by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
Let's face it; liberal-arts degrees get a bum rap. Everyone wants to
know what in the world you're going to be able to do with that
philosophy or history or literature degree. There's lots of material
out there about why it's a great idea to major in liberal arts, as
well as information on how to choose a career that maximizes your
liberal-arts degree. But there's not much written about how to
actually market your degree to employers.
There's some disagreement among experts and pollsters about the
importance of one's major to employers, but the prevailing opinion is
that -- with the exception of some highly specialized and technical
fields -- the degree is much more important to employer than what you
majored in. That's great news for liberal-arts grads.
Let's assume you're pretty close to graduation and thus, it's
probably way too late to change majors (and heck, you wouldn't want
to anyway). It's also probably too late to pick up a business minor.
Let's assume you have some idea of what you'd like to do for a living
-- even if you're not sure whether your liberal-arts degree will take
you there. Having participated in internships certainly could boost
your currency and help you sell that liberal-arts degree. But let's
say that you didn't partake in any internships. Let's say you have to
market yourself to employers as a liberal-arts grad virtually on the
strength of the degree alone. This article will give you some ideas
of how to do that.
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The Value of a Liberal-Arts Education
"I strongly believe in the value of a liberal arts college education.
The liberal arts include political science, English, history,
philosophy, and related fields. Liberal arts classes tend to focus on
ideas and how to handle them, and the courses are organized around
reading books, having discussions, and composing papers. The liberal
arts curriculum aims to help students achieve two things: 1) to teach
them how to think critically, or how to build intellectual muscles
that allow them to analyze and organize ideas, and 2) to broaden
their understanding of the world by having them grapple with
underlying principles and issues that are behind the challenges
facing society and themselves. There is a myth that liberal arts
degrees do not lead to any jobs, but this is quite untrue. Liberal
arts degrees are great preparation for careers in business, teaching,
journalism, law, the arts, and many other careers. I would say that
liberal arts training is an important preparation for anyone who
wants to be a leader in society ... Looking to the future, I believe
that liberal arts training will be even more valuable as American
jobs will be increasingly information age jobs where people will be
required to effectively manage ideas and information. Liberal arts
grads will have the ability to adapt and re-train themselves to take
advantage of opportunities that arise in our increasingly dynamic
global economy."
-- Timothy Landhuis, a political-science grad interviewed on the Web
site of his alma mater, Cal State Easy Bay.
"Liberal arts majors and business majors have different strengths, and both are appropriate
for management consulting positions. Liberal arts majors, particularly those in the quantitative
or analytic liberal arts (economics, statistics, psychology, life sciences, etc.) have excellent
problem solving skills, and are able to frame a problem, consider options and make
reasoned decisions based on investigation. Graduates in those areas have been taught
how to learn, how to analyze problems and how to use reasoning to reach conclusions.
While they may not know the context or language of the business world, they are intelligent
and flexible enough to learn quickly.
Business graduates have a more pragmatic approach, and come with relevant studies and
knowledge. They know the framework, past precedents and current issues, so they are
able to step into a position and perform quickly. As they expend their experience, they
are able to apply relevant knowledge to specific business situations and recognize the patterns.
My caveat for liberal arts majors is that they will have to work very hard initially to bridge
the knowledge gap with business students, but once they have, they can be talented
performers. My caveat for business graduates is that they realize that their education has
given them enough knowledge to paint situations with broad strokes, but they need to be
flexible to new, untested approaches."
-- John S. Logan, Human Resources Manager, ZS Associates, Princeton, NJ
"A liberal arts education liberates minds and prepares leaders. It
emphasizes undergraduate education, high academic standards, and
freedom of thought and inquiry. Liberal arts students are exposed to
a wide range of ideas, both popular and unpopular."
-- Web page of the School of Liberal Arts, Georgia College & State University
"The Liberal Arts are in great demand. They are a part of every
student's curriculum because Liberal Arts' skills and understanding
are essential to business, government, science, and, indeed, to all
intelligent human endeavors. They not only prepare one for the job
market, they make life worthwhile.
