Employment as a Historian
The possibilities
Advice for job-seekers
Searching for a position
Interviewing at conventions
The possibilities
For a thorough discussion of all the careers that are open to history majors, see written by Constance Schulz, Page Putnam Miller, Aaron Marrs, and Kevin Allen, and published by the American Historical Association, The National Council for Public History, and the Public History Program, University of South Carolina.
The American Historical Association also has an article on . It has recently begun a project on which seeks to 鈥渆xpand the occupational presence of humanists beyond the academy by broadening the professional options that students commonly imagine for themselves and aspire to.鈥�
Until a few years ago historians do not receive much attention from the prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historians were included in the section on 鈥淪ocial Scientists, Other鈥� and were discussed rather briefly. Now the Bureau has a separate (it still regards historians as social scientists 鈥� the words 鈥渉umanists鈥� or 鈥渉umanities鈥� do not appear in its A-Z index). You might find it amusing, sobering, or frightening to read how the Bureau regards historians.
The blog by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes often has essays about careers in historical endeavors, intended especially for persons in the early phases of their careers.
Alexandra Lord and Julie Taddeo, both of whom have a Ph.D. in history and left academe after a few years of employment, said when they started in 2003: 鈥淲e have both come to love life 鈥榦utside the box鈥� and we heartily recommend it to others!鈥� They created the site to give advice and encouragement to those who either choose or are forced by necessity to find employment outside the classroom.
by L. Maren Wood, a PhD in history, describes and tabulates the career outcomes of PhD graduates in history between 1990 and 2010 from history departments at Duke University, Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has another article, 鈥�,鈥� that offers advice that emerged from her 鈥淏oot Camp for the Postacademic Job Seeker.鈥�
The Columbia Center for Career Education has an extensive listing of .
The American Historical Association has an article on .
an article by Anthony T. Grafton and James Grossman, advocates that history departments actively prepare their students for non-teaching employment as part of the regular curriculum.
Advice for job-seekers
There are many good sites for advice on the art of seeking an academic position. Among them are:
- (American Historical Association)
- (UMASS Amherst)
- (Career Services, University of California-Berkeley)
- (Tufts University Career Center)
- (Yvonne Tu)
- (Michael Gamer and Anne K. Krook)
- and (Gerry Canavan)
Searching for a position
You will find many online resources for available positions in the field of history. Of them, the following are free services to job-seekers:
- (the Chronicle lists positions in all disciplines, so you will need to search on the keyword history)
- (this site also lists positions in all disciplines; searching on the keyword history alone results in many extraneous 鈥渉its鈥� 鈥� you will need to combine it with other terms, such as the state in which you are seeking a position or an institution鈥檚 name)
- (this site also lists positions in all disciplines, but its search feature searches the entire site, not just job listings, so you will need to scan the listings by eye)
Another resource, the Online Job Ads section of the American Historical Association, was restricted to members of the AHA before September 2011. Non-members will need first to create a . Once that account is created, non-members will see only the job ads, not links to other online member benefits, such as access to the American Historical Review and discounts on publications and the annual meeting.
Interviewing at conventions
Many history departments conduct interviews with applicants during the annual conventions of historical associations. Some will interview 鈥渄rop-ins鈥�; others will interview only those candidates who have already applied for positions and have been selected for personal interviews. Among the leading conventions are those of the
- , usually held in early January
- , usually held in early April
- , usually held in early November.
Departments that are searching for a candidate in a specific field will often interview at the convention of the professional organization for that field. Examples of such organizations include:
Your major advisor will be aware of conventions and meetings within his or her discipline and may know of positions that are not advertised widely.