Five Smart Moves for Liberal Arts Grads

Your path to the perfect career might not be obvious. Consider filling your competence gap and defining your "hook"

by Sheila Curran

I met my first "helicopter parent" in September, 1995. This hovering father called demanding specialized career services for his son. The father was upset that some fellow students had convinced his son to study philosophy instead of computer science. Implicit in the very way he pronounced the word "philosophy" was what was really on his mind: "What on earth can you do with a liberal arts degree?"

When it comes to liberal arts and careers, there's a black hole of ignorance that is often filled with myths and assumptions. One of the biggest assumptions is that you can't possibly find employment unless you supplement your liberal arts degree in religion or art history or English with a more practical second major like economics. But look around. How many cultural anthropology grads do you see driving cabs? And how many support groups exist for unemployed history majors? Not many of those either.

Having confidence that everything will turn out well in the end is, of course, not the same as having a crystal ball at graduation. I had my own career reality check when I immigrated to the U.S. 30 years ago. The temporary agency I approached took one look at my newly minted degree in Russian and Persian and advised that they might be able to find me a minimum-wage job—if I learned to type. Today's grads won't be asked about typing, but they'll likely receive a similar message.

Plotting a Course

Luckily, as experience proves, where you start off bears little relation to where you can end up. The question—for helicopter parents and liberal arts grads alike—is: How do you get from studying a subject you enjoy intellectually to work that you love?

Recently, I co-authored a book, Smart Moves for Liberal Arts Grads: Finding a Path to Your Perfect Career, that tracks the real career paths of 23 liberal arts graduates from 19 different schools. Their examples serve as powerful inspiration to anyone who wants to discover a path to career success.

Through the stories of the graduates we interviewed, we discovered five "smartest moves" that were key to everyone's success:

• 1: Figure out who you are and where you want to go

• 2: Get experience

• 3: Build social and networking relationships

• 4: Identify and fill your competence gap

• 5: Find your "hook"

Here's a look at how some of the people we interviewed made their smartest moves:

Figure out who you are and where you want to go

Granted, that's easier said than done. From our Smart Moves group, only Ally identified her passion at an early age. She chose a particularly difficult career—actress and director. But the strength of her passion helped her overcome the bumps in her path to success.

You can certainly find direction from assessment instruments such as the Strong Interest Inventory or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. But if you don't identify an ideal career position through your assessments—and you probably won't—don't despair. You're more likely to find the work you love by starting with Smartest Move No. 2.

Get experience

Liberal arts grads can follow just about any career they want. Unfortunately, the multitude of options can be overwhelming. The solution? Trial runs. It can save time later on if you experience different types of work while you're still in college. Cara laid the groundwork for her career in marketing by working at the school radio station. Sharon discovered her passion for fashion through internships.

Others try on careers by proxy—conducting informational interviews with alumni, parents, friends, or anyone else who will share both smart and dumb moves. Luckily there's no time limitation on getting experience. If you didn't explore different career options in college, build time into your schedule to do so now.

Build social and networking relationships

Conventional wisdom says that connections are the best way to find work.