The College of Staten Island/CUNY
Room 2N-215, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314 (718) 982-2870
CAREER INFORMATION
Career Information for History Majors
History majors should think creatively about the sorts of careers available to them once they complete their degrees. Focus on the skills that you have learned as an historian; for a discussion of this, see What Can I Do With a History Major?. Look for jobs that emphasize those skills, in which your strengths as a writer, researcher, and critical thinker will give you an advantage.
Below are some places that will provide information to help you plan your career. Don't overlook internships as an important source of job experience while you are in school or just after you graduate; some internships may even carry stipends. Look for opportunities to speak with people who have jobs in fields that you are interested in entering, and ask them about how to prepare yourself for success in that field; it is never too early in your career to build a network of mentors who are willing to offer advice and guidance. You should also speak with your major advisor and other history faculty about your career plans. Good luck!
For an excellent overview of Public History as a career, see CSI student and History major Yvonne Tu's Guide to Public History.
- General Resources:
- American Historical Association
- World History Association
- Linguafranca: The Review of Academic Life
- Organization of American Historians' Links for the History Profession
- George Mason University's History Departments of the World
- George Welling's History Departments on the WWW
- The University of Florida's American Universities
- MIT's Universities of the World
- General History Career Resources:
- Tennesee Tech's History as a Career
- The American Historical Association's Careers for History Majors
- Jack Rakove's Careers for History Majors
- Infosurf's Career and Job Information
- The College of William & Mary's Occupational Info for Arts and Sciences Majors
- General Job and Internship Search Resources:
- The College of Staten Island's Office of Career Placement homepage
- Contact The Office of Career Placement at CSI-CUNY, in 1A-105, or via phone (718-982-2606).
- The University of Michigan Library's Best of the Net for Job Searching
- Washington Post's What Color is Your Parachute?
- Steven C. Hayes's and Linda J. Hayes's How to Write a Vita
- Sources for Internships:
- JobWeb
- Washington Post's "How to Find an Internship in Washington, DC"
- The United States Office of Personnel Management's official listings of government job openings
- Internship information for several Internships in Albany, New York, Spring 1999, including New York State Assembly Session Internships, New York State Senate Session Internships, and internships with the Albany lobbying firm of Bolton-St. John's.
- Sources for Jobs:
- The University of Michigan's Library Best of the Net for Job Searching
- The College Grad Job Hunter's list of entry-level jobs for College students and graduates.
- Beatrice's Careers for Women
- Rutger's Art History Department's Careers in Art History
- JobWeb
- The Online Career Center
- The United States Office of Personnel Management's official listings of government job openings
- The NationJob Education Jobs Page
- Career Path Site
- Career Mosaic
- JobTrak
- The Monster Board
- Margaret F. Dikel's Riley Guide
- Yahoo's JobSearch
- University of Pennsylvania Department of English's Jobs for Undergraduates
- Public History/Archives/Museums Careers Resources:
- Yvonne Tu's Guide to Public History, created by a CSI History student
- The United States Office of Personnel Management's official listings of government job openings
- The National Center for Public History's Public History Jobs Guide
- The National Park Service's National Center for Preservation Technology and Training Job Center
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics's Archivists and Curators Job Outlook from the 1998-1999 Job Outlook Handbook
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics's Social Scientists/Historians Job Outlook from the 1998-1999 Job Outlook Handbook
- Special Resources for Those Becoming K-12 Teachers:
- University of Wisconsin-River Falls's Developing a Professional Portfolio guide.
- Ball State University's Professional Employment Portfolio guide.
- University of Northern Iowa College of Education's Assembling and Presenting Your Professional Portfolio
- The NationJob Education Jobs Page
- Espan
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics's School Teachers Job Outlook from the 1998-1999 Job Outlook Handbook
- National Center for Education Statistics's Teacher Quality, A Report on Teacher Preparation and Qualification of Public School Teachers (January 28, 1999)
- Special Resources for Those Applying to Law School:
- The Princeton Review's The Law School Admissions Test
- The Law School Admissions Council
- Special Resources for Those Applying to History Graduate Programs:
- Patrick D. Reagan's Resources for Graduate Study in History
Embark.com's Grad Market Page provides help for applications and funding graduate educations.
- George Mason University's History Departments of the World
- George Welling's History Departments on the WWW
- US News and World Report's Rankings of History PhD Programs (1998)
- David Burrell's Getting In: An Applicant's Guide to Graduate School Admissions
- The Graduate Record Examinations site.
- Marie desJardins's How to Be A Good Graduate Student.
- Dan Horn's Graduate Student Resources on the Web
- Special Resources for Those with Graduate Degrees in History:
- Mary Corbin Sies's Academic Job Application Checklist, Academic Job Interview Advice, and Academic Job Interview Questions.
- Michael Gamer's Job-Interviewing Handout.
- Vince Willoughby's Diverging Career Pathways for Humanities PhDs
- H-GRAD's Job Search Advice Page
- The Organization of American Historians's OAH Jobs Online
- The H-NET JobGuide
- The Modern Languages Association's MLA Job Information List
- The American Studies Association's Employment Opportunities in American Studies
- The Chronicle of Higher Education's Job Guides
- HigherEdJobs's Higher Education Jobs
- Dan Knauft's Jobs in Higher Education
- The NationJob Education Jobs Page
- The Academic Employment Network
- American Historical Association
Prepared for the Department of History by Prof. Catherine Lavender ()