Job/Career for a History Major

[cvrefugee]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
My brother in law majored in history. He's now a cop. Outside of teaching, history is near worthless when it comes to earning potential.

Intelligence Collection Analyst

Minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in a variety of fields, such as political science, international studies, national security, history, geography library science, remote sensing, statistics, or a closely related discipline. GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is also required, along with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, well-developed interpersonal skills, excellent writing and briefing skills, and an ability to convey complex information in a clear, concise manner. Analysts are expected to be comfortable using computers, because significant portions of their work employ complex databases. Intelligence collection experience is preferred?but not required?and military experience is valued.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
My brother in law majored in history. He's now a cop. Outside of teaching, history is near worthless when it comes to earning potential.

You really believe that? HA! I have a history degree and make a good salary working in the insurance field.
If I wanted to work on the brokerage side of things, I could easily double my salary, but I'm not sure I want to spend that much time away from my wife and daughter (more time on the road).

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
My brother in law majored in history. He's now a cop. Outside of teaching, history is near worthless when it comes to earning potential.

You really believe that? HA! I have a history degree and make a good salary working in the insurance field.
If I wanted to work on the brokerage side of things, I could easily double my salary, but I'm not sure I want to spend that much time away from my wife and daughter (more time on the road).

Insurance companies like conservatives, and most anyone who has studied history is one.

VOTE OBAMA! (lol please don't)

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
My brother in law majored in history. He's now a cop. Outside of teaching, history is near worthless when it comes to earning potential.

You really believe that? HA! I have a history degree and make a good salary working in the insurance field.
If I wanted to work on the brokerage side of things, I could easily double my salary, but I'm not sure I want to spend that much time away from my wife and daughter (more time on the road).

Did you really need that history major to work in insurance?

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: Mo0o


Did you really need that history major to work in insurance?

Did I need the history major? No. Did I need a degree? Yes.
History helped. Look at the past and predict the future. That is underwriting. What better degree than history for that skillset?

It's a mixed bag with my colleagues and degrees. I'm the only one in my department with a history degree. The president of my company happens to have one as well.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: Mo0o


Did you really need that history major to work in insurance?

Did I need the history major? No. Did I need a degree? Yes.
History helped. Look at the past and predict the future. That is underwriting. What better degree than history for that skillset?

It's a mixed bag with my colleagues and degrees. I'm the only one in my department with a history degree. The president of my company happens to have one as well.

would you recommend someone else to major in History....say one of your children?

 

[TehMac]

People who find history worthless tend to be the anti-social sort, or plain mediocres. You don't have to be obsessed with history or even like it, but if you have a grasp on it, you're better able to understand your society, your family, and yourself.

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: TehMac
People who find history worthless tend to be the anti-social sort, or plain mediocres. You don't have to be obsessed with history or even like it, but if you have a grasp on it, you're better able to understand your society, your family, and yourself.

You missed the point. It's the degree that's worthless, not the subject

 

[ModerateRepZero]

1) Take a personality/aptitude test to figure out what kind of person you are and what you're capable/interested in doing (ie do you want to work for the govt because of a stable job/benefits?)

2) Consider that many people graduating with a liberal arts degree can point to basic skills such as persuasive argument or excellent writing skills. A degree in that sense can be used to convey not so much an area/subject of expertise than an acknowledgement of specific skills mastered.

3) Besides focusing on your skills/abilities, you can also say that History has equipped you with a way at viewing the world ie a philosophy or methodology of approaching viewpoints or a problem. I remember reading in a book by Donald Trump an anecdote about a female who said she could predict market changes by listening to "ping pong" noise which she applied from having played ping pong in her youth (subtle angles of a racket make different noises when hit by a ball).

4) The process for applying for govt. jobs varies...for starters, you can go to http://www.usajobs.gov/ which is a monster.com-run site for the federal govt. Jobs tend to be either open/competitive which means that they're open to the public provided they meet certain requirements or can be closed/noncompetitve which I take it to mean that it's restrictive (ie limited to agency/govt employees). Perhaps someone in govt such as marlin can further elaborate on govt jobs?

A civil service exam as I understand it is a standardized exam given to people applying for a government job (fed, state, city etc). It seeks to test basic skills, aptitude/fitness for the job or whatever is legally acceptable in determining a candidate's ability and compatibility for the government job opening. It also puts people on a list based on their test score and ranked, usually with people who scored higher given priority for the job opening.

The only other thing I can say at present is that some states/cities/towns etc. have their own websites for job opportunities. When I applied for a job at the NYC, for example, I went to http://nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/employment/dcasjobs.shtml to view the list of available jobs and see what the requirements, duties, and application process is. Occasionally you may find a town announcing an opening in the newspaper's classifieds.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: Mo0o


Did you really need that history major to work in insurance?

Did I need the history major? No. Did I need a degree? Yes.
History helped. Look at the past and predict the future. That is underwriting. What better degree than history for that skillset?

It's a mixed bag with my colleagues and degrees. I'm the only one in my department with a history degree. The president of my company happens to have one as well.

