"The people I work with on a daily basis have a wide range of college degrees, including History. Outside of actually writing code, many young, trendy software companies are simply looking for intelligent, organized, hard-working people that are willing to learn and be trained." -Mark Ostendorf, Perceptive Software
Historians as Communicators: writers; editors; journalists; documentarians; producers of multimedia material; archivists; records managers; librarians.
Historians as Teachers: elementary schools; secondary schools; TESOL in other countries; postsecondary education; service to education (e.g., Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Alliance for Catholic Education); historic sites and museums; education administrators; military officers.
Historians as Researchers: think tanks; data and intelligence analysts; museum and historical organizations; cultural resources managers; historic preservation.
Historians as Advocates: lawyers and paralegals; litigation support; politicians and legislative staff; non-government organization leader; lobbyists; civil servants.
Historians in Business and Associations: business people; data managers; contract historians; market researchers.
Learn More: For more ideas and resources, see the American Historical Association's guide, "Careers for History Majors."
- Clear and effective writing
- Sophisticated research strategies
- Critical thinking
- Organizational techniques
- Oral communication
- Ability to synthesize diverse and complex information
- Data analysis
- Recognition of the interconnection of humanity past and present
- An understanding of the role of the past in creating the present
- The significance of memory to community belonging
- Narrative construction
- Cultural analysis
- Humility and confidence
- politics and government
- law and criminal justice
- philosophy and psychology
- business and economics
- people, societies, and religions
- art, music, and pop culture
- social justice
- the complexity of the world today
- Non-profit Organization's Strategic Communications Director
- Museum Curator
- Non-profit Organization's Development Director
- City Mayor
- Legal Assistant
- University Administrator
- High School Social Studies Teacher
- Middle School Social Studies Teacher
- University Professor of History
- Volunteer Coordinator
- U.S. Marine Corps Officer
- U.S. Army Officer
- Accounting Assistant
- University Archives Assistant Curator
- Property Management Services
- English and Foreign Language Teacher
- Public Policy Fellow
- Advertising and Marketing
- Journalist
- University of Oregon
- Indiana University
- Marquette University
- University of Washington
- Washington State University
- John F. Kennedy University
- University of Wyoming
- Oxford University
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- University of Michigan
- Georgetown
- University of Colorado-Boulder
Thinking about graduate school, but not sure where to apply? See the searchable directory at https://www.historians.org/ on the American Historical Association's website.