This is probably not appropriate for this subreddit so I'm guessing your post and my response will probably both be deleted. I never comment here because I lack the expertise in most subjects. Anyways, I seriously considered a career as a historian. I loved/loved the entire field and have a BA is history, primarily focusing on early modern Europe. I'm currently a surgeon.

If you find a tenure-track position in a history department, it's great in a lot of ways. However, the pay, while not bad, isn't nearly what one would think it should be based on the level of expertise. My undergrad thesis adviser, for instance, was a Fulbright Scholar, studied under probably the most famous professor in the field (at least that was alive when he was in school), speaks 5 languages in addition to his native English at a level that he taught medieval and renaissance latin to German university students in Germany, has lectured widely and published several significant works, etc. He makes about as much as my favorite high school history teacher. And, tenure-track positions are as difficult to find now as they ever have been unless that's changed very recently. Just as an anecdotal example (again, probably not appropriate here), my aunt is on the board of a small midwest liberal arts college, and they recently had over 100 applications for a single tenure-track position in the history department that had an initial starting salary of just over $40k (PhD required). With a PhD in a field, that's just insulting but it seems to be the reality unless you're a rock star historian.

All that being said, we need historians. We need people who want to be historians. It's a great field. Breaking into the field, even with a PhD, can be daunting, but once you get there, there's not much out there that's more interesting. It wasn't meant for me, but I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from entering the field.

As to your major, being a political science major qualifies you to do absolutely nothing more than a history degree does. Frankly, unless you pursue graduate/professional education of some sort, the only degrees that actually prepare you for a specific career are business, engineering, architecture, journalism, the fine arts (if you can find a job in them), the various licensed professions (nursing, speech and language pathology, etc), and, to a certain extent, the hard sciences if you want to work in a chemistry lab or something (though most positions will require a masters or higher). A bachelor's degree in most liberal arts fields, whether it's psychology or history or political science, qualifies you only as someone who is broadly-educated enough to have earned a bachelors degree. Virtually no one will care about the exact field unless you're wanting to pursue graduate education in that field. And, at least for professional schools (law, medicine, optometry, podiatry) your major is unimportant as long as you have completed the pre-req courses. For grad schools, most, I'd assume, would want your degree to at least be in a related subject. If you wanted to be a lawyer, for instance, majoring in history is no better or worse than any other subject so you might as well do what you like.

Studying history teaches you to write and to think critically. History grads I know from a fairly academically rigorous program class of 97/98 include several lawyers, a librarian, a IT person. Many also teach, and previously many with history undergrad degrees worked as reporters (before the profession stopped employing so many people).

I found this thread while trying to find guidance for myself. I know it's a month old, but I thought I should try to share my experience with earning a B.A. in History, and tell you what I wish someone would have told me at your age. /u/Armydds is basically correct, a BA in history will get you next to nothing on its own in today's job market.

I chose to study history because I have always been fascinated by it. I was the kid that watched those old history documentaries, read historical fiction, and played historically-themed video games. I aced every history class in high school with ease. So I went to a good college, earned above-average grades, and graduated with a B.A. in History, with minors in Global Politics and Asian Studies. This was in 2012 during the recession and so I could not find work. I eventually got an unpaid internship at a museum, and I excelled at it. I did it for just over a year, supporting myself by tutoring kids in any subject I could. I was also still living with my parents. At this time, the trend seemed to be 2 years of experience to get an "entry-level" job in a museum. After getting frustrated at the seeming catch-22, I left for China and taught English, making a decent living and getting interesting world-travelling experience. I did that for a year, then got another unpaid internship at an art gallery in Shanghai, working full time for three months. I quit after they told me that there would be no job openings for another 6 months, and that the pay would not even cover my basic costs of living. I lasted another three months by tutoring again, but in the end moved back home in frustration.

Are you starting to see a pattern here? When I got home, I was luckily offered part-time work by the museum I had interned for. They paid me minimum wage at 20 hours a week to essentially reorganize their archives to make room for more collections. Again, I did my job well, but funding for the position ran out after a year, so moved on to another temp job at a university, working with its art collection. This position paid well, but there were no benefits, and again, after a year, I was out of work. Now I am 26 and work as a security guard at the museum where I once worked in research and collections. I get paid 50 cents more than the temp archival job I had there- a job that M.A. students would have been clamoring to get. This is because now it seems like every museum job requires a Master's, PhD preferred, with 3 years of experience. Applying to jobs feels like I'm wadding up my resume and throwing it at a brick wall. Everyday feels like a slap in the face, but I continue to take what I can get.

If you study history, and you want to be a historian, you have to have a plan. You have to do internships during your summer breaks. You have to make professional connections, learn one, two, three additional languages and get a Master's or PhD. You have to be willing to work for nothing and suffer through months of unemployment. Unless you get extremely fortunate, or the current state of the job market changes drastically, this will be your reality. Think long and hard before you choose this degree path.

By contrast, all my friends who went into engineering, and had comparable grades to me in high school, are now living quite comfortably. One of my best friends got a job right out of college making 50,000 a year. He then got a new job 2 years later making 80, and the company paid for him to get an MBA.

Sorry for the lengthy response, I just see that you are young and there's hope for you to do better than I did. I truly do believe in the value of a history degree, but most employers do not.