"The Liberal Arts are the humanities and social sciences, and
intelligence and wonder are their springboards. Wondering what causes
human societies and cultures to flourish or decline, leads to the
study of Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Political
Science, and Sociology. These disciplines enable us to learn from the
past, understand the present, and build hope for the future.
Wondering about the human predicament, global cultures, and the
stirring eloquence of literature, leads to the study of
Communication, English, Foreign Languages, Philosophy, and Religion.
These disciplines enable us to write and speak clearly and
effectively, to analyze the human condition, and to give expression
and understanding to our culture and individuality."
-- Dean of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts, quoted on
the school's Web site
"We have an incredibly good sales force, and we're looking for
liberal arts people who have a broad background and are not afraid to
get up in front of a crowd of medical students at Yale or Harvard and
tell them why they should buy Welch-Allyn products. People that can
think on their feet, that have a good sense of humor, that have
enough knowledge that they can communicate the benefits of our
products to our customers. There we look for liberal arts people."
-- William Allyn, president of Welch Allyn Inc., and chairman and CEO
of Welch Allyn Ventures LLC, quoted by Carol Boll in LeMoyne College
Magazine
"What is most needed in management today is the ability to think
independently and creatively; to function in an imperfect, changing,
and ambiguous environment; to make decisions when all the data
required to solve the problem are lacking; to negotiate and
compromise; to be risk-seeking and entrepreneurial, not to rely on
quantitative and analytical data; to recognize short- and long-term
implications; to avoid the obvious and solely subjective; to develop
effective working relations with peers; to motivate people and
resolve conflicts; and to establish effective informational networks.
These are all abilities fostered by the liberal arts."
-- Arthur F. (Skip) Oppenheimer, A Businessman Looks at the Values of
Liberal Arts, ADE Bulletin
"John Urheim '62 is the chief executive of a technology firm in
Colorado. He reports that he is often asked, 'What's a liberal arts
graduate doing running a high-tech company?' His response is, 'Who
better than a liberal arts graduate?' John says that the liberal arts
prepared him to think clearly and to understand the relationships
between science, market forces, and human behavior. He is prepared to
learn and adjust to the unexpected."
-- Leslie H. Garner Jr., The Vitality of the Liberal Arts at Cornell College
"The liberal arts are more than bodies of subject matter -- history,
philosophy, literature, mathematics, science, or the social sciences.
They are more than vast quantities of information. At their best in
the college classroom, they constitute the living legacy of the great
thinkers and doers in our -- and the world's -- civilization. In the
classrooms of dynamic professors, the liberal arts connect learning
to life. Mere note taking will not do; there must be debate,
discussion dialogue among students and faculty; students must learn
to defend and communicate their thoughts and beliefs, in well-argued
oral and written discourse. Every career is enriched by such an
education."
-- Dr. Thomas R. McDaniel, senior vice president at Converse College,
The Practicality of a Liberal Arts Education, published in the
Chattanooga Times Free Press and on the Converse Web site
"Liberal arts education is the knowledge matrix of the global
competitive environment. With its cultivation of scientific, social
and cultural literacy, it prepares the student for an increasingly
diverse and complex world. With its development of critical and
analytical skills, it prepares the student to grasp the direction of
the changes that sweep over us. It is the education that mirrors the
world in which we live and shapes the leaders we require."
-- Richard J. Scaldini, Making the Case for Liberal Education,
excerpted from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 9, 2002, and
published on the Web site of the Association of American Colleges and
Universities
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1. Say It Loud: You're Liberally Educated and Proud
If you're hanging your head and acting defensive -- or doomed -- when
your parents or your friends with business or engineering majors give
you a hard time over your "unmarketable" liberal-arts degree, get
over it! A liberal-arts degree is a badge of honor! Sought out by
many employers, it's a highly versatile ticket to a wide range of
jobs. Few jobs are outside the reach of a liberal-arts grad. It's
true that I'm biased because I am a card-carrying liberal-arts grad
myself. But even if you don't believe me, it's to your advantage to
believe in your degree. The more you believe in the great choice of
major you made, the better you will be able to market yourself to
employers. To pump yourself up even more, read some of the quotes at
the right of this page about the value of a liberal-arts education.
