Career Options
Majoring in history is excellent preparation for students interested in a teaching career, the legal profession, or advanced work in the discipline. Students wishing to become business executives, administrators, and public servants profit immensely by gaining the methodological skills of the historian. Historians learn to gather, synthesize, analyze, and interpret evidence; they become skilled in presenting their conclusions to a general audience in a lucid and logical manner.
Career Planning
Cal Poly Career Services
Please visit Cal Poly Career Services (Bldg. 124) for assistance with your career goals. Career Services provides resources for developing career plans, creating a resume, finding internships and full-time jobs, developing graduate school plans, and making successful career transitions. Some of the many available publications in Career Services include:
- “What can you do with an undergraduate degree in history?” (2009), from Careers for History Majors: A miniguide from the American Historical Association
- Careers for Students of History (American Historical Association, 2002)
- Norm Augustine, “The Education Our Economy Needs: We lag in science, but students’ historical illiteracy hurts our politics and our businesses,” The Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2011 [PDF]
- Alternatives to the Peace Corps. A Directory of Third World & U.S. Volunteer Opportunities. Institute for Food First, 1999.
- Axelrod-Contrada, Joan. Career Opportunities in Politics, Government, and Activism. Ferguson, 2003.
- Camenson, Blythe. Great Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors. VGM, 2002.
- Careers in Nonprofits & Government Agencies. WetFeet, Inc., 2005.
- DeGalan, Julie, and Stephen Lambert. Great Jobs for History Majors. VGM, 2001.
- Echaore-McDavid, Susan. Career Opportunities in Education. Checkmark Books, 2007.
- Homan, Mark S. Promoting Community Change - Making it Happen in the Real World. Brooks/Cole - Thomson Learning, 2004.
- Human Rights Organizations & Periodicals Directory 2003-2004. Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, 2003.
- Internships. Thomson Peterson’s, 2005.
- Marek, Rosanne J. Opportunities in Social Science Careers. VGM, 2004.
- Top Careers for History Graduates. Checkmark Books, 2004.
- Alumni Network Binders
- Over 30 books on the graduate school search and application process
Further Education
History Doctoral Programs in the United States and Canada [AHA]
Available Internships and Employment
History Internship Program
Mustang Jobs