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

I was going to be an industrial archaeologist, but needed to keep a roof over my head, so went into libraries, which I loved, but still the money issue. Did an MSc conversion to IT, and have done that for about a quarter of a century. We had at least two other historians, as well, in my last job.

If she fancies being a barrister - very wide range of fields to choose from - the Inns offer scholarships for both fees and subsistence for the Law Conversion Course ( 1 year to cover the main areas of a Law Degree) and the Bar Course ( 1 year). After that Chambers will offer guaranteed income for the pupillage year.

Earnings can be excellent (6 figures). Hard work though but if she's got a first she'll be used to that and she should have a fighting chance of success.

Both self employed and employed options.

Civil Service or anything with Training Contracts would get your DD out and about to see opportunities and choose what she really wanted to try.

My brother, bff and sil studied history and seem to exclusively have friends who also studied history

-Most of them are history and social studies teachers
-2 work at a museum. SIL is a guide and customer relations manager
-wotk at a school but further studied other subjects like headmaster, elementary school teacher, guidance counseling, early education
-one works for network rail as a buyer (we have no clue if she actually ever graduated)
-one works in financial crimes

My brother and bff are teachers and they absolutely love it. Bff teaches primary school and then some history at middle school. They don't seem to have as hard time having a good work-life balance as a lot of people here say. But not liking your office job is a lot easier than faking enthusiasm for a jobs like teaching. So if it is not her thing then might be worth looking at something else.

I got a degree in history some time ago progressed from there to admin roles and now work in IT! Like many degrees it’s more about the analytical and communication skills. Well done to her!

Conversion into IT.

Civil service, media,/journalism, advertising, business in general, law, accountancy, HR, local government, politics - History graduates are valued as employers know its a strong degree. She needs to go to some careers fairs and book a careers interview.

My sister did a History degree, she’s now a copywriter at an advertising agency in London. History gives you such a wide range of skills; critical thinking, research, writing etc, your DD can do many things with it. Maybe she could do some work experience in a few different areas?

Has anyone said publishing yet?

Not museums, libraries, research- no jobs no money. Any other career in the public or business sector - civil service, hr, finance, etc. Her uni career service will support her for at least another year and tbh she should have been using it already to do a profile and look for opportunities. History is just a skills degree, not vocational, so she can use those skills of research and assessment anywhere. A first is great, good luck to her!

In my friendship group who studied History/Ancient History/Classics we have gone in to a range of different jobs -

• public policy

• civil service

• journalism

• teaching

• film production

• health and safety officer

• museum registrar

• archivist

• small charity CEO

I did a degree in Clasics at a RG university. I started on a graduate trainee contract with a local authority with the aim of being an archivist and researcher. However I soon realiaed I was more interested in this policy work the council officers would come to us for documents to support.

So I left after 3 years for a job in policy with a small charity. Several jobs with larger charities and public bodies later I am now fairly senior in regulatory policy for a public body.

My husband went into the foreign office. He has a doctorate as well, but not necessary.

I think if you have a decent degree in a respected subject, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

They'll like her in law if she's that way inclined. She'll have to do a conversion course, but if she gets a training contract that will be paid for by the law firm.

Don’t automatically turn your nose up at things like law and accountancy. They are not necessarily ends in themselves, you would be surprised at the potential they have to open doors - beyond the grey reality of ‘being an accountant’ or ‘being a lawyer.’

Accountancy was my chosen profession after an arts degree and it most certainly hasn’t condemned me to a lifetime of filling in peoples tax returns. I work for a very well known international charity - have travelled all over Africa / Asia working with some incredible people, but know plenty of others who have found these types of professional qualifications allow all sorts of opportunities for individuals to find work in a field that really appeals to them - all whilst giving a very reassuring level of employability. As an accountant I have never worried about my job security - even after the odd redundancy mishap, I have never had a job search that lasts more than 3-4 weeks.

