History degree!

[burgerandoats]

To those who DCs embarked on history degrees what careers did they go into?
Asking for a niece.

Does history/history&politics make a difference? Can a history student usually just take some politics modules?

Young people I know who've done history went into civil service, law, journalism (print and broadcast).

I think the Q about modules will depend on the university. It should all be on the websites.

History is an amazing degree to have and is well respected amongst employers.
Civil service, law, journalism, accountancy, marketing etc etc. No need to do politics with it
More lawyers with a history degree than law degree. More British Prime Ministers with a history degree than any other subject.

Modules will vary by uni/course. Dh became an accountant after graduating in history.

You might find this thread useful: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4874476-to-ask-what-career-youd-go-into-after-a-history-degree

From my own cohort (graduated about 10 years ago), people have gone into law, civil service & NGOs, a couple of consulting/investment analyst careers, but not the really quant focused side. Also one person switched to post-grad medicine and one who administers medical trials (got there via an interest in archiving & data management) - there is very little that is completely closed off to you with a history degree.

For politics, which aspect of politics are they most interested in? If it's contemporary systems and structures you'd be better off looking at joint courses. But if it's more about the development of political thought or the politics of a particular region/period, it's very easy to find history courses where you can include that in your optional modules.

@burgerandoats Several of my DDs friends are barristers with history degrees. From the very best unis though! 50% of lawyers are non law grads. Of the 50% with other degrees, 100% of them are not history grads as suggested above. They have a variety of degrees - as you would expect. Another friend is in the civil service following a history degree and working abroad learning a language.

History is a subject that opens doors for graduate employment. However the grad has to decide what employment interests them. It’s not a given that any line of work is suitable but work experience, skills and what the grad might enjoy is important.

Going to the best uni you can get to is better than worrying about a few modules that employers won’t care that much about. Most will assess skills, not whether you studied a particular module or not.

Thinking of my cohort of historians

Two very senior barristers
Three MPs (one has been in cabinet)
One very senior police officer
One very senior HR person for famous company
Several lawyers and civil servants and accountants and management consultants and bankers
One author/food writer
Another author
Several academics
One senior headteacher

Mine has gone down the vocational route and works at the National Archives. They rather fell into it and enjoy the work immensely.

My son has a history degree and is now a secondary school history teacher. He’s passionate about his subject and loves teaching.

DD - Risk analyst.
DNeice - archivist.

Did a history degree. Now a lawyer in an international law firm.

People on my course went on to work in publishing, marketing, IT consulting, risk and compliance, journalism and politics.

I’m an accountant, full scholarship at Big 4 (they target history grads) now I work in tech, earn six figures.

I’d say 70% of my friends from History are now lawyers (GDL then LPC), the rest are teachers or in marketing

In my family (me, 3 siblings, 2 spouses):
Tax accountant
Archivist
3 x church ministers! (although one was a teacher for 11 years first)
specialist consultant in counter-terrorism
fundraising for a charity

Oh, and my mum, who was a secondary teacher!

I read English, but thinking about the historians I knew at university:

law (solicitors and barristers)
academia
banking
marketing
non-profit
and one who went rogue, studied graduate-entry medicine and is now a doctor

Oh, forgot two - stand-up comedian and rabbi (not the same person!).