Career Help and Advice

Technically my major is literally called "liberal arts" -- at the school I go to (which is now best known for one of the students who flunked out and went berserk, rather than for any of its graduates) you choose two concentrations, one in humanities and one in social sciences (sort of a "double-major lite&quot . The rest of the credits are filler electives, or you can choose a minor. (Why history is called a "humanities" major in college when throughout K-12 it comes under "social studies" is beyond me.)

Anywho, my concentrations are history and anthropology as well. They seemed the best option for a smooth transfer of my gen-ed credits from a community college. But the first thing that comes to mind when I think of careers from this major sure isn't think tanks. It's the usual word-association with anything related to "liberal arts": namely, burger-flipping or toilet-scrubbing. I don't have the option to move for my employment, because 1) I don't have a job and can't afford a car (let alone insurance), and 2) rare is the employer these days willing to pay for you to relocate. Kind of a catch-22 with the car thing: I need a job to pay for a car but need a car to get to a job. (I sadly live at home, with a family that -- to quote Baby-O in Con Air, "makes the Manson Family look like the Partridge Family" -- and mom drives me into school.)

If it doesn't violate board rules, I wonder if you could mention what age-range you're in. Age is certainly a factor in job search (isn't everything?). I'm 27, will graduate at 28 if I keep up the pace I'm at now. But nobody worth their salt (their ketchup and sweet-and-sour sauce, maybe) is going to hire a 28-year-old first-timer who doesn't even have babysitting on her resume. I figure there's no hope of me getting a good job because I'm already considered too old, at least to be a first-timer with zippo real-world experience and a crappy degree. I have ruled out grad school because 1) I don't have the energy and 2) I don't care enough about my field to pursue further study in it, and I don't want to teach either. Right now all I'm looking to do once I graduate is to get a front desk job at some office. That way at least I'm earning some money and can at least apply for housing assistance on the grounds that I don't make enough to afford real rent. The military would not be a good fit for someone like me. Fear of getting shot and all.

The first replier is right: sadly, there really isn't much you can do with a "personal enrichment" degree unless you are willing to go to grad school and/or become a teacher in that field. Employers use keyword databases to screen out the "undesirable" majors on resumes, and there's no way Congress would ever sound alarms about this, because that would mean big, nasty ol' government encroaching on private business. I guess I wouldn't mind working retail as long as it was in a small shop and not at the big chains, especially when the Running of the Bulls starts -- I mean, the holiday shopping rush.