What have you done with your MA in history or literature?

[JaneLemon]

I'd love to hear the career paths of those who hold MA degrees in history or literature. 

[boomah]

Any experiences? I'm interested in this as well.

[ProfLorax]

With an MA in Lit, I taught as an adjunct for three years at a community college; now, I am a second year PhD student. I imagine most of the users here who have an MA are going the PhD route, since this board is geared towards grad school admissions. It would be useful to look at some department newsletters and see where their alumni end up! 

[Historiogaffe]

The month after finishing my MA in English Lit, I landed a job in communications (tourism/hospitality industry). It's been great because I happen to love where I live, so the industry fits; and, well, I'm not a barista -- love to the profession, but I've found out the hard way, a couple of times, that I'm far too introverted for customer service. Heh.

In terms of landing the job, the MA was an advantage, as were part-time editing/RA gigs during undergrad and grad.

Anyway, the job involves a blend of writing (internal comm.), writing (external comm.), editing/proofing, design, admin, event planning, and, starting this year, strategic planning/implementation. I'm planning to put in another 2-3 years and apply to PhD programs in 2017. (A few reasons for this: Want a bit more non-LDR time with my wife; nest eggs are best eggs; and, as I do enjoy communications, I'm hoping ~5 yrs FT on the résumé will help me slide back in post-PhD in the statistically probable event that pursuing TT doesn't work out.)

In the meantime, conference presentations and a potential journal submission should keep me a scraping along as an undercover medievalist...

Edited December 30, 2014 by Speakwrite_

[placeinspace]

I have an MA in lit and currently work as a technical writer in the IT industry, but am applying to PhD programs for next year. I know of a few other people who work in similar fields to mine with MAs in the humanities, and even a couple people with MFAs in creative writing (companies really do value people who know how to communicate in writing!). I am so glad I took some time out of the ivory tower, but I miss academia a lot and am looking forward to being in that environment again.