a notary sounds pretty easy and is very well paid across the board!

The chairman of the Bank of England is a history graduate.
It's a very versatile degree. I don't think she should be thinking what she can do with a history degree - she should think about her passions/ areas of work she is interested in and go from there

Most universities have a good careers service - it's their no.1 selling point and one of the first things highlighted on their website. Especially for RG universities they have personal career coaches, CV review, internal job boards, career fairs etc.

Whether students are motivated enough to access it is another question.

I do see how, especially if you are from a first gen family it might not cross your mind but when I entered uni (as a scholarship student from a developing country) the first thing I did was look at careers...

Civil service- have worked across multiple government departments and met lots of history grads. Lots of diverse and interesting roles and lots of opportunity to progress.

A first in History from a RG Uni and fluent in two European languages - OP , the world is her oyster! Please don't take this the wrong way but could she possibly be suffering from imposter syndrome? Is that why she hasn't reached out to the careers service?

She can do anything non vocational she sets her mind on Aim high and go for it! Best of luck!

Absolutely. She really can do anything she wants.

People I know with History Degrees:
Lawyers (several)
Uni admin at high level
Royal Palaces re-enactment guides
Specialist curators of manuscripts, clothing, pottery
Medieval musician

Friends in the industry say museum work pay is painfully low for curators but educational staff and reenactment guides get averagely low paid work

She certainly could be. This whole conversation began when I noticed she was upset about something and it turned out she was worried uni had been for nothing and she’d soon be stacking shelves in tesco.

It was hard for me to say anything since as a cleaner I don’t really have a clue about the job market, and definitely not the skilled job market. Thank you for your message, it’s a great comfort.

I have a history degree and work in the civil service as a product manager. Pay is ok and once I have enough experience behind me, I could go into the private sector and earn double what I do now but I will probably stay in the civil service as the pension, job perks and work life balance is great.

Normally about January of their final year. That's when the big companies start their graduate recruitment.

I’m an Operations Director for a Pubco. A few of my cohorts at degree level went in to teach but the majority did something else at masters level. For me, History is a very worthwhile hobby but won’t pay the bills

Thank you

I studied history and I can see how invaluable research skills are.

No, most of the 'prestigious' schemes have finished recruiting by then.
@Packageholiday
Starts in August before the final year and goes all the way to jan/Feb.

Not sure what sector PP was in but I'm referring to large 'any degree' employers financial services, multinational firms....

Have a degree on history, heritage and archaeology .
I've been an education assistant in a Stately home, a history teacher, family support worked and currently a special needs ta

Investment banking - Kerching!

@Packageholiday

https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/finding-a-job/when-to-apply-for-graduate-jobs

January is too late.

Another thing to be aware of is rolling basis. The first candidates to pass go through to assessment centres and the ones who pass with flying colours get offers. They don't wait for 'all' candidates and stop once all positions are filled.

It's common for good candidates who applied too late to miss out solely because there are no more spaces.

I joined an investment bank as a junior in Operations. Much easier to get into and much less flashy that Sales/Grad Scheme stuff but was decent pay and good work life balance (9-5, no crazy hours).

Took advantage of great internal training opportunities and decent managers and culture to get a few promotions and carve myself a niche. I went via a project management role into tech projects, which lead me to AI. I have a history degree and not a techy brain but actually I make a great Strategy Manager. I’m able to take complex technology and operational projects and string it together into a coherent plan and sell/pitch that to business leaders to get it funded. Very much a consultancy type skill set but because I work in the Operations/Back Office side I get a great work life balance, very much 8 hours a day with flex in my core hours (hybrid working, flexitime etc!)

Snap! About to say the same.

Cultural and international relations, Council job, Museum, the exciting bit: preservation and conservations of historical artefacts, cinema, biography

OP Your DD sounds like a very strong job candidate especially with those language skills which are rare and marketable. She needs to get on Google and research jobs and there are lots of websites showing graduate schemes.
Look at Brighnetwork.co.uk as well as Indeed and individual company websites.
It may take time to find the right job but persistence will pay off.
She needs to think of herself as a multilingual graduate with a good 1st class degree, not as a historian only fit for 3 or 4 careers.

She can’t be a speech and language therapist without a speech and language therapy degree!

OP my suggestion, like others, is civil service. So many different roles and it’s relatively easy to switch between them once you’re in. Such an interesting place to work! My sister works in Whitehall, it’s pretty cool if you’re a politics geek like me 😂
With her grades, the civil service fast stream could be a good option for your daughter.

If your daughter is torn between law and accountancy, then becoming a Costs Lawyer might fulfill both interests. It's an alternative legal career, and then qualifying course and experience requirements are different. Qualifying is much more cost effective. Lots of opportunities around Manchester, Liverpool, London etc.

I was also the first in my family to go to uni and did history, nearly 30 years ago now. Also from a northern town etc. I wish your dd had taken advice before doing a degree frankly.

My direction was museums and libraries, which were ok bets at the time. Sadly funding and opportunities have been sucked out to London and I have spent the time watching wages fall in actual number terms never mind real terms. I would never recommend history related degrees to anyone from our kind of background now. There are of course plenty of volunteer roles as bloody Blair said we should all be willing to do this kind of work for free. Knowledge is now the preserve of the rich in Britain and so, thanks to the boomers generation, our whole raison d’etre and the mission of the whole sector has completely failed.

The only suggestions I can make at this point is to either try for history teaching - secondary is still slightly more regarded than primary, or the civil service. Journalism is not what it was either, they were the first area to be captured and were recreated as word production factories. It’s a big reason why the rest of us have so little chance. The other option is to look at retraining angles like coding or accountancy. Human Resources are startlingly powerful, and Uni admin will also provide a living and career path. Perhaps look to politics to try to change things, but of course that doesn’t make money now.

Sorry to be negative, but that is the story of Britain now. If she wanted money the only sector that makes it is finance itself. Look for a local job in a bank - I’ve met people with all sorts of degrees working locally in banks - and work up.

?? If she's expecting a first in history from a RG university - why has she no chance of law?

That sounds like the perfect candidate for a training contact?