The job market is saturated all over the world these days, due to more and more students choosing to gain degrees. Finding employment post-graduation can be especially difficult for those who took their degrees in so-called ‘soft subjects’ as every market becomes super competitive.
These subjects are often disregarded in favour of scientific degrees; even though language, social studies and entertainment qualifications are equally as important to our culture and understanding of the world that we live in.
There are of course plenty of amazing opportunities to investigate if you hold one of these qualifications. Here’s our top list of high-earning, high-satisfaction careers to pursue if you hold a humanities degree.
1. Politics
Political studies, sociology and social science degrees are the perfect foundation for anyone wanting to go into politics as a profession. A deep understanding of social structures, culture and criminality make way for a well-rounded political analyst or other public sector jobs. Social research is another area that could be of interest.
2. Sales
Anyone with the gift of the gab and an acute awareness of their audience will do well in sales; but qualifications in subjects like marketing and advertising are a great start for getting your foot in the door. Visit sites like meta-morphose.co.uk that help people wanting to get into sales find training and jobs.
3. Counselling
Humanities and social science graduates are perfectly trained to move into careers in counselling services or other kinds of community care roles. You need to have superior people skills, a caring nature and the ability to build a rapport with people facing difficult circumstances. Training will be required to ensure you can deal with emotional and mental health issues fully and sensitively, leading to a fulfilling career making a difference to people’s lives.
4. Law
Humanities graduates are taught to be critical thinkers, with excellent analysis, persuasion and argument-construction skills – perfect for pursuing a career in law. As a lawyer, you must be able to show the evidence behind every point made and display strong aptitude for research and reporting. This caters well to graduates of English degrees; many of which have gone on to build successful careers as solicitors.
5. Journalism
If telling stories and unearthing public interest news is your calling, chase it into the complex world of journalism. It’s often cutthroat and competitive, but those who do well at it can earn their fortune and even become household names. Whether you want to go into print or other media – maybe documentary-making – journalism is for the intrepid and fearless who want to report and inform for the common good.
6. Finance
Big city careers aren’t only reserved for those with Einsteinian numerical aptitude who studied maths or economics degrees. As long as you have knowledge of the banking sector and great commercial awareness, there’s a job for you in finance. The same goes for accountancy and even economics – these fields aren’t restricted to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates. Problem-solving, management and organization are key components that make an ideal financial candidate. Moreover, you can consider recognised qualifications such as becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst; learn more about the steps involved and required exam preparation on CrushTheCPAExam.
7. Environmentalism
Careers under the environmentalist umbrella require employees to campaign, lobby, write reports and proposals, develop laws and advise companies and the public with making informed choices with regards to the environment. Different types of environmentalist include researchers, scientists, analysts, conservationists, office workers, inspectors, laboratory assistants and more. Humanities graduates are perfectly suited to most of these pathways due to their writing capabilities and social understanding.
8. Teaching & Academia
Of course, you could choose to apply your degree subject specifically and train to teach it yourself. Teaching is a hugely rewarding career path that allows fast growth – you could become head of your subject and eventually head teacher of a school. Alternatively, stay in higher education to complete a master’s degree and PhD and you could become a university fellow, constructing your own courses in your subject and writing academic literature.
