Career Opportunities

I'm currently studying BA (Hons) Politics and Contemporary History, however my career ideas are next to none.

I thought about teaching but i feel that it's something that I should only do if I really wanted to.

I'm open to any ideas for careers, I just need some ideas to make decent money and not want to quit my job (if that exists), even if that includes studying for a masters.

Thank you!!

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by rebgruibgue

I'm currently studying BA (Hons) Politics and Contemporary History, however my career ideas are next to none.
I thought about teaching but i feel that it's something that I should only do if I really wanted to.
I'm open to any ideas for careers, I just need some ideas to make decent money and not want to quit my job (if that exists), even if that includes studying for a masters.
Thank you!!

When doing a degree in any subject, you typically get 3 choices:

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Proceed into academia in the subject

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Teach the subject

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Do a job related to the subject

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Do a job that requires qualifications less than a degree or nothing at all

As a degree in politics and contemporary history is not a required degree for any role out there, the third option doesn't matter as much. The only thing that really comes to mind if you really push it is a political analyst which might require a degree in politics.
You typically don't need any qualifications to become a politician e.g. you could have skived school, messed up all of your grades, did nothing worthwhile with your life and still be eligible to become a politician in the UK.

On the other hand, there are 600+ different careers that you would be eligible for with just A Levels and GCSEs. It's kind of difficult to pin this down if you don't have anything to narrow things down. You are also kind of spoilt for choice.
The only sort of careers where I would really err with your degree alone would be some things in healthcare, engineering, law, and architecture.

If you haven't really done your homework on job requirements, then I recommend looking at the following:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/browse-sector
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers/job-sector
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/sectors
https://life-pilot.co.uk/job-sectors/sectors

I personally recommend a professional qualification specific for the role that you want to do over a degree in the subject in most cases if you intend to go into industry only. However, you would also need to be aware that if you do a professional qualification that is recognised at NVQ Level 7 (equivalent to master's degree) or above then you won't be eligible for student finance for your master's degree (unless the ELQ policy is removed). Anything Level 6 and under you should still be fine with assuming you have passed your Third Year of your degree.

I just need some ideas to make decent money and not want to quit my job (if that exists)
This is so vague. It can virtually mean anything. I could recommend toilet cleaner as a job, but I would doubt that's something you want to do. What's "decent money"? What would make you want to quit your job?
Decent money to me is anything above £1m per year. This would eliminate 99.9%+ of all available jobs. Your definition might be something different.
What drives me up the wall in one job might be something you absolutely love. For example, I consider maths a necessity in my job. You on the other hand would likely avoid it like the plague and would rather be crucified than to do maths. I don't know. You would need to be explicit and specific for anyone to make any meaningful contribution.

Also, where you state that you consider studying for a master's, why are you entertaining this idea if you only intend to work in industry? There is only a handful of acceptable reasons to do a master's:

You intend to go into academia and you intend to do the master's to supplement your application for a doctorate/go straight into teaching in academia

The specific role that you intend to pivot into requires a specific approved degree that you don't currently have and a master's would save you 2 years of study e.g. nursing

The specific role that you are currently working in requires a specific master's degree in order to grant you chartered status or in order to qualify for the role e.g. architecture, engineering

You want to pivot into a different discipline for academic research

You have a loving passion for the new subject, and you want to study it for the sake of learning about the subject

If none of the above applies, then you don't really have any business doing a master's, even if you are more than capable of doing the course. Do note, for the majority of jobs, having a master's degree won't help you get the job and would instead make you "overqualified" for a lot of them. If it's not a strict requirement of the job, I wouldn't even mention it in my application or CV.

If you seriously don't know what you want to do irrespective, then I would recommend asking yourself a lot of reflective questions e.g.

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What would make you want to wake up and cannot wait to start the day?

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What are your strengths and weaknesses?

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What are your values?

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What do you absolutely need in a job for it to be worth your while other than money? What would you absolutely refuse to do irrespective of how much you are paid?

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What would you die refusing to shut up about?

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What do most of your friends come to you for in terms of advice and knowledge?

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What sort of person do most people know you as - be it friends, family, or strangers?

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What did you thought you grew up to be when you were 5?

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Why did you picked the degree and A Levels that you did?

If the above didn't helped, then I recommend considering looking into ChatGPT to get it to ask those questions for you to answer. The typical prompt (or something similar) that I would use is:
"You are a world renowned career coach with an extensive psychology background. Ask me a series of questions to uncover my personality, qualifications, background, needs, wants, and drives, then recommend me a list of at least 15 different careers (with their advantages, disadvantages, and salaries) specific to the UK that would meet my requirements. Include what further qualifications or steps that I would need to take to pursue these careers"
It takes about 15-20 minutes to answer all the necessary questions before it makes its suggestions.

Even when you do have come up with specific careers that you would be interested in, I would try to network with the people in those specific roles and ask them very detailed career related questions about what it's actually like. What you see on paper might very well be a different story when you are in the field.

Reply 2

MaterialsEng

Original post by rebgruibgue

I'm currently studying BA (Hons) Politics and Contemporary History, however my career ideas are next to none.
I thought about teaching but i feel that it's something that I should only do if I really wanted to.
I'm open to any ideas for careers, I just need some ideas to make decent money and not want to quit my job (if that exists), even if that includes studying for a masters.
Thank you!!

Why did you pick a Politics and Contemporary History degree? Was there a topic you were interested in that related to a job? Research? Might not be the best pay but it would be degree-related.

If not then ask your peers, speak to the head of education, your personal tutor, your profs about what recent grads have gone on to do?

I am not really sure what you would do with a Politics and History degree tbh, I imagine a lot of things that are not directly related to the subject... transferable skills for other careers etc. Potentially policy/business-related roles.

Reply 3

MaterialsEng

Journalism is the only other one I can think of, working for a media company etc. Maybe as a political history advisor? Not sure how many of those jobs are available though and at what pay.