Career Options for Liberal Arts Majors

There was a time when a liberal arts degree was sidelined by STEM degrees. However, the job market has steadily changed and with this change, there is more awareness that skills, more than a degree, make a huge difference in most jobs. This is where a liberal arts major, be it philosophy, history or literature, wins.

A liberal arts degree gives you a background in various subjects before leading to a major. That is, the focus is not too narrow. Along the way, you get to pick up a diverse range of skills. These are the skills that make a competent, adaptable and versatile employee who can handle various roles across different industries.

These skills include critical thinking, problem solving, writing, research, reasoning, and other communication-related skills. Combined with an exposure to various subjects and concepts, these skills make liberal arts majors worthy candidates for jobs, debunking the age-old myth that a liberal arts degree won’t help you land a job, much less a job that pays well.

Another advantage of a liberal arts degree is that you will have plenty of opportunities to intern and these internships give you the chance to experience work life before you get to the job market. Employers don’t have to spend too much time training you on the job, which is beneficial to them.

A liberal arts degree is sufficient to get a job. However, if you are motivated and interested enough, you could go on to specialize and gain higher proficiency in a subject of your choice.

Some of the job roles that you’ll qualify for are: professional writer, teacher, public relations executive, politician, policy analyst, economist, psychologist, sociologist, advertising manager, genealogist, linguist, and social worker. Real estate and sales are other areas, and they pay well if you play well.

You can even go on to become a CEO or start your own company. A CEO and co-founder who has lauded the benefits of a liberal arts degree is Stewart Butterfield of Slack Technologies. Also consider Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who has a BS in Communications, or Walt Disney Company’s former CEO Michael Eisner, who has a BA in English Literature and Theater.

In fact, Walt Disney is one of the companies that is high on the list of every liberal arts major. Other companies and organizations include Google, United Nations, U.S. Department of State, Facebook, Teach for America, NBCUniversal, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Linkedin, Walmart and Ecolab.

A liberal arts degree’s biggest perk is its interdisciplinary nature that makes your skills relevant even in a fast changing job market.