Sometimes liberal-arts majors struggle a bit more than other majors
when launching their careers, but the evidence shows that they tend
to advance farther and be more sought out by CEOs for high-level jobs
than non-liberal-arts grads. Writer Todd Larson quotes the director
of Stanford University's MBA program as saying his program doesn't
prefer applicants who had business as an undergraduate major;
instead, liberal-arts majors are among the program's preferred
applicants.
While the specialized skills that come with other majors may seem to
be an advantage, the universality of liberal-arts skills truly is
your ace in the hole because you are not limited by a specialization.
Employers can train new hires in specialized skills on the job. But
they can't train workers to have the critical-thinking skills,
problem-solving skills, and the capacity for lifelong learning that
today's organizations require. Experts say that most people will
change careers five to seven times in a lifetime; thus, specialized
skills may be of limited value in the long run, while the depth and
breadth of liberal-arts skills are limitless. "Well-rounded" is a
modifier frequently applied to liberal-arts grads. Liberal-arts grads
can see the "big picture."
2. Sell Your Passion
The neat thing about many liberal-arts grads is that they chose their
major because they truly loved the subject matter. They were not
motivated by what they could do occupationally with the major or how
much money they could make after graduating with that major. They
were motivated by the pure joy of wanting to learn the field in which
they majored.
Sure, there are exceptions -- students who just kind of fell into their majors
or those who thought they loved the subject matter but ended up
loathing it when it was too late to change majors. But if you're one
of those who chose your major because you were passionate about it,
you can use that passion in your job search.
Now, the chances are fairly high that many, if not most, of the jobs
you'll be looking at will not be directly related to your major. But
you can still express your passion for your major to employers. Your
passion shows your enthusiasm, your love of learning, your
commitment, your dedication.
Chances are, too, that if you loved your major, you have done well
academically, and your academic success then becomes another selling
point.
3. Sharpen Your Focus
The world is truly your oyster as a liberal-arts grad, because
unlike, say, a finance major who has been trained for jobs in
finance, your training qualifies you for a much wider range of
careers. But that doesn't mean you should open yourself up to every
kind of job or adopt an "I'll do anything" posture. Employers want to
know what you want to do, and the more focused you are, the easier it
will be to land a job.
As a resume writer I frequently have clients submit resumes to me for
critique. When they tell me before sending their resume that they're
not sure what they want to do or are open to a number of
possibilities, I can always predict that this lack of focus will be
reflected in their resumes, and it always is. I tell them that the
more sharply they can focus on what they want to do, the better their
resumes will be and the easier it will be to get a job. If you're not
quite sure what you want to do, seek help from your school's career
center. Assessments are available to help you hone in on careers that
align with your skills, values, and interests. And remember when you
land that first job, you're not making a lifetime commitment. If the
first career you try turns out not to be for you, you can make a
change down the road.
4. Your Skills: Know Them, Embrace Them, Market Them
Here's more great news for liberal-arts majors: The skills that
employers almost universally seek are the ones you've gained through
your liberal-arts studies. Time and again, research shows that
communication skills are by far the skills most sought after by
employers. As a liberal-arts major, you have learned to communicate
orally and in writing. I found myself, as a liberal-arts grad,
teaching in a business school for several years. Because I taught
business communication, I required my students, most of them business
majors, to do quite a lot of writing. I felt sorry for the business
majors in my class who would tell me that they hadn't written
anything for their courses since their first-year English classes. I
knew their cohorts in liberal arts were writing every semester and
polishing skills that would take them far in the workplace.
