My question is if I were to go on an receive a BA(maybe even an MA or a doctorate depending on circumstance) in history, at a state college, while maintaining above a 3.2/3.3, how can i realistically attain a job in history(archives, library, museum, history abroad) ?

So I'll be blunt. Having a BS/BA in history will severely limit you for available jobs in history. You'll likely be forced to take either a part time job, or a low paying full time job in history, that is if you can find a position at all. An MA will significantly open the door for you.

Your location is also super important. If you live near a lot of archives and museums, you're at an advantage.

Another job (one that I am considering pursuing myself) is getting a job as an academic librarian with a focus in history. These are dynamic jobs, many of which still require active research, but required a Master's of Library Science. having a BA/BS in history would be helpful in getting a job like this.

When it comes to work, a history degree is 'useful', not mandatory, and certainly won't go very far towards netting you a job on its own.

You firstly have to bear in mind that museums, libraries and archives are relatively few and far between, and most are run on a charity model meaning that their budgets are limited (some are even run entirely by unpaid volunteers!). Just as a comparison, everyone needs accountants whilst not even every town will have a museum, library or archive. As a result the supply of labour in this sector is much higher than demand, and this allows the employers to be very picky with their candidates. Therefore problems in other sectors (such as the 'You ask for experience but I can't get any because nobody will give me a job because they all ask for experience' issue) are even more prominent in museums and heritage.

Museums and heritage do have one benefit, though. Volunteers are a HUGE part of this sector (a museum local to me have around 100 total staff and rely on something like 300 volunteers otherwise nothing would get done), meaning that there are ample opportunities for you to start volunteering somewhere and develop experience in that way. Of course, this means that you'll be working without pay, but it's at least a way of developing the skills that you'll need.

I'll speak about specifically museums for a bit, since this is where my knowledge and experience is best: you need to decide where exactly you're looking to go in the industry:

Do you want to use museum collections to help teach kids from all over about history? Then you'll look at education.

If you're after a more generalised audience in the local area, you're better off in community engagement.

These two have some focus on interaction with history and development of knowledge, where history degrees are certainly very useful since that's a lot of what you'll learn: how to approach history and interpret it. That said, you're also teaching so any qualifications in education etc. will be very favourably looked upon as well.

If you like practical work and getting hands-on with the collections, then collections management is more for you. This one's a bit problematic for a history graduate, since you won't really be using your skills until you're later in your career and looking more at curatorship than just collections management. In fact, typically a lot of curators will have first worked their way up through collections management before adding interpretation to their remit. For this kind of work, you'd be better off going for museum studies, since you'll learn more about the standards you have to use, methods for cataloguing and storing collections (using specialised software referred to as Collections Management Systems).

If you're a bit sciency and fancy using that within the historical sphere, you can look at collections care and conservation. Museums will have in-house collections care staff to undertake minor repairs and implement preventive conservation procedures for collections (covering things like environmental conditions and pest control), whilst full-on repairs and restoration are typically done by professional conservators by contract. Whilst collections care doesn't necessarily require it, I will recommend that if you're looking for this kind of work then absolutely go for a specialist degree in conservation. It will do wonders for your prospects in collections care, and nobody in their right mind would hire you as a conservator without one.

Do also bear in mind that working in museums will limit your income. They're charities, which means they can't afford to pay a lot of money.

I don't want this to put you off doing a degree in history if it's your true passion. If that's the case then absolutely go for it. However, if you're looking specifically at museums, archives and heritage then it's best to know that there are other, more directly relevant and favourably viewed subjects to take which will be much better for you when starting on the career ladder.

As a final word, I'd just like to emphasise again how important experience is. Volunteering is crucial for getting into museums and heritage, because at the end of the day, the museum whose vacancy you apply for will have a large pool of candidates to choose from. Some will have worked in museums, others will have spent time volunteering. If you haven't volunteered at all, you can all but guarantee that you will not be invited for an interview. Getting into museums is a long, hard road - one of my colleagues was volunteering for 2 years after graduation before getting a job in collections, and I am going on a year and a half myself. Another colleague volunteered at a museum for 5 years whilst studying, yet when a bottom-level position came up there after they'd graduated they weren't even invited for an interview. It's a career choice where only the dedicated succeed. Again, I'm not trying to put you off here; I just want to be clear on what you can expect if you decide that this is really what you want to do.