It’s a pretty common question: “What do I want to do with my life?” And it can be even more difficult to answer when you don’t know exactly what you want. You might think that the best way to find out what your passions are is by choosing a major that will prepare you for your dream job, but there’s another option: studying liberal arts. Liberal arts degrees can open doors in many different fields and careers because they teach students critical thinking skills that are useful in many industries. Instead of specializing in one topic or field, students develop broad knowledge instead of narrow expertise (which is important when looking at job opportunities down the road).
What is a Liberal Arts Degree?
A liberal arts degree is a broad education that teaches you how to think. It’s not just for liberal arts majors: digital media and marketing majors, for example, may also need a liberal arts foundation. Liberal arts degrees can be useful for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
In addition to developing your critical thinking skills, a liberal arts education will teach you about the world around you and help you become well-rounded. You’ll gain an understanding of different cultures and people from all over the globe as well as develop an appreciation for art and literature while studying history or philosophy. Most importantly, by taking classes in areas such as mathematics or computer science alongside other disciplines like history or art history; students will get a chance to explore topics they didn’t even know existed!
How A Liberal Arts Education Prepares You For Anything
A liberal arts education is a broad one, and that’s what makes it so special. The core classes you’ll take will equip you with skills that are useful in many different careers—you’ll learn how to think critically and communicate effectively, among other things. You’ll also gain an understanding of the world around you, which will be beneficial no matter what path you choose.
As an example: let’s say that after graduation, you decide to become an accountant. Accounting is a highly technical field with its own specialized vocabulary (accounts payable versus accounts receivable), systems (double-entry accounting), and processes (audits). But because your degree was so broadly focused on critical thinking, communication skills, and world awareness—and because your school has taught these subjects well—you can adapt quickly when faced with new situations at work or school without feeling like everything’s foreign territory.
Benefits of a Liberal Arts Degree
At the end of your education, you will be able to think critically and creatively. You will be able to adapt to new situations and communicate effectively. By choosing a liberal arts degree, you will have a wide range of career paths open to you—you can do anything you want! You will have a well-rounded education, which is important in today’s world. The liberal arts degree can open many doors for you, including careers in law, medicine, business, and teaching. Other benefits of a liberal arts education include: You’ll learn to think critically and creatively.
Skills Learned From a Liberal Arts Degree
With a liberal arts degree, you’re likely to develop the following skills:
- Critical thinking is the ability to think about something, understand it, and then make decisions based on your knowledge. You will learn how to evaluate information from various sources and come up with your own conclusions.
- The ability to communicate clearly and effectively with others; creativity in writing; an ability to gather information from many sources and synthesize it into something new
- Research skills that will enable you to find information online as well as in print resources like books and journals. These are useful not only for college classwork but for working on projects outside of school when you need specific expertise that may not be easily accessible through Google searches.
- Ability to organize and prioritize tasks so that you can complete them effectively. It’s important to be able to manage your time wisely, especially if you’re working full-time while in school.
- The ability to solve problems and make decisions independently. This can be especially helpful if you’re working on group projects, where each member of the group may have different ideas about how to approach the project.
What Can You Do With a Liberal Arts Degree?
You can use your liberal arts degree to get a job in business, education, and more.
- Business: A liberal arts degree will give you the skills required to work as an accountant, market researcher or analyst, sales manager, and more.
- Education: If you’re interested in teaching children or adults, then a liberal arts degree is all you need. You can also specialize further by becoming an English professor or even earning a doctorate and becoming an educational administrator at a university or college.
- Government: If you want to work for the government sector (and this includes nonprofits), then having a liberal arts education will give you some of the skills needed to work as an editor who writes documents on behalf of public health agencies; public relations specialist who helps with fundraising campaigns; human resources manager who manages employees’ salaries and benefits; policy advisor who advises elected officials on lawmaking processes; tax accountant who computes taxes owed by individual citizens based on income earned during previous years–the list goes on!
- Writing and Editing: if you want to be a writer or editor, then having a liberal arts education will give you the writing and editing skills needed for this career. You’ll learn how to write clearly and concisely; how to edit other people’s work (including your own); what makes an effective sentence; how to use punctuation correctly; and more.
- Human resources management: if you want to work in human resources management, then having a liberal arts degree will prepare you for this career. As an HR manager, you’ll be responsible for hiring and firing employees; making sure that all policies are followed; dealing with workplace disputes between employees and managers; ensuring that all employees are treated fairly (no matter what their race or gender); and more.
- Social work: a liberal arts degree will also prepare you for a career in social work. As a social worker, you’ll be responsible for helping people who are struggling with addiction; homelessness; mental illness; domestic violence; abuse; etc.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a career in the humanities, you can find one. There are many jobs available that require liberal arts degrees, and these jobs are often higher-paying than those that don’t. Some of the most lucrative careers include being a pharmacist or an economist (both of which require advanced training). With so many ways to make money from your bachelor’s degree, why not consider studying something broader?