You probably were required to take a foreign language, while your
cohorts in business and other majors may not have been. Language
skills and multicultural sensitivity are highly marketable skills in
today's workplace.
The list of liberal-arts skills goes on and on, and our colleague,
Donald Asher, has developed some great summaries and inventories that
help liberal-arts majors realize they have more marketable skills
than they knew. Check them out:
A. G. Watts, a professor of career development, notes a shift in
workplace focus from "what I do" to "what I can do." Liberal-arts
majors in particular are the "what I can do" people.
5. Give Your Skills a Little Boost
Despite the wonderfulness of the liberal-arts degree, there are a few
skills that liberal-arts students could stand to polish to add to
their marketability. While it may be too late to change your major,
it's not too late to enhance your skill set just a bit. Computer
skills, for example, are a must in the vast majority of jobs, and if
your liberal-arts studies left you deficient in computer literacy,
you can still take a class to beef up those skills, whether at your
college or at one of the many technical schools that offer computer
classes. You may even be able to take a class online or have a
computer-geek friend tutor you.
If you're interested in a career in business, and it's too late to
take business classes, you can still learn a lot by reading such
publications as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, and
Fortune, watching business programs on CNBC, and visiting Web sites,
such as Fast Company
and Business 2.0.
Gain exposure to business environments by conducting informational interviews.
Read
more.
The key is to study want ads and Internet job postings for the types
of jobs you're interested in and see what skills are required. If
there's a skill or two you're deficient in but that keep popping up
in the descriptions of interesting jobs, there's probably a
relatively painless way for you get up to speed with that skill.
6. Let Your Resume Sing the Praises of a Liberal-Arts Education
Most resumes today have a handy little section called a Profile or
Qualifications Summary that's terrific for encapsulating your skills
and the the value you can bring to an employer. It's also a great
place to highlight your liberal-arts skills.
I prepared a resume for a college student earning his degree in
Social Thought and Analysis, which is about as liberal-artsy as you
can get. Though he had great extracurricular activities, sports, and
computer experience, he had virtually no work experience. He was
interested in a job at one of the big financial-services companies.
He didn't have any training or background in finance, but he sure did
have lots of skills that employers love. Here's how I made the most
of his liberal-arts background in his resume's summary section:
- Leadership-oriented college student with strong work ethic and
moral compass.
- Creative problem-solver who excels at conflict resolution, as
well as creating positive solutions, identifying efficient methods to
correct situations, and following through to implementation.
- Exceptional interpersonal communicator who collaborates
effectively with individuals at all levels -- from students to deans,
functions as a liaison among groups, builds and leads teams without
being overbearing, and fosters cooperation among diverse individuals
and organizations.
- Disciplined and highly organized self-starter who coordinates,
manages, and juggles multiple committees, numerous daily meetings,
judicial-board and campus ambassador functions, as well as a
demanding school load.
- Motivated, mature achiever who takes the initiative and attacks
issues with originality.
- Committed competitor who has demonstrated drive toward
excellence through achievement of three-time election to
class-president position and third-degree black belt in karate.
- Computer-proficient performer with skills covering operating
systems, including Windows 9x/ME/2K/XP, and Mac OS, as well as
software applications and programming languages, including C++, Java,
HTML, Excel, PowerPoint, Minitab, Access, Word, and Outlook; A+
certified.
7. Enlist Your Cover Letter in Portraying the Applicability of Your Skills
Your cover letter can also play a significant role in touting your
liberal-arts skills. While the resume is usually written in short,
clipped bullet points, the cover letter uses more narrative language
to help the employer to see the connections between your liberal-arts
skills and the employer's needs. When brainstorming skills to
describe in your cover letter, remember that your total college
experience helped you develop skills. Your involvement in
extracurricular groups probably showed your leadership and teamwork
skills. Teamwork is also the hallmark of most sports, as is
competitive drive.
