Humanities majors

[Anonymous]

My dd is a freshman and an international relations major with a minor in Spanish. She loves it, but is very concern about employment prospects. She is considering switching to a different major like accounting or even nursing which she has zero desire to do. She says she really wants stability and financial security and is very worried. It doesn't help that everyone she's close to is pre-health or engineering. What advice would you give her? She does not want to go to law school, perhaps business school but she'd like good employment prospects post college.

[Anonymous]

Well to start, international relations is social science not humanities. But as to your bigger question – certainly don’t choose nursing or accounting if those aren’t things that she wants to do. A social science major doesn’t set you up for a job straight out of undergrad where you’re building on the same content, but can be a great way to develop writing, critical thinking et cetera types of skills that are useful in many different sectors. I was an IR major many years ago, went into education R&D for a while, went back to school later on for nursing and I’m glad to have had both professional chapters in my life. I have definitely never had an “international relations job“ but I didn’t really expect to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well to start, international relations is social science not humanities. But as to your bigger question – certainly don’t choose nursing or accounting if those aren’t things that she wants to do. A social science major doesn’t set you up for a job straight out of undergrad where you’re building on the same content, but can be a great way to develop writing, critical thinking et cetera types of skills that are useful in many different sectors. I was an IR major many years ago, went into education R&D for a while, went back to school later on for nursing and I’m glad to have had both professional chapters in my life. I have definitely never had an “international relations job“ but I didn’t really expect to.

LOL.. you just told her to do what OP's DD said she should maybe do... go into a health field.

One develops critical thinking skills in most majors.

Honestly, I think IR majors probably need a masters in something else. If she got an MBA,speaks spanish and has a background in IR, she could go into consulting.

[Anonymous]

OP - Been there and done that so many years ago and back then got my first job because I could do word processing! What I found was that I had learned something in a few areas such as a language, an area content, economics, - but not enough to be able to offer specific skills to an employer. But today, actually have junior in high school granddaughter who is fluent in Spanish and already using it in a summer job and volunteer work, is interested in business with a focus on Latin America. BUT she does not know what to combine with the language skill and business interest. She is wise to be looking at larger universities where she can develop a minor which for her may be in the sciences and point her in a reasonble occupation cluster. Selecting a larger university will also give her and your daughter the opportunity more easily change majors if they assess the current job market in government is not going to be that stable or hiring for the next few years. Skilld to focus on are strong writing skills, being able to read and analyze information and communicate your analysis to others seeking your input.

Definitely take consider some course work in data science, artificial intelligence within the desired field of choice. Also be sure DD understands that there is more to reading and learning in the field of international relations than what is on your iPhone. You need to have flexibility in your skills sets. If your DD can get to do some paid or volunteer work in her area of interest that would be a plus in helping her see what others are doing with the skills she is trying to acquire. For example, rather than thinking of becoming a nurse, perhaps the idea of health care administration at some level. Take adavantage of any opportunity to work with a professor on a project.

[Anonymous]

Have her explore internship opportunities first - there are a lot in her space.

https://afsa.org/foreign-affairs-internships

https://internationalstudies.northwestern.edu/internships-and-careers/internships-careers-list.html

https://discoverdiplomacy.com/

https://politics.uchicago.edu/internships-careers/internship-hub

https://as.nyu.edu/departments/ir/professional-development/career--internship-resources.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well to start, international relations is social science not humanities. But as to your bigger question – certainly don’t choose nursing or accounting if those aren’t things that she wants to do. A social science major doesn’t set you up for a job straight out of undergrad where you’re building on the same content, but can be a great way to develop writing, critical thinking et cetera types of skills that are useful in many different sectors. I was an IR major many years ago, went into education R&D for a while, went back to school later on for nursing and I’m glad to have had both professional chapters in my life. I have definitely never had an “international relations job“ but I didn’t really expect to.

LOL.. you just told her to do what OP's DD said she should maybe do... go into a health field.

One develops critical thinking skills in most majors.

Honestly, I think IR majors probably need a masters in something else. If she got an MBA,speaks spanish and has a background in IR, she could go into consulting.

