Looking for a Job with a Humanities PhD. Where to Start?
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Anonymous
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I graduated this spring with a history PhD from a top program (think Northwestern/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan/Duke). I'm currently doing a postdoc at an Ivy institution, but I don't plan on staying in academia. I'm open to jobs in government/journalism/think tanks/NGOs and would like to live in DC, where my spouse works. The problem is, after being in grad school for the past 5 years or so, I have no idea where to start. My field is foreign relations history, but I'm not sure what transferable skills I have. Should I learn quant skills like econometrics and statistics? Networking? How do I make myself appealing to potential employers on job applications and interviews?
Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
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Why don't you talk to your career center and director of your PhD program and see where other doctoral students who chose not to stay in academia went? I would assume that a doctorate in "foreign relations history" would be attractive to the State Department, Congressional Research Service and a host of other agencies, so start networking around DC. Or there are plenty of private high schools if you like teaching, but not at a university level.
Also, there are plenty of websites for non-academic phds. Yes, quant skills are generally helpful. Presumably you have good writing and research skills which are more useful in DC than most parts of the country. https://www.academiatoaffluence.com/jobs-for-phds/ |
Anonymous
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What do you like to do? Write about policy? Write newsy stories? Do research? Do data analysis? Design tools for people to use? Think about what you enjoy and then figure out how to strengthen those skills and/or position them for a job. There are many things you can do, but you need to think about what you actually enjoy/like/want and then figure out where that overlaps with what people need.
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Anonymous
| Just curious why did you get a PhD in the first place if you didn’t at least have a general idea of what you’d do with it? |
Anonymous
| It seems like you should have thought of this before spending 5 years getting a Ph.D. |
Anonymous
| Look into think tanks or consulting/risk analysis? |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the feedback so far! I had wanted to be a professor when I first started my PhD, but academic jobs have become increasingly scarce and I'd also gotten married to someone whose job doesn't allow him to just move to a small college town.
I enjoy research and writing, and I'm quite good at these. I'm just not sure if these skills are enough outside of academia. |
Anonymous
| Try consulting. Big4, Booz Allen, Guidehouse, etc. They'll take demonstrably smart people and toss them into project for which they have no background. |
Anonymous
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A lot of the west coast dot com companies need good writers.
My niece stays steadily employed as an English major working for the dot com companies. Community college professor, high school teacher, tutoring, legal administrative assistant, administrative assistant, History teacher, community college history professor Jill Biden teaches at a community college. |
Anonymous
| Foreign Service Officer ? |
Anonymous
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Do organizations like the State Dept, INternational Org of States, UN, etc have historians? Perhaps they do and you could manage their archives or written story? The Smithsonian seems promising perhaps. See if your network includes anyone from there. If not, write cold and ask for informational interviews.
While you are looking, Could you get freelance work writing the Background or History content for webpages? Good luck. |
Anonymous
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Did you specialize in any particular region for your PhD in foreign relations history ?
What was the topic of your dissertation ? Could that area of specialization help to direct you in your job search ? Writing for foreign affairs focused publications. Just seems like the specific focus of your published work should lead you into related fields. If still lost, just do what almost every other liberal arts major does and go to law school--but only on a full tuition scholarship or to a Top 6 law school. |
Anonymous
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Omg don’t go to law school, you don’t need three more years of education and student debt - unless you desperately want to be a lawyer in a specific field. What terrible advice.
Talk to your school and try to connect with others in your field of study. I think consulting and NGOs might be a good fit but you need to narrow down your interests. |
Anonymous
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Hi OP, I have a PhD in history and - after a couple of years on the tenure track - realized that teaching is not my calling in life. I now work in grantmaking for a small federal agency. There are lots of historians working for the federal government - some as historians and some doing other work. I love the work that I do and find it very fulfilling.
If you do a USA Jobs search for historian, you should turn up a number of results, but also search for keywords that are in your skillset - researcher, writer, etc. There are also plenty of non-teaching jobs on college campuses that you might apply for. Those will probably be advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Also check out the Chronicle of Philanthropy (although those are primarily fundraising jobs). You might see if AHA has any resources, either on their website or in recent issues of Perspectives. And check out Versatile PhD. |
Anonymous
Also, History Associates in Rockville has some openings, but I have no idea how well they pay: https://www.historyassociates.com/careers/ |