What can you do with a Liberal Arts Degree?

What can you do with a Liberal Arts Degree?

If you love the idea of majoring in liberal arts, you would likely want an answer to the question most students would ask, “What can you do with a liberal arts degree?”

Knowing the jobs you can get after completing a liberal arts degree program will enable you to decide the one to focus on from the beginning and build a career on.

This post will help you to learn about liberal arts and what you can do with it after completing a degree course, including expected salaries for various jobs that you will qualify to do with your degree.

Why Liberal Arts Degree?

The education system over time has shifted to producing mainly graduates with specialized technical and vocational skills.

Technological and practical degrees are so much lauded in our society for their economic benefits and importance, leaving little regard for the arts, thus a tilt towards job-targeted education.

It is important to note that a great percentage of college turn outs have little knowledge of the social, cultural, and economic diversities in the world; technological advancements slowly but surely is shaping man into socially indifferent routine creatures that give minimal thought to the value of humanity, beliefs, life, and their effect in our society.

Liberal arts education is one of the few disciplines that comprise of studies in social sciences (economics, political science, and sociology), humanities (language, philosophy, and history), creative arts, and sciences.

It is a non-specialized form of education aimed at providing a broad knowledge of various subjects, especially as pertains to society, culture, and sciences.

The study of liberal arts plays a vital role in teaching ‘common’ skills of judgment, reasoning, communication, as well as providing a sense of appreciation for diversity.

It exposes one to a variety of disciplines, thus producing graduates with extensive knowledge and a rare ability to think innovatively.

A liberal arts education is one of the highly sought after degrees that is not threatened by technological automation as it addresses the empathic needs of the people.

Lawrence Summers (Ex-president, Harvard University) stressed the importance of liberal arts when he stated, “The most important kind of learning is about how to learn”.

Liberal arts majors as a result of their critical thinking and problem-solving skills find relevance in business, management, journalism, and teaching.

A liberal arts degree is very popular among undergraduates in the U.S as it ranks 2nd and 8th most popular course according to MatchCollege and USATodayCollege respectively.

What Jobs can you get with a Liberal Arts Associate’s Degree?

Opting for an Associate’s degree in liberal arts is a step towards general academic enlightenment.

It prepares one for the ever-changing job market by providing the most important employable skills, which are critical thinking and communication skills.

With an Associate’s degree in liberal arts, students can go for a specialized higher education or fill in job positions as:

• Sales Agent: They interact with customers and provide them with products that meet their needs; they explain product specifications, price, and use, as well as provide answers to customers’ questions. Part of their duties includes preparation of sales contracts, maintaining records of financial transaction, and customer follow up. They earn an annual median wage of $46,290.
• Graphic Designer: With a background knowledge of creative/fine arts, a liberal arts major can go on to become a graphic designer whose duties involve the creation of visual electronic or printed materials for clients. They produce artistic materials and objects for corporate, publishing, packaging, or media companies using graphic software and tools. They are estimated to earn salary of $33,000-$65,000 annually.
• Social Worker: With their knowledge of human behavior and needs they assist clients in assessing situations and developing plans to improve situations as pertains to social challenges such as divorce and illness. They provide support as well as advocacy for clients, ensuring they benefit from government and community resource provision. They earn up to $37,000-$56,000 annual salary.

What Jobs can you get with a Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree?

Taking a liberal arts degree up to Bachelor’s level paves the way for better employment prospects, which provides job opportunities such as:

• Writer: With a broad knowledge of humanities and science, liberal arts graduates can become effective writers. They conduct research on a subject to obtain precise information, then they work with editors to write and publish documents such as magazines, newspaper, and journals or academic publications.
• Community/Social Manager: They are responsible for the management of a company’s communication, events, social media and public relations. They plan events, create a solid social media presence for firms, develop strategic communication/marketing scheme, and provide customer support to boost sales and business development.
• Education Administrator: Their duties involve determining the number of students that should be admitted in a school, promoting a school by preparing flyer and encouraging prospective students to apply. They also provide counsels to students, create physical development programs, and generally oversee students’ affairs.
• Public Relations Manager: They specialize in assisting clients with their communication needs. They work on client’s demand, aiding them in effectively communicating a message to the public. They plan and strategize on the best way to communicate an information in order to increase a client’s public outlook.
• Real Estate Manager: They are responsible for maintaining a property as well as managing its occupancy. They handle building operations, give tours to prospective tenants, explain terms of occupancy, and ensure a fair price for the sale or purchase of a property.

Payscale estimates the salary of liberal arts baccalaureates to be in the range of $33,236-$73,436 for female earners and $32,298-$96,683 for their male counterparts.

What Jobs can you get with a Liberal Arts Degree?

Going for advanced degrees in liberal arts such as a Master’s/Doctorate degree opens the door to a wide range of job positions and careers, such as:

• Human Resource Manager: They specialize in maintenance of work structure in an organization. They co-ordinate the recruitment, interviewing and hiring of staff, as well as conducting employee orientation, training and welfare supervision.
• Financial Advisor: They provide professional recommendation to clients on financial matters. They carry out assessment of clients’ investments and accounts, and suggest ways to improve financial performance.
• Teaching: A liberal arts major with a doctoral degree can take up an academic portfolio as a lecturer in colleges or universities teaching students, as well as conducting researches and publishing in journals.

Conclusion

A liberal arts degree helps graduates to develop broad knowledge that cuts across culture, society, and the sciences, that qualifies them for a wide range of jobs and careers, including in business, journalism, teaching, and management.