While getting a bachelor's degree in philosophy is not for everyone, it is morethan just for those who want to teach college level philosophy. Studyingphilosophy, aside from the considerable intrinsic pleasures it affords,prepares students for a wide range of careers.
Below are the figures for the five majors withthe largest volume of applicants for that year.
Compare the numbers above with those of philosophymajors below.
According to data from Educational Testing Service(ETS), the administrators of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), philosophymajors did better between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2004on the combined GRE score than students with every other major except physics/astronomy and mathematics. Compared to other majors, philosophy majors had the highest verbal scores, the highest analytical writing scorces, and the highest quantitative scores of any humanities major. (The data is from the ETS.)
Jobs for Philosophy Majors
According to an article in the New York Times(April 6, 2008, Education section), the popularity of philosophy as an undergraduate major is increasing. One of the reasons is, according to Matthew Goldstein, the City University of New York chancellor,"philosophy is really the mother ship from which all of these disciplines[humanities or political systems or sciences in general] grow.”
The following article discusses job prospects for liberal arts majors, such as philosophy majors.
Think Your Liberal Arts Degree Won't Get You a Real Job?
THINK AGAIN!
By Laura Raines
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
05/04/07, Pages R1 &R7
Your passion is philosophy, English literature or American history. That's fine for college,
but what does it get you in the real world? Are you doomed to a sequence of random, boring and
low-paying jobs once you leave the ivory towers behind?
Not if you know how to translate your education into the world of work.
Emory University reports that, historically, more than 90 percent of job postings at its
Career Center and on-campus interview opportunities are open to all majors. Recently, a
representative from Goldman Sachs made a presentation on why people who major in the liberal
arts make great analysts on Wall Street.
"Liberal arts majors are in high demand by the employers who interview on our campus,"
said Phil Rockwell, a counselor with Georgia State University Career Services. "Companies want
employees with good communication skills. They need people who can think critically; who can write
and speak well; who can run projects, interact on teams and sell on paper or in person.
"Liberal arts majors can do all those things. Our challenge is to get them to expand their
own thinking — to know their values, skills and interests so that they can put their degrees to work."
He encourages students to plug into the university's Panther Career Net, where they can use
assessment instruments such as SIGI 3, which links personal values and skills with actual job titles,
or the Vault, which also explores education and career pathways.
"There might be 100-plus job titles for the English major who doesn't want to teach, but the
student has to do the research," Rockwell said.
His office also sponsors Career Conversations sessions with industry leaders during the year
to spark students' imaginations and give insider points on how to get a foot in the door in various
career fields.
"Students will tell me that, if they get a degree in math, they'll have to teach, and I
tell them, no, you don't! There are so many things you can do, and there is a universe of tools out
there to help you find those jobs," Rockwell said.
A Winding Road
While it's a straight shot for an accounting major to seek employment with a corporate
accounting firm, the career road for a philosophy or English major likely will have more twists.
Todd Wilson graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor of arts in anthropology
and a bachelor of science in secondary education with a history emphasis.
"I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I thought my best avenue would be teaching. Student-teaching
ninth-grade world history was the most rewarding and most depressing thing I've ever done," he said.
Because he didn't graduate during the teacher-hiring season, his 100 teaching applications went
unnoticed, but a posting on an Internet jobs board led to a job at a small firm that designs Web sites.
That job was an awkward fit, so Wilson fell back on college editing experience and took a job at
ProEdit, where he wrote technical and marketing copy for large corporations. That led to a job with IBM's
global innovation services group.
Today, he's an account director with Ant Farm Interactive, a global agency that specializes in Web
site and mobile advertising.
"I have a lot of global clients, and it has been enormously helpful to have a varied background,"
Wilson said. "Anthropology taught me to understand and appreciate differences in cultures and people. History
taught me about research and how to analyze materials for their underlying influences, and my teaching courses
taught me how to speak in front of a crowd."
Wilson is "thrilled with his education and doesn't regret it for a minute." His advice to liberal arts
majors: "Learn to bring everything you study into the real world."
Translating Skills
Joe Bechely, senior account executive in integrated marketing communications with Manning, Selvage & Lee,
doesn't believe that anything you learn ever will be a detriment to your career. He advises young people to chase
their dreams and follow what they like to do.
Bechely chose to major in American Sign Language interpreting at the University of Tennessee because
he loved it. He earned a master's degree in college administration at Florida State University because he liked
working with students.
