History major useless?

College Majors
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<p>My friend saids he planning to major in history because he likes history. He got accepted to some high-ranked colleges like BC, BU, and Clark. I’m trying to convince to major in something useful like engineering or business because he can’t get a job with history. Any history majors here know if this major is completely useless except for teaching?</p>

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<p>Stop posting these pointless threads…</p>

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<p>i just don’t see how a history major can get you a career, or even a job. can u give me some arguments so i can convince my friend not to major in history but instead something useful like business, engineering, accounting, computer science, etc.?</p>

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<p>Look, there have been similar discussions (search for the thread about Philosophy).</p>

<p>Bottom line: There is more to life than making money and there is more to making money than your college major.</p>

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<p>Can you list some jobs that history majors can do besides historian and history teacher? I know my friend doesn’t want to be homeless.</p>

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<p>Lawyer, curator, etc.</p>

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<p>u can become a lawyer with a history degree.</p>

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<p>Maybe people would be more willing to have serious discussions about this if you didn’t throw out phrases like…</p>

<p>“Can you list some jobs that history majors can do besides historian and history teacher? I know my friend doesn’t want to be homeless.”</p>

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<p>History majors open whole expanse of opprotunities.<br>
<a href=“http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors/history.htm[/url]”>http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors/history.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>An engineering major has much less of a range of opprotunities open to him/her.</p>

<p>I’ve had enough of the ramblings SSJ2MysticGohanX1000. If any reader should examine his past posts, the reason for his spite towards the world should be obvious.</p>

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<p>Mystic,
If you are for real, you need a TRADE, not a college education. With a trade, you will not learn anything that is not directly relevant to earning your living. Also, due to the dearth of qualified tradesmen, you won’t have to worry about being unemployed.</p>

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<p>But how much do trademan make? I need the quickest way to earn the most amount of money. And college is the best way.</p>

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<p>Skilled master tradesmen, such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers, makes an excellent living, especially especially if they own their own businesses. If you check the Occupatonal Outlook Handbook (or some other source), I think you will find that experienced tradesmen earn hourly wages of $25 to $35, and certainly much more being the proprietor. On top of this, they earn partial wages while apprenticed to learn their trades, as opposed to paying tuition to learn. Apprenticeships are shorter than the 4 to 6 years you will probably put into college. There’s always a need for these skills, and they can’t be outsourced. Some tradesmen I know live a more affluent life than my husband and I do with our 12 years of college education, and they have a heck of a lot less stress. Skilled trades are surely not for everybody, but you shouldn’t knock these folks who were smart enough to obtain a secure and lucrative job.</p>

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<p>MysticGohan, your concern is touching but I’m sure your friend is old enough to make his own decisions. And believe me, a History major isn’t the only path to unemployment. In my country atleast there are too many enginneers without jobs right now. And my parents - both history majors - are happily employed (admittedly they are both academics) but teaching isn’t the only job you have to take up…here are some others advertising executive, analyst, archivist, broadcaster, campaign worker, consultant, congressional aide, editor, foreign service officer, foundation staffer, information specialist, intelligence agent, journalist, legal assistant, lobbyist, personnel manager, public relations staffer, researcher. . . the list is almost endless.</p>

<p>This of course, is true of almost any liberal arts education. You might consider reading this -</p>

<p>Gurcharan Das on Liberal Arts - from The Times of India</p>

<p><a href=“http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1086415.cms[/url]”>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1086415.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Don’t try to dissuade your friend with these fears - he’ll be OK :)</p>

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<p>My friend don’t want to learn anything not directly related to his profession. When have I ever claimed my friend to be a smart man? Quit accusing him of possessing intelligence.</p>

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<p>Wow. Atleast you’re honest :p</p>

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<p>He wants the quickest way to earn the most amount of money possible. Anything not the best is a failure. He can’t stand to be in a place where he is taking orders or where he isn’t the biggest fish in the room.</p>

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<p>Then he will never get anywhere. Everyone is always at the mercy of a higher body.</p>

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<p>I have a BA and an MA in history. I spent 30 years in the Federal government and retired to take a position at the University of Wisconsin. For most of that time I have worked on civil rights issues including evaluating Federal agency enforcement of their non-discrimination regulations and investigating discrimination complaints with some time spent working on coordination of crmininal issues with the US Attorneys. History is a great major for anyone who is highly analytical and is interested in working in jobs that require a high degree of curiousity, research, and the ability to arrange information and draw conclusions from disparate facts. </p>

<p>It was a perfect major for being an investigator.</p>

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<p>How about having your friend speak for himself, and you speak for yourself?</p>

<p>Saying that, however, I do have to say that liberal arts majors are much more useful at top-ranked universities. History at Harvard will get you through many more doors than Engineering at Clark, but admittedly an engineer from Clark will probably have an easier time finding a job than a history major from Clark.</p>

<p>It’s very easy to talk about the value of a liberal arts education when you are going to the best schools. And I think many people don’t realize how hard some people have it. So i do have some sympathy for MysticGolan.</p>

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<p>I’m considering history for a major. I’d like to be an archaeologist. I did some research that they start out around $30,000, which isn’t so bad to me. Plus I love traveling and getting to switch between indoors and outdoors, so even if I won’t be rich, at least I’ll be happy. I know so many people who think like you. It’s nice you’re showing concern for your friend, but if history is what he likes, you can’t really force him to like something else. He himself can’t even control what he likes. It’s just nature. So if you somehow persuade him to get into something that wasn’t his first choice, he’d just end up being unhappy.</p>