Anthropology Degree- what Career field do you later fall in?

[Jay.B]

A friend wants to study BA in Anthropology because he thinks it will be quite interesting, however, he wants to know if he has a good chance in getting a job afterwards? What fields of work can an Anthropologist work in?

[phyanth]

I have my BS and MA in anthropology. As far as a BS, it depends on what subfield. If you do archaeology, then you can get work doing survey and excavations with environmental companies. You could also find work in museums and historical venues, if you're lucky. The best chances of finding a job with a BA is by doing as many field schools, internships, and maybe even doing undergrad research in an anthropology lab all focused on what he wants to do career-wise. But if you want to have supervisory positions or move up within the field, you almost certainly need a PhD. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Encourage him to think beyond the degree and "it's interesting." He needs to consider what job he wants to get once he's done and then research what skills are needed to get there. It's all well and good to enjoy taking a course in Ancient Maya Civilizations, but if you want to work in the tech industry, this course is pretty much worthless to your future goals. 

And to be clear, you can definitely work in the tech industry with an anthro degree, though he may want to pursue a master's in applied anth if that's his goal. The beauty of anthro is how many topics you can study, but it's also its curse as you can get a degree and not have enough marketable skills in one area (or know how to market your skills to that area). 

He should also make sure he has realistic expectations for job placement (especially how long it will take to get placed). He may end up underemployed for some time before something works out.