My 22 year old self would have been appalled to see me writing so enthusiastically about my now professional background, but really I don’t regret any of it.

I agree with a pp not to write off 'accountancy' or law. I have worked in professional services most of my working life which is a knee jerk 'accounting' job.

It really really isn't. So many areas, really varied opportunities. My role is a mix of project management, client relationship management and law. No actual accountancy at all and whilst you do have to be numerate, it's pretty basic.

I have a history degree and so does my friend. Those with humanities degrees do well as they tend to have an ability to capture difficult concepts in writing well.

I work a lot with HR and that's another varied area where humanities students can do well.

If your DD considers civil service, I’d recommend not limiting her sights to the Fast Stream - while she’s definitely a great candidate for that - it is very competitive and can take a few goes to get on it. A lot of applicants who don’t make it get offered standard entry roles - or apply for them separately, and end up doing just as well. Once you’re in and you can prove yourself, you can work your way up pretty quickly (more so in policy roles)

At the moment, a lot of Fast Streamers are actually jumping off the programme when they realise they can progress as quickly and earn more money via standard entry roles (unfortunately pay remains low throughout the 3-4 years on the programme).

so while Fast Stream great option to consider, would also consider just applying for normal departmental jobs - HEO (Higher Executive Officer) is usually the graduate entry grade for non Fast Streamers. Usually advertised on LinkedIn on relevant department pages.

I have a history degree from an RG University. I recently left the museums sector after 12 years (low pay, few opportunities) and now work in publishing (quite low pay, slightly more opportunities). Other people from my course have gone into law, civil service, marketing, academia etc. History is a great starring point for many careers.

I think she needs to turn this on its head. The degree isnt what should dictate her choice of career. I did history with philosophy and among my peers from uni there are many journalists (philosophy particularly common which shows how irrelevant your degree is!) Musicians...entrprenuers...lawyers....she can do whatever she wants

I was also going to suggest civil service. Several of my colleagues have history degrees.

I'm sure many grad level jobs don't require a specific degree so she should take a look and see what's available.

Also look at grad schemes for the various economic regulators. Despite the name they don't only recruit economists. They pay and conditions tend to be better than the civil service and there is a lot of interesting work.

I don’t see why she’d have a poor chance in accountancy? DS did history and now is a senior manager in firm of accountants in central London, earning 6 figures.

Accountancy isn't that hard to get a graduate role in with a good degree and a decent level of numeracy. See also auditing - auditors find it even harder to recruit.

Hard work slogging through professional qualifications for a few years but it opens up a whole range of careers in finance and business as you have a great understanding of how business works and how to measure success/failure.

Lots of qualified accountants and auditors don't won't as accountants or auditors! I work in an energy company and lots of accountants here working on things like merger and acquisitions, asset management, strategy consulting.

She should be making use of her university careers service. They'll have lots of info, run skills sessions, have careers fairs etc. She needs to engage with them asap and you can usually use them for a year or two after graduation as well

The money is in law and finance but surveying is catching up as a viable alternative. I'm a History/Politics grad and now work for the world's largest commercial property consultancy.

An RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveying) accredited conversion course (PgDip or Masters) would be needed to get started in a graduate role with one of the bigger real estate firms.

After that, and a 2 year graduate rotation followed by professional examinations and the diverse world of real estate is open to you. Sustainability is a real growth area.

Friends who did history 18 years at RG uni are now: BBC radio producer (interesting, poorly paid); something senior in the foreign office (secret but interesting, pay is mediocre); strategy consultant at big four accountancy firm (challenging but interesting, quite well paid); lawyer at big firm (really long hours in her 20s, better work life balance now, big money); a vicar (incredibly poorly paid, interesting if you like God I suppose); investor relations at big listed firm (joined a public relations agency focused on business in London after graduation, did a masters part time alongside work in finance, pay rose rapidly from low baseline, good pay now)

Lawyer, banker, journalist.