Can a history degree actually lead to a good job?

[Jon1970]

Hi, I'd be grateful for an opinion on the merits or not of doing a history degree. My youngest daughter is currently in A1 doing History, Geography and Economics. She was considering doing Law at Uni (still is, to an extent..) but I think she is gradually drifting away from that, which is fine...at 17 I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. She has always loved History, and still does. There is a narrative out there on careers pages etc that History teaches you great analytical skills, problem solving and so on, the argument being that a degree in history can lead to "so many" careers. But I'm worried....in the real world, is this actually true?

I'm curious to know if you either did History yourself or someone you know, and did it lead to good opportunities further down the line? I really want to support her in doing what she wants to do and in something she enjoys, but just trying to sanity check that she won't say to me in 5 years time something like "Dad, why on earth did you let met me do a History degree?". I know that she could do a history degree and then a Law conversion course if she does want to go into law, but if she doesn't want to do law, what then?

I am probably slightly haunted by doing a music degree, and then switching later to IT and business.

what about philosophy from LSE?

Niece did Law, finished last year with a first. She’s taking time out and having a post degree gap year partly because she didn’t want to be a barrister or solicitor. Getting into a job in publishing. I suspect many of the others in the firm did History or English degrees.

Friend’s son did History, started work in IT at an exam board. He’s doing well and loves it. Has managed to afford to buy a flat and he’s not even 30 yet. An achievement here down south.

Easy to convert to law if that’s what your daughter decides after graduation.
History is an intellectually demanding degree and employers will seek her out.
Surely her school has advised her of this??

Ok just perception rather than reality? Not sure where the data to back this up is.

My DH read history at Oxford. Never had trouble finding a top job. He did investment banking and then private equity for 15 years and now runs his own firm.

My sister has a degree in history and she then went into accountancy . It’s a good base for lots of careers

Bit difficult to do the degrees you mention tho with the OP's DD's A levels. Business maybe, but I agree that's no more directly useful than history - which will indeed open the door to lots of graduate jobs.

Degree class is key rather than subject (in general) unless you are looking at things like medicine or dentistry. She'll do better at a subject she enjoys without any doubt.

She's better off doing a degree in something she loves, and getting a 2.1, than doing one she likes less for the job prospects and only getting a 3rd (which is what I did)

At the end of the day, most people's first job after uni probably won't be doing exactly what their degree was. The overall grade is more important in most cases than the subject.

One of the great things about history is that it teaches you to sift through data to find the relevant information, and then to argue your point in a coherent fashion. I've found that history graduates tend to be very good at interviewing, as they are good at working out what info you're looking for, and then presenting it in a considered way.

I have a history degree and MA. Spent most of my career in the civil service and third sector, in the UK and overseas. I studied history because I love it, but the skills it taught me are very transferable and seem to have been sought after by employers.

if I have regrets, it’s that I chased the money, rather opting for a lower paid, history-related, career, and that I never finished my PhD because of increasing work commitments.

Two of my friends did history degrees. One is a banker the other a management consultant. (But they do both say they wish they’d done more vocational degrees like law.)

I did a general arts degree and I’m so sad about all of the time I wasted learning useless obscure facts from philosophers etc instead of learning practical facts about the world we live in.

But yes you can do history and still get a good job.

OP you're thinking about this the wrong way.
Most graduate schemes don't require a specific degree. Any degree from a well-regarded, academic university will be useful. History, Anthropology, even Music!

It's a different story for less 'academic' universities. The strength of their degrees lie in work experience. Degrees like Business, while not 'academic' often have placement years and/or other related work experience which gives their graduates a leg up compared to traditional 'academic' subjects.
Having said that, some universities like MMU and East Anglia offer placement years with History.

While people bang on about the 'transferable skills' obtained with a degree , it doesn't make one stand out among thousands of other graduates. According to the OECD in 2021, 57% of 25-34 year-olds had a tertiary degree compared to only 29% in 2000. Not to mention people from other countries who come here for postgraduate qualifications. There's a lot of competition for the top jobs.

Your daughter will be fine whatever she chooses to do. Just look at the course and university holistically, including their career centres and make sure she understands that the job hunt starts from day 1 of year 1. Talking to seniors, going to career fairs, taking part in work experience will all give her a good insight into potential careers. Don't make the major mistake of waiting until she graduates to even start thinking about careers.

I work in financial services (IT) and have hired history graduates, also when I worked for the big4 accounting firms and investment banks in a financial role. Unless STEM skills are needed we take any degree subject.

My dd had an excellent well paid job-and a theology degree.

