Humanities

It depends on your skills and experience, but there is a wide range of options.

Most job advertisements or position descriptions list the skills that the recruiter is seeking from the applicants. Some jobs require specific subject matter knowledge, but probably most new graduate jobs require what are known as ‘transferable skills’. These are skills such as written and verbal communication, organisation and time management, problem solving and research skills. Job advertisements might also specify characteristics such as capacity for hard work, flexibility, working under pressure, drive and initiative, leadership potential.

If you think about your studies, you will have developed most, if not all the skills they want. Think about:

• the opportunities you have had to express yourself in written and verbal form,
• how you have had to organise and manage your workload to meet specific, sometimes challenging deadlines,
• your approach to analysis and research in your area of study, developing ideas in creative, but justifiable ways.

If you also think about experience you have gained through other activities at King’s, at school or through temporary work, you will probably be able to respond to many of the employers’ stated requirements.

So, there are many, many careers that you could choose. A good way to start your thinking about jobs of interest to you is to look at what other Humanities Graduates from King’s have gone on to do. Some are listed here; more can be accessed by following the links to specific subject areas at the bottom of this page.

• Museum – Education Officer
• Harper Collins – Editorial Assistant
• Jim Henson Productions – Assistant Producer
• Shelter – Housing Aid Caseworker
• Borough Council – Communication Officer
• Retail Manager
• Investment Bank – Equity Trading
• Pharmaceutical company – Data Manager
• Recruitment Company – Human Resources Assistant
• University – Librarian
• Royal Automobile Club, Administrator
• Insisive Media, Sales Executive
• Lowe London, Account Planner
• Sandhurst Military Academy, Army Officer

Now that you understand more about what might be possible, comes the task of working out what would be right for you. This is an important and sometimes particularly difficult activity for Humanities students, just because of the breadth of options.

Even if you know what you want to do, it is probably still worth going through this process to check your assumptions and to help prepare yourself to answer difficult questions that could be asked during a selection process.

Step 1 is to formulate a statement of what you are looking for in a career. Some fortunate people seem to have always known their future direction, while others struggle to decide on their first job after graduation. If you are one of the ‘undecideds’, here are six questions that should help to structure your thoughts. Record your answers – they may change as you go further through the process! How important is it to me to:

1. have a job that interests and challenges me intellectually or creatively?
2. interact with other people, perhaps as part of a team in a service, support or leadership capacity?
3. have a job that offers a working environment or routine that will suit my needs and aspirations e.g. travel?
4. work with a group or organisation that shares my values? If so, what are those values?
5. have a job that is dynamic and financially rewarding – short term, long term?
6. build a career that provides the opportunity for recognition and/or progression? If so, how fast and to what level?

Your answers should enable you to develop a set of criteria against which you can evaluate different job roles and opportunities.

Step 2 is to review the areas of work that might be of interest, for example Public Service, Law, Teaching, Advertising and Public Relations, Journalism, Broadcasting, Publishing, Arts Administration, Finance, Charities, International Development, etc. There are numerous sources of information about each of these employment areas. Take a look at the section Employment information and check the resources in the Careers Service Library.

Potential employers will expect you to know enough about the sector to have made an informed choice, to be able to justify why it interests you and what you expect to be able to contribute. Do you understand what they are trying to achieve and how they measure their success? For example, in the case of museums, they might describe their mission as providing public access to their exhibits in order to raise the level of knowledge of …. They might also have specific goals regarding the number and profile of their visitors and will inevitably have to take account of financial factors.

Step 3 is to identify the job roles in an employment sector that are of specific interest to you. Advertising attracts some very creative people, but is also renowned as a highly commercial and competitive industry. Each company will comprise a broad range of job roles reflecting the different aspects of their business model.

Again, there are numerous sources of information about job roles in different employment sectors. See the section Employment information or the AGCAS occupational profiles which describe in considerable detail what each job entails, how it is rewarded, entry requirements, etc. The King’s Careers Service library has this information, plus a broad range of other materials to help you build up a picture of the role that will meet your initial aspirations.

There are two aspects to this:

1. Finding out enough about the job and the organisation to be reasonably sure that it is the job you want
2. Presenting your application in a positive way that enables the employer to be comfortable that you are the right candidate to fill the position.

Most employers want to attract the right person for the job. That means they will present themselves and the jobs they offer in a positive, but realistic way. They will expect you to do the same in presenting what you have to offer.

In many cases there are multiple applicants for each job, so understanding what they are looking for is vital, if you are to improve your chances of selection. You can then tailor your application to present your skills and experience in an appropriate way to address their requirements, but keep in mind that selection processes are rigorous and getting a job is only the first step – you will also need to perform well when you have got it, so it needs to be right for both parties.

The King’s Careers Service has practical guides and review the section on preparing CVs and applications. You can also get feedback on your CVs and Application forms through Quick Queries. Careers Advisers are also available for Mock Interviews to prepare you for the real thing.