While working as the assistant director of student activities at Emory University, he did a weekly radio
segment on around-town activities for Star 94, which led to his hosting a talk show with a startup TV network in
Los Angeles. The station went bankrupt about two years ago, but, by then, Bechely knew that he wanted a career in
communications.
He was ready when the hiring managers at Manning, Selvage & Lee wanted to know how his experience prepared
him for the job.
"What we do here is translating complex ideas into something that people can digest — that's where interpreting
comes in," he said. "My job in higher education taught me how to manage people, time and projects, and hosting my own TV
show taught me how to sell a project."
He got the job, which he believes is a perfect fit.
"The whole point of a college degree is to prove that you're trainable," Bechely said. "Any employer will
teach you the specifics of a job, but you need to show that you know how to learn."
Analytical Thinking
Having a degree in history and political science from Emory University made him more willing to listen and
learn in all of his jobs, said Lee Bradley, managing director of SAMCO Capital Markets Inc.
"I didn't start out with any preconceived notions about business, so in new situations I was adaptable
and open-minded. I'd rather hire someone with a liberal arts degree, because they don't know everything, but
they know how to think analytically," Bradley said.
Joe Bechely earned a bachelor's degree in American Sign Language interpreting; he now "interprets"
complicated ideas as a senior account executive in integrated marketing communications with Manning, Selvage & Lee.
He planned to go to law school, but he took corporate and business jobs. When an aunt left him $10,000, he
started investing in stocks.
Bradley was running his own boutique brokerage when a client asked him to help raise money for a community
bank in Savannah. In the last 20 years, he's become the "Johnny Appleseed of banking," raising investment capital
to start 122 banks in 20 states. In 2005, he merged his company with SAMCO.
"I'm still doing the same thing; I just have more resources. I love working in different communities, and
this job allows me to meet some of the most fabulous people," he said.
He advises liberal arts majors to get a good education and stay open-minded about where they might end up
in the real world.
Major is Minor
Students think that their GPAs and majors are the most important factors to employers, Rockwell said, but
skills and initiative are what the job market requires. A National Association of Colleges and Employers survey
showed that what companies want most from new college graduates are communication skills, motivation/initiative,
teamwork, leadership, flexibility, technical skills and interpersonal skills.
Liberal arts students often have more transferable skills than they realize, but it's up to them to
recognize their strengths and be able to articulate them. Unless you help him or her, the hiring manager may
never make the leap from your study of cultural anthropology to your ability to size up a business market.
The challenge, say career coaches, is that too many new graduates don't know how to make that leap.
George DuPuy, dean of the School of Business Management at Shorter College's satellite campus in Atlanta,
became interested in career coaching for students in the 1980s, when he realized that even business majors didn't
have a clue about the job search process.
Seeing too many bright kids graduate without jobs, return home to live with their parents and take the first
jobs that offered them paychecks, DuPuy wrote "Career Preparation: Transition Guide for College Students" (Prentice Hall, 2003).
According to a Money magazine article in January, this phenomenon is so common that social scientists have
dubbed it "adultolescence." More than 65 percent of college graduates return home to live for five years or more after
graduation, compared with 53 percent in 2002.
DuPuy recently founded Career Launch (www.welaunchcareers.com), an Atlanta consulting firm that specializes
in helping college students and graduates find fulfilling careers.
"Before they graduate, students need to figure out who they are by using personal assessment tools to discover
their strengths, weaknesses, abilities and interests," DuPuy said. "That way, when they research the world of work,
they'll have a better idea of what occupations are a good fit."
DuPuy shows students how to look at courses from the perspective of skills acquired. He coaches them in the
use of networking and informational interviews to find jobs and narrow down career choices. Students are more
successful when they focus on career paths, rather than interviewing with every possible employer, he said.
DuPuy believes internships are a valuable tool, because they provide students with looks at real jobs,
help them narrow down career selections and can lead to job offers, if the students impress their bosses.
"When they see the real work environment, not the TV version, they can tailor their résumés to what they
want to do and market themselves aggressively to specific industries or companies," DuPuy said.
Far from useless or unmarketable, your liberal arts degree can lead to a range of job titles — not just
"waiter," as the old joke states. The key is to move beyond your specific knowledge of Shakespeare and Plato to
sell the benefits of your broad-based education.
If you can argue that four years of papers, projects, activities and interpersonal relationships taught you
how to think and solve problems, you're well on your way to being a good investment for employers.
Consultation
Prospective majors are urged to consult with Messages will go to the address from which subscribe so you need to resubscribe every time you change e-mail addresses.