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Any thoughts/tips on how to inquire about placement rates and positions for recent grads from a program? I've seen a few departments include some information about recent placements on their websites, but even that doesn't necessarily reflect the percentage very accurately. I feel a bit awkward asking a DGS the question but I also consider it quite important in making the decision between schools to get a clear picture of how the program is viewed on the job market.

https://www.historians.org/wherehistorianswork This was on the gradschool reddit page. I’m not sure if this was already posted before, but I don’t recall this ever being put up. This details the career outcomes for history phds produced from 2004 to 2013. It’s interesting stuff because you can also search the outcomes by individual departments. I only have two comments about the data. One, it largely confirms the consensus that if you want to have a greater shot at a tenure track job, you should attend a top ranked school. The usual suspects (such as Harvard, Yale, or Princeton) have the highest percentage rates at 60%-70% of placing people in 4 year tenure track programs. This doesn’t mean your chance of getting a tt track job is the same percentage if you attend one of these school but just that your chances are higher as compared to another school. My second point is that you should peruse the data cautiously because it doesn’t the reflect the current job market (since it got worse) and that just because a school’s placement percentage for a four-year tt job is low doesn’t mean it’s a bad school. For example, smaller schools like Brandeis have lower placement percentages because their population is lower. I would love to hear your guys’ thoughts on this data if you have any!

Which departments in the humanities are the best and worst for landing academic jobs? I got my master's in English literature, but have been thinking about getting my PhD in history or sociology. Three professors (in English and History) strongly advised me to go into English, which apparently is one of the best (albeit still extremely competitive) for academic jobs. They also said History is one of the most difficult. How true is this? Is there any way to validate these claims?

For a long time my background was in a VERY specialized field in the museum sector (conservation). There are VERY few jobs. After my husband and I moved to upstate New York I was extremely lucky to find a good job in my field, but it was an hour and a half drive one way from our house, which we were/are not willing to move from for various reasons. The drive eventually became physically, emotionally, and financially draining, and when the opportunity came up to leave to do a funded PhD I took it. Now, halfway through my program, I need to start thinking about what might be next, and suddenly find myself with several options where I have been used to having literally zero or none for my entire working life. I've been thinking/ talking with my husband about these options and thought that I would look here for some advice as well. Facts: I don't need to make a ton of money. My husband has a good job, but I do still need to pay off my student loans and have a fallback in case anything ever happens with his job. Moving IS NOT an option. The following options are being considered because there is potential for me to be able to do them in my current city. Please do not recommend that I join a nationwide TTP search or move to L.A. or something. I am under absolutely zero delusions that a tenure track position is going to be an option. Sure, if one comes up in my area that would be great, but my work is very specialized and tenure was never a hard goal for me. Similarly, I don't care about losing the "prestige" of academia, or about people potentially looking down on my for choosing "alt-ac." I have different priorities. We want something that will be flexible and allow me to spend time with/ be available for our (future) children. We have no hard and fast rules for this; we're not anti-daycare or anything like that, but we do want some options that will allow time off for vacations, some afternoons at home, family activities, etc. My husband travels for work and often has chunks of free time when we would be able to spend time together. I have contacts in both sectors, who have suggested that I consider these options. Basically the two main options are: A combination of part-time museum work and teaching adjunct courses. This will allow me to keep my feet in both worlds that I love: teaching and museums. When the kids are older this could potentially transition back into full-time museum work if I choose. One of the biggest motivations for doing the PhD was to get teaching experience and find out if I really loved it as much as I thought I would. I do, so continuing to teach would be great. Teaching at a private high school. This is appealing because there are MANY schools in my city. Several of them pride themselves on having an interdisciplinary curriculum which is exactly my wheelhouse. One of my contacts at a local school seemed very excited about my background, which combines art, chemistry/science, and history. I have always been attracted to the community atmosphere of K-12 schools (my mom was a teacher), so this option really appeals to me for that reason. Of course, the idea of long holiday and summer breaks is also quite appealing. Unfortunately, because of New York's rules, private schools would be my only option since I don't have a teaching certificate. I know what museums are like, so I think I am mostly looking for a conversation about the K-12 option. Has anyone gone from PhD to teaching high school? Do you know anyone who has done this? I understand that I am largely uninformed about how this might play out in the "real world." Feel free to inform me (that's why I am here), but please be kind about it. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Hey All. As I work through my decisions and try to navigate the darkness that is the future job market, I'm tempted to just go straight to the source. Has anyone ever contacted programs they'd like to work in post-graduation just to find out what they're specifically looking for in potential tenure-track hires? It seems to me like a good tactic for not only planning the next 5 years, but also setting goals, developing specific skills, and (as I'm in the decision phase currently) deciding what schools are best according to whether these specific hiring committees are looking more at program rank, advisor name, or individual success. Any thoughts?

Hi all. So, I'll be on the job market in about a year's time, and I'm starting to prepare job application materials and do a little planning. I notice that in my conversations with more advanced peers (especially people currently or recently on the job market), they always seem to have a good sense of whether the market for our discipline (history) is "much stronger than last year" or "really bad" or whatever. How does one even get a sense of these things beyond hearing just hearing other people's impressions? All I ever hear is the doom and gloom about the humanities job market. I can look on the job listings from the Chronicle, my main academic association, etc, but do people actually count up postings from each year and compare? Are there any websites where I can find this kind of data? Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter that much - I'm going to be applying for these jobs anyway. But it just makes me feel a bit under-professionalized to feel that I can't speak confidently about how the job market in my field is doing, how it's changing, etc. All I know is that it's bad, and it's difficult to get a good job. Thanks!

Hi, I've just finished putting myself through college while working full-time (I was attending school part-time)... Basically I'm poor, I don't have family that can support me or help me financially and I have no savings. I didn't plan on going to grad school after college, but my undergrad professors thought I'd have a good chance to be accepted somewhere based on the work I did the last couple of years. I told myself to block out any money worries, to give myself this "great gift", the opportunity to get into a grad program that hopefully will help me further develop my work as an artist, and if I have to get a loan to do it, then that's what I'll be doing. I'm wondering how many folks are in the same boat as me, going for broke, even if they know they'll have to pay for at least part of their education through borrowing.