Ha ha, not at all. Healthcare was a second career in my 30s. I was actually making great money in education research and development but decided I want to change gears and do something more people focused. But the takeaway is that my undergraduate degree Was a social science foundation (like Poli sci, or Econ, or sociology) that essentially meant I was a generalist when I went out into the working world. In that sense I think social science majors are fairly interchangeable. Some people go into business, some going to grad school, some going to finance, but you’re not going to learn how to do your future job from an IR major.

[Anonymous]

Public policy/affairs

[Anonymous]

https://careers.state.gov/career-paths/foreign-service/foreign-service-officer/

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't think people who are posting based on 10+ years ago applies to today's job market.

The world has changed so much even in the past 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Humanities major here who graduated right before Covid, now makes six figures - it’s a great way to learn how to think but would highly recommend getting at least some sort of coursework in data analysis or something similar, even if it’s an online certification

Im in B2B professional services and being able to tell stories with data is the most important skill that sets young professionals apart and something I wish I would have polished up right out of college, and I’m working on it now. Also would suggest leaning into the sales or operations angle as she is looking at jobs or internships vs “marketing”, there’s way way more marketing professionals than jobs right now and the other two are more lucrative careers IMO

[Anonymous]

I have a high school senior who is applying to colleges as an international relations major and we’ve discussed a business minor, knowing that her foreign language, cultural understanding and general writing skills will help in a global business environment. Another option is a cybersecurity focus.

[Anonymous]

Uh, please don’t go into nursing if you have “zero desire” to do that line of work.

I think there will be many IR-type jobs when your student graduates as this country will (hopefully) be rebuilding and recovering from the damage done during Trump’s second term. What about going into foreign service or the diplomatic field?

[Anonymous]

She should try to get an internship in the IR field to see what she thinks. Maybe at an ngo. Consider grad school (I don’t know what IR jobs are available with just a bachelor’s?). She might want to also rethink law school. I was interested in IR, double majored in history and poli sci with a focus in IR, and after undergrad decided to apply to law school because I realized that there were more job opportunities in law, many of which overlapped with what I found interesting about IR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well to start, international relations is social science not humanities. But as to your bigger question – certainly don’t choose nursing or accounting if those aren’t things that she wants to do. A social science major doesn’t set you up for a job straight out of undergrad where you’re building on the same content, but can be a great way to develop writing, critical thinking et cetera types of skills that are useful in many different sectors. I was an IR major many years ago, went into education R&D for a while, went back to school later on for nursing and I’m glad to have had both professional chapters in my life. I have definitely never had an “international relations job“ but I didn’t really expect to.

LOL.. you just told her to do what OP's DD said she should maybe do... go into a health field.

One develops critical thinking skills in most majors.

Honestly, I think IR majors probably need a masters in something else. If she got an MBA,speaks spanish and has a background in IR, she could go into consulting.

Huh? Just sounds like they got a different job. This isn't 1950, you don't have the same job for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP - Been there and done that so many years ago and back then got my first job because I could do word processing! What I found was that I had learned something in a few areas such as a language, an area content, economics, - but not enough to be able to offer specific skills to an employer. But today, actually have junior in high school granddaughter who is fluent in Spanish and already using it in a summer job and volunteer work, is interested in business with a focus on Latin America. BUT she does not know what to combine with the language skill and business interest. She is wise to be looking at larger universities where she can develop a minor which for her may be in the sciences and point her in a reasonble occupation cluster. Selecting a larger university will also give her and your daughter the opportunity more easily change majors if they assess the current job market in government is not going to be that stable or hiring for the next few years. Skilld to focus on are strong writing skills, being able to read and analyze information and communicate your analysis to others seeking your input.

Definitely take consider some course work in data science, artificial intelligence within the desired field of choice. Also be sure DD understands that there is more to reading and learning in the field of international relations than what is on your iPhone. You need to have flexibility in your skills sets. If your DD can get to do some paid or volunteer work in her area of interest that would be a plus in helping her see what others are doing with the skills she is trying to acquire. For example, rather than thinking of becoming a nurse, perhaps the idea of health care administration at some level. Take adavantage of any opportunity to work with a professor on a project.

Meh, you can get a minor at any colleges and the largest colleges are the hardest to switch majors.