How to Make Your Liberal Arts Degree Marketable
Let’s be honest – liberal arts majors have gotten a bad rap over the years. You may have loved what you studied in college, but as you watch your friends with STEM majors land jobs with eye-popping paychecks, it’s natural to question your choice of the humanities over a technical major. Before you throw yourself a pity party, remember this: Liberal arts majors land great jobs every day. Use these tips to successfully market your liberal arts degree in Boston.
Know Your Focus
It’s not just skills that land your STEM counterparts jobs so quickly. It’s the fact they ran a focused job search. Someone who majored in business intelligence, for example, is only looking for jobs in that field. Liberal arts majors tend to run unfocused searches, applying for various job titles across different industries in the hopes of landing something, which leads to frustration.
It’s up to you to sit down and determine where you want to take your career. You wouldn’t set out on a road trip without an endpoint in mind and a good look at your GPS map. The same is true for your career. Once you know where you’re going, it’s much easier to map out a route to get there.
Sell Your Skills
Many employers actively recruit liberal arts majors because they are uniquely suited for today’s collaborative and diverse corporate world. Every day in school, you discussed and debated new ideas with your peers. You were required to draw from a variety of sources to craft research papers and you had to draw logical conclusions based on diverse data and evidence.
These skills are extremely important to companies today. One of the biggest complaints of managers is their teams lack critical problem-solving skills. You spent four years perfecting those skills, and it is important to showcase them in your cover letter, resume and during interviews.
Leverage Real-World Experience
Part-time jobs, volunteer experience, club leadership experience and internships armed you with valuable skills. Don’t shy away from listing these skills and experiences on your resume. Bullet out the skills you learned and list out any achievements to paint a clear picture of the value you would bring to an employer.
Work With a Recruiter
A professional recruiter that specializes in helping liberal arts majors start their careers will be an invaluable tool in your job search. Contemporaries, Inc. in Boston does just that. We help connect recent graduates with unique opportunities to get their careers off the ground. Our recruiters have strong relationships with the top employers in the Boston area; these relationships help us secure employment for candidates. In addition, our team can help you map out a strategy, polish your resume and prepare for interviews so you always shine. Test out different types of employers and work environments and determine where you want to go with temporary-to-hire opportunities with Contemporaries Inc. Contact us today to get started.
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