History Undergraduate students from Carleton are prepared for a wide array of careers. Please see our recent Career Night video to see how the History Department has prepared students for their future careers.
The Canadian Historical Association also has a very helpful site that explores in depth the many career options for History students: What Can You Do With a History Degree?
As the profiles on this site show, you can accomplish far more than you think with a History degree. This is precisely because historical training teaches you how to think, analyze, communicate, write, organize and create. History nurtures our curiosity, our openness to new ways of understanding our world, both past and present. As we read, research and write about history, we question taken-for-granted ideas, assess the complexities of social change, dissect evidence and sources, and probe the why, when, and how of human evolution across temporal, spatial and global boundaries. Like other humanities and social sciences degrees, History is a passport to many opportunities and careers, especially those involving problem solving, creative intelligence and excellent communication and writing skills. Some students use their History degree as a pathway to further training (such as law), but others employ the skills and knowledge acquired with a BA to work in areas such as heritage and museums, business, government, policy, advocacy, politics, non-profits – to name only a few areas. Not only do studies show that a university degree in History/Humanities opens up employment opportunities, but historical knowledge, ever changing, ever debatable, ever fascinating, is also our invitation to lifelong curiosity, learning and reflection.