History

Since county, state and national parks host many of the available positions in this field, park rangers have access to some of the best history degree jobs in government settings. If you'd rather work for a private or public organization, you can find select park ranger jobs at historical non-profits as well.

Although newspapers may be experiencing a decrease in circulation and staff numbers, journalists can still pursue exciting careers in the news industry. Reporters often create investigative content for online and print newspapers, while multimedia journalists often produce video-based stories for news outlets.

Whether you want to pursue full-time or freelance jobs, you can seek out a position as a reporter, correspondent or journalist. Most professionals in this field have a bachelor's degree and relevant experience with writing, reporting, and multimedia.

Archivists excel at organization and use databases and classification systems to track important objects and records. Museum curators acquire objects and build collections of artifacts or artwork for their institutions. They design exhibitions for the public or select groups to view, and they may also research or write about historical topics.

High school history teachers typically plan lessons, assist students with assignments and administer tests and assignments to assess student progress. History teachers at this level may work with students in large classes or small groups. They may also take responsibility for working with individual students and communicating with parents.

University professors generally give lectures and meet with college students in small groups. They may also take responsibility for advising students about academic progress and goals. Unlike high school teachers, university professors often pursue history-related research and publish their work in addition to their teaching duties. While high school teachers generally need a bachelor's degree, professors typically need a master's degree or a Ph.D.

Professional historians study information from texts and artifacts, tie historical developments together, advise on preservation methods and prepare reports or books on select topics. Historians can work for private businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations or individual employers. Many historians travel extensively for their jobs, often if they are required to analyze original documents or artifacts.

While historians often work behind the scenes, many build public personas. For example, historians can publish books, offer presentations and classes or offer guidance to professional groups. Professional historians typically specialize in certain time periods, geographic areas or historical topics, serving as experts in these niches.

You can become a nonfiction writer who specializes in select historical figures, events or locations, or a novelist who uses the past as inspiration for fictional stories. You can also handle speech writing for politicians and other leaders or pursue content writing for magazines and digital publications. If you excel at conceptualizing stories and perfecting the content that others have written in this field, seeking a career as an editor could be an option as well.

As a research assistant, you'll work with a team to uncover information and gather data on specific topics. You will use your analytical and critical thinking skills to make observations and draw conclusions. In this role, you can work in a wide variety of industries and find employment in the public, private and government sectors.

Market analysts monitor trends and developments in a specific market and serve as experts on certain target markets and competitors. You'll collect data, analyze information and translate figures and trends into reports. Having a background in history can be a significant advantage for market analysts and researchers as your learned skills can help you interpret data and find patterns that point to future trends.

As a consultant, you'll contract your services on a per-project basis, working for different organizations for weeks, months or years at a time. Since consultants lend their expertise and take on leadership roles, they have high earning potential. Because many organizations have funding that's too limited for full-time hires but sufficient for project-based contractors, historical consultants may find substantial job growth in the next few years.

As a lawyer, you'll interpret laws and regulations and research and analyze legal precedents. You may also advise clients, represent them in court and argue on their behalf. Whether you work as a defense attorney, a prosecutor or legal counsel, you'll need an advanced degree to supplement your Bachelor of Arts in History. You will also need a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, which typically takes about three years of graduate-level education.