How to find a job with a liberal arts degree

Many students in liberal arts major may feel like there's no clear line of work for them to pursue. "How can I use my degree to get a job when I graduate?" they often ask.

The older I get, the more fiercely I defend unduly maligned liberal arts majors. I'm the proud recipient of an English degree. Some people thought that studying literature was an endearing quirk, not a career path, but it led me to a fulfilling career in journalism.

Now that I'm out in the real world, I've seen how desperate companies are for good writers, communicators and researchers. According to a National Association of Colleges and Employers spring 2016 survey, employers rated critical thinking, professionalism and teamwork as the most important career-readiness traits of college graduates all achievable through liberal arts studies.

It's true that PayScale's list of bachelor degrees with high income potential is dominated by science and engineering. But a humanities background can give you the foundation to solve problems, lead and collaborate with others, which can help you rise through the ranks in any industry. You never know where your liberal arts background may take you. Late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien majored in history and literature. Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive of Starbucks, majored in communications.

Follow these steps to gain confidence in your formidable knowledge, relay it to employers and land a job you love.

Test your interests

Liberal arts students often feel overwhelmed by all the career directions they can go, says Karyn McCoy, assistant vice-president of DePaul University's Career Center in Chicago. If you're a political science major, for instance, you could pursue law, journalism, business, international relations, academia, the list goes on.

Before you graduate, hone in on what excites you by volunteering, working part time, joining extracurricular clubs and taking on internships. You'll build additional skills that can make you more marketable with employers. My experiences as an intern at nonprofit legal organizations helped me get my first job as a paralegal.

"In many cases in job interviews, it's those other applied experiences that students have had that help them stand out," says Paul Timmins, director of career services for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Use tools such as the O*NET Interest Profiler, sponsored by the Department of Labor, to explore potential occupations based on the types of tasks and job-related activities that most interest you. You also can ask your college's alumni relations director to put you in touch with alumni with your degree. Set up a phone call or brief coffee meeting to discuss how they translated their liberal arts background into a successful career.

Own your skills

It takes practice to assess exactly how your major has prepared you for the workplace.

"Students don't necessarily know how to identify the skills that they're gaining or to talk about them in a way that sells them to an employer," McCoy says.

Brainstorm with your college's career services department, a trusted professor or an internship supervisor about the transferable skills you can bring to the workplace. McCoy also recommends scrutinizing a few job descriptions that interest you, then writing down an experience showing how you meet each qualification.

If the employer wants someone who can take initiative, for instance, you'd share in a cover letter or during an interview your experience at forming an anthropology study group. It would be even better if you could report a measurable positive result, such as a classwide increase in test scores. Is the company looking for a strong collaborator? Your work on a team that curated the new on-campus museum exhibit would be relevant.

Remember, too, that your first job is a single rung on your career ladder, McCoy says. You can prepare incessantly and still find you'd rather work in a different company or industry that better fits your passions or lifestyle.

"Each step is going to give you something, whether it's a specific skill or an insight that says, ‘OK, this definitely isn't it.'"

Associated Press

擁有文科學位如何找到工作

很多文科專業的學生可能會覺得，自己未來的求職方向并不清晰。他們常常會問：“我畢業后怎樣能利用自己的專業學位找到工作呢？”

隨著年齡的增長，我愈發堅決地捍衛受到過度中傷的文科專業。我就是一個驕傲的英語專業畢業生。有人認為，學習文學只是一個可愛的小癖好，而非選擇了一條職業道路，但文學卻引領我在新聞業小有成就。

如今身處一個現實世界，我看到公司企業對優秀的作家、傳媒人和研究學者求賢若渴。根據全美大學和雇主協會2016年春的調查報告，雇主將批判性思維、專業化和團隊合作，視為大學畢業生做好就業準備的最重要特征，而這些特質都可以通過文科教育得以實現。

誠然，PayScale網站上具有高薪潛能的學士學位名單中，科學和工程學占據上風。但擁有文科學歷背景能夠給你打下解決問題的能力基礎，能夠指引你，并教會你與他人協同合作，這能夠幫助你在任何一個行業中出類拔萃。你永遠不會知道文科背景最終會將你引向何種職業道路。深夜脫口秀主持人柯南·奧布萊恩主修的是歷史和文學，而星巴克的主席和首席執行官霍華德·舒爾茨主修的是傳播學。

遵從以下步驟，讓你在自己強大的知識寶庫中獲取自信，傳遞給雇主，從而收獲一份你喜愛的工作。

測定職業興趣

芝加哥的德保羅大學就業中心的助理副主席嘉琳·麥考伊表示，文科學生通常會因為面對太多職業選擇而不知所措。比如，如果你是政治學專業學生，你可以從事法律、新聞、商業、國際關系、學術研究等等各種職業。

畢業前，通過參加志愿活動、兼職、加入課外俱樂部和接受工作實習，鎖定自己的興趣點。這樣你會擁有受雇主青睞的額外技能。我在非營利法律機構做實習生的經歷，就幫助我得到了第一份工作——律師助理。

“在眾多工作面試的案例中，正是學生擁有的其他工作實踐經歷幫助他們脫穎而出，”位于明尼阿波利斯的明尼蘇達大學文學學院就業服務中心主管保羅·蒂明斯介紹說。

你可以使用像由美國勞工部贊助的O*NET興趣分析器這樣的工具，根據你最感興趣的工作任務類型和相關活動，來發掘你的職業潛能。你也可以讓你們學院的校友關系主管幫你聯系你們專業的校友，給他們打個電話或者簡單見一面喝杯咖啡，聊聊他們是如何將其文科背景轉化為成功的職業道路。

掌握職業技能

你需要去實踐，才能準確地評估自己的專業是否讓你做好了進入職場的準備。

麥考伊表示：“學生不一定知道如何去鑒別他們正在獲取的技能，也不一定知道如何與雇主交談才能將這些技能展示出來。”

找你們學院就業服務部門的人員，或找一位你信賴的教授或一位實習導師一起，來一場頭腦風暴，想好你能帶到職場的技能。麥考伊還建議你要仔細研究一些自己感興趣的職位描述，然后記錄下來自己符合這些要求的相關經歷。

比如，如果雇主希望招聘一個具有主動性的員工，那么你可以在求職信或面試中，分享你如何組建一個人類學學習小組的經歷。你要是能提供可量化的成果報告，比如全班成績普遍提高，那樣結果會更好。如果一家公司在尋找一個較強的團隊協作者，那么你在組織校園博物館展覽團隊中的工作經歷就是公司需要的。

(本段的翻譯有獎征集中)

“你走的每一步臺階都會讓你有所收獲，無論它是一項特定的技能，還是一種能告誡你‘好吧，這個絕對不行’的洞察力”。

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上期獲獎者：山東威海　哈爾濱工業大學（威海）孟宇