This section
of our Cover Letter Tutorial lists
outside-the-classroom venues that can be used in a cover letter (the
section also includes sample verbiage) to show how your experiences
apply to the employer's needs.
Another
Tutorial section gives more examples of transferable, applicable skills and provides
cover-letter examples of students who described how their typical
college jobs (such as restaurant server and retail sales associate)
helped them develop skills applicable to the jobs they sought. Finally,
this article
suggests classroom-based skills that can be used in cover letters.
And one more cover-letter bonus: Your cover letter is a showcase for
your writing skills. The very fact that your liberal-arts education
has prepared you to craft a compelling, well-written cover letter
will make a big impression on employers.
8. Consider a Portfolio
Creating a portfolio to take on interviews gives you the opportunity
to show your liberal-arts skills in a very tangible way. As noted
earlier, for example, liberal-arts students tend to do a lot more
writing than their business counterparts. Thus, placing writing
samples in a portfolio is a great way to show off your liberal-arts
advantage. Your college years likely yielded lots of other items you
can compile into a portfolio to show employers. Learn more in our
article, Your
Job Skills Portfolio: Giving You an Edge in the Marketplace.
9. Give Job Interview Responses a Liberal-Arts Spin
I once had a student who, when asked in a mock interview if he was a
team player, told the interviewer that he had worked on 35 group
projects during his college career. Thirty-five group projects!? Wow,
had I been an employer, I would have been highly impressed and
convinced that he had learned a lot about teamwork during all those
projects.
You can similarly use your liberal-arts skills when responding to
interview questions.
Take the popular interview question, "Why should I hire you?" The
unspoken full version of this question is "Why should I hire you over
every other candidate? What makes you special?" Here's a good
liberal-arts way to answer the question:
"Because I know that the one constant in organizational life today is
change. I know your company will undergo change, and my strong
liberal-arts education has prepared me with the flexibility to adapt
to the changes I'll inevitably face."
And another:
"The cultural awareness I've developed as a result of my solid
liberal-arts education prepares me to collaborate in a team-oriented
and diverse workforce."
Or how about if the employer is even more explicit: "Why should I
hire you over a graduate who has business training?"
"Because one of the hallmarks of the excellent liberal-arts education
I've attained is the ability to learn. I'm confident I can get up to
speed quickly and meet your needs in this job. My education has also
prepared me to be an articulate written and oral communicator, so I
know I can be a real asset to your firm."
10. Ask Yourself if You'd Be More Marketable with Grad School
Clearly, your career marketability is far from the only reason to
consider grad school. But there are some fields, such as social work,
in which opportunities are extremely limited with a bachelor's degree
but considerably better with a master's degree. If your career path
dictates grad school right away, or you truly want to earn an
advanced degree, go for it.
But consider the grad-school option only if if's truly right for your
situation. If you've feel you've had enough of school for awhile and
are eager to get into the "real world," maintain a positive attitude
about the value of your liberal-arts degree. Don't be a defeatist who
says, "I guess I'll just have to go to grad school"if your job search
is not successful right away. Be confident that your liberal-arts
degree will open up a whole world of opportunity for you.
Additional Resources
For exploring careers that are a good fit with your major, see:
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate
publisher of Quintessential Careers, is an educator, author,
and blogger who provides content for Quintessential Careers,
edits QuintZine,
an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and blogs about storytelling
in the job search at A Storied
Career. Katharine, who earned her PhD in organizational behavior
from Union Institute & University, Cincinnati, OH, is author of Dynamic
Cover Letters for New Graduates and A Foot in the Door: Networking
Your Way into the Hidden Job Market (both published by Ten Speed Press),
as well as Top Notch Executive Resumes (Career Press); and with
Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Dynamic Cover Letters, Write Your
Way to a Higher GPA (Ten Speed), and The Complete Idiot's Guide
to Study Skills (Alpha). Visit her
personal Website
or reach her by e-mail at
kathy(at)quintcareers.com.