And you couldn't have picked a degree that could open up more doors for you?

Say...any degree besides history? lol

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: Mo0o


Did you really need that history major to work in insurance?

Did I need the history major? No. Did I need a degree? Yes.
History helped. Look at the past and predict the future. That is underwriting. What better degree than history for that skillset?

It's a mixed bag with my colleagues and degrees. I'm the only one in my department with a history degree. The president of my company happens to have one as well.

would you recommend someone else to major in History....say one of your children?

Yes, when my daughter is in college, I'll tell her to get a degree in history. No problems with that at all.

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: TehMac
People who find history worthless tend to be the anti-social sort, or plain mediocres. You don't have to be obsessed with history or even like it, but if you have a grasp on it, you're better able to understand your society, your family, and yourself.

You missed the point. It's the degree that's worthless, not the subject

The subject is much much much much much more worthless than other subject.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Open more doors? Like what? Engineering so I can be.....an engineer?

A history degree is not as useless or as easy as people think. At least for me, senior level classes were difficult. Had to have a senior thesis graded by the department head in order to graduate. Not sure if that was because I was in the national honor society or not, but it was a major pain in the ass.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496
Open more doors? Like what? Engineering so I can be.....an engineer?

A history degree is not as useless or as easy as people think. At least for me, senior level classes were difficult. Had to have a senior thesis graded by the department head in order to graduate. Not sure if that was because I was in the national honor society or not, but it was a major pain in the ass.

Well, based on your description of your job, an engineering major can get your job. You, however, can not get an engineering job.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: TehMac
People who find history worthless tend to be the anti-social sort, or plain mediocres. You don't have to be obsessed with history or even like it, but if you have a grasp on it, you're better able to understand your society, your family, and yourself.

You missed the point. It's the degree that's worthless, not the subject

I guess so. Depends on the degree. Now, sociology is a worthless degree. It's for peeps who can't get anything else, but I'd probably do a B.S. in it.

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

The subject is much much much much much more worthless than other subject.

I don't think you have much room to talk. Just that post reeked of uninformed assumptions based on an almost grade school level understanding of history. :roll:

And you might be able to call yourself a life success if you were able to understand that people take you more as an informed individual (and not just another zombie clone) if you work on your grammar.

 

[cvrefugee]

I just submitted my resume to the county of Riverside, CA. We'll see what happens!

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: cvrefugee
I just submitted my resume to the county of Riverside, CA. We'll see what happens!

Oh gross.

 

[cvrefugee]

lol, well I'm not commuting to Orange County, so f*ck that.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
A number of law schools disagree with you. Last time I checked history was still the most common undergraduate degree for law school admissions. Often as much as 25% of an undergrad history class will apply to law school. The numbers from Lewis & Clark last year showed almost as many public policy students as history students, but history is still a front runner. I'm not saying it necessarily makes someone stand out, I'm saying it's a good solid choice for a law school future.

History teaches research, critical analysis, argumentation, communication skills, writing/english, government, poli-sci, sociology, etc. Obviously it doesn't focus on those as much as a degree in them would, but it does contain a large amount of all of them.

That's because history majors typically have few options compared to certain other majors. Furthermore, if you want to go to law school then most likely you should take the 'easy' route and major in something like history, political science, etc. But if you actually go to law school then you would realize that the type of research and writing that is done in law school is very different than what a history or english major does in an undergraduate curriculum.

Is history a 'good solid choice for a law school future'? Kind of...since difficulty of major is not factored into law school admissions, then it would make sense for people to major in history since it's an easier major and students are usually given easier grades. But in the same sense, even basket weaving is a 'good solid choice for a law school future.'

 

[todpod]

As a former History major, and then finally a Liberal Studies major, with major course work in Political Science, History, Library Science, Econ, and Sociology and a local govt employee you just need to be a little creative in your job search. I work as a caseworker in the child welfare field. The only requirement other then the degree is 12 credits in Sociology, Psychology, or related social science. I met that with General Psych, general Sociology, Sociology and Film ((now that was a BS course) and Social Welfare.

It can be fairly rewarding career if you accept the fact that you can't fix everybody and you probably only truly help 1 in 20 people, you just can take people abusing their kids personally (not that you don't want to kick the shit out of them). More course work in Psychology probably would help but its not really mandatory. I have done CPS and Family Service as well Foster care and currently Independent Living and Hopefully soon supervisor. The pay is about average here but you work for the govt which has it perks. Most of the people I work with have degrees in Psych and Soc but there has been a couple of ED majors and even a Russian major. Its what you make of it, just don't try and change the world.

 

[cvrefugee]

7-year bump!

Can anyone guess where I ended up?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

7-year bump!

Can anyone guess where I ended up?

Alphabet soup?

 

[Strk]

Back in school for something else?

 

[cvrefugee]

Alphabet soup?

Close! My official title has five words in it.

 

[cvrefugee]

Back in school for something else?

Not yet, but planning on it at some point in my life.