If you are a history major, or are thinking about becoming one, you may wonder what you will be able to do with your degree. What are some of the careers you can look forward to after all of your hard work and study? Will that particular course of study be beneficial in any way, or is it just what you have to do to get a degree? Surprisingly, there are a number of career options for those who have graduated with a BA in history.
Education
Obviously, one of the major careers that a BA in history can open up for you is education. A BA degree in history with the certifications required by your state will allow you to teach at the elementary, jr. high, or high school level. Earning your masters will help your chances of finding a job and will increase your starting salary. If you want to teach at the university level, you will usually need to complete a doctoral program. An MA may suffice, but your career options in collegiate education will be limited.
Researcher
If you enjoyed writing all of those research papers for your upper division history classes, you may want to consider becoming a professional author. While many history writers are professors at universities, not all of them are. If you chose to be an independent author/researcher, you would have much more time to study and write than most professors do. Of course, you will have to finance yourself and/or apply for independent grants. Even if you can manage to just write one quality book in your free time, however, it may open up new possibilities in writing for you.
Writer
If you do not have the time or the inclination to write books, you may want to write short articles about various historical topics. These you can post on a personal website that uses advertising programs like Google Adsense and/or revenue sharing websites. You may not make very much starting out, but if you set clear goals and work a strict schedule, you can make a living this way. Over time, as you accumulate a larger and larger body of work that will supply you with an ever increasing monthly residual income. It requires a great deal of determination and hard work, but you can slowly grow that residual income until you could live off that alone if you wanted.
Non-History Work
Of course, many people who major in history will never open another history book as long as they live after they graduate. These people were not that interested in history, however, and were those people who simply chose history as their major because they had to pick something. As they correctly supposed, a history degree is just as good as any other type of degree in most circumstances. Regardless of whether you continue studying and researching after school, however, the things that you learn while studying for a history degree will be useful in whatever career you pursue. The study of history is so reading and writing intensive that it will make you better communicator than you might have been if you had not attended college. Studying history will also give you a better perspective on current events and international conflicts. This perspective is important in many fields.
A Hybrid Career
You are not limited to these career paths, however. You could combine all of them or some of them to do whatever it is you want to do. For example, if you earn a masters degree, you could teach full time in a public or private high school and then teach one or two night classes as an adjunct professor at your local community college. On the other hand, you might end up working for a bank, but write a historical book in your free time. Thankfully, our post-industrial economy has given us more job options than ever before, so take advantage of those options!