Friend's cousin has worked his way up to a very senior position with one of the Big Four accountancy firms having done a history degree. Obviously, this route wouldn't suit a history graduate who doesn't have at least some aptitude for maths.

@Jon1970 I think history is just fine but it needs to be at a competitive university if possible. I agree with an earlier poster that going to mid division or lower is a bigger gamble.

History grads can apply for a huge range of jobs. However it’s fair to say that there’s a lot of competition from English, politics, anthrapology, philosophy, MFL and just about everyone else who isn’t stem! So to stand out it’s not just about degree and university. I would strongly advocate working or volunteering in the holidays. Don’t just expect a degree to do all the heavy lifting.

DD didn’t do history but converted to law. I don’t think this route is for the those who are iffy about a law career but lawyers via this route do have different skills and have their place in firms or chambers. So doing your strongest subject at degree level can be the best bet. DD would not have changed what she did. However aim high with undergrad degree.

Also doing history gives thinking time. There’s plenty of avenues for history grads but getting careers info and work planning is important. Don’t just rely on the degree. With get A levels has she thought of Management? These degrees from unis like Bath are a great route to employment and have versatile modules.

Work experience, ongoing, and from teens years onwards - that’s what you need. My degrees have been next to worthless in my career, and I have an excellent job

Just to add, many unis now offer a placement year for history (and indeed for practically every other subject), in which students can go to a foreign uni or work for a year. Both Exeter and York advertised this when we were there recently for offer days. Getting a suitable work placement is still the responsibility of the student of course, and might be tricky, but then that is often true for stem courses too.

As this thread shows, it's not hard to find examples of history graduates in good jobs. A history degree will develop skills that will be useful in many graduate jobs. However, it's important to appreciate that a history degree of itself does not assure a graduate of a good job. I would advise your daughter to make sure she picks up some paid work while a student, so that when she is called on to explain how her skills and experience will fit a graduate role, she has some real life work-based examples to call on.

Lots of lawyers read history.

Any well-respected, academically rigorous degree can lead to a good job, yes. Many, many people don't do jobs directly related to their degree.

@Jon1970 Work doesn’t have to be paid. My DD got fantastic experience with the National Trust. She was given a lot of varied roles and far more useful work (for her career) than making coffees all day or being on a till in a supermarket. So try and look at all possibilities and not just the obvious ones. Volunteering later on with the CAB was also very valuable. To her and hopefully to them!

I did history at a Russell Group university - to give an idea of where it sat in the hierarchy we'd all been interviewed before being rejected by Oxbridge. People on my course went on to consultancy grad schemes, banking, civil service, corporate training. I am probably at the lower income end having made some eccentric choices then ended up in local government, but the skills I developed on my degree have been useful everywhere and have helped me to pick up promotions I shouldn't really have had access to.

I would recommend using her time at uni to develop some semblance of a plan, and trying very hard not to graduate into a recession. But if she's academic and excited about history it's a great choice for someone still making her mind up.

Loads of the law students I knew at uni were looking for a way out by the time we were in our late 20s. The rewarding and interesting areas of law are not the ones that pay well.

Why the sarcasm when other posters are saying the same thing?

David Cameron is a history graduate. He did OK.

I have a history degree and am a civil servant. My role is quite analytical and requires critical thinking so it's a handy background to have but is by no means essential to doing my role (you don't need to have a degree to get in to it and the degrees people do have are quite varied). The pay is ok but it's not amazingly well paid considering I left university in 2005. There is scope to progress but it tends to be slow unless you're on fast track.

I'm sure it can lead to better jobs than mine if you're working on the basis that it's a degree and there are plenty of paths that just require a good degree. But graduate schemes are very competitive as are jobs in that field (lots of volunteering expected and potentially post grad). If you are not flexible enough or confident enough to move about for work placements then it can be tricky to find something with graduate level pay. Same also if you get a 2:2 and find a lot of schemes closed to you or rarely making the sift.

I would think carefully about why she wants to do it with student loans and fees as they are now. Would she change her mind and wish she'd done something different later on? It's financially very difficult to do a second undergrad degree, even on a course that would qualify for additional student finance (health care, social work etc), not sure I would want the levels of debt involved. Not trying to put anyone off doing it if they're passionate about it and realistic about what they might want to do but it's not something I'd do for the sake of doing something these days.

I'd disagree with this. It may have been true 20-30 years ago, but not so much now. I've been tracking penultimate year internships this year, and the vast majority require particular skillsets. The ones that do only need "any degree" are likely to be intensely competitive.

Some companies that used to take a lot of "any degree" candidates, e.g. the big management consultancies, are now recruiting more apprentices instead, and training them on the job.