I'll let the actual historians answer, but just gonna say variants of "what job can I get with a history degree" are fairly common. The search turns up a ton of threads on the various options. On that note: my cousin was a paralegal for a bit and is now in law school. My sister works for a nonprofit, currently doing volunteer training. It's quite possible those threads will also help you discover jobs you had no idea existed!

This recent post by u/sunagainstgold and the many follow ups seems more relevant, since you would probably need a PhD to teach at a university. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/96yf9h/monday_methods_why_you_should_not_get_a_history/ Yes, it's a scary thread, but I am currently applying to academic jobs in math and it still spoke to me. One reason the history professor positions aren't coming back? They are becoming math (and science) positions.

u/sunagainstgold's linked post is deeply pessimistic, but I cannot really argue against it, much as I wish I could.

This is the advice I got when I was considering applying to PhD programs to try to go the academic route: do this only if you can't possibly see yourself enjoying anything else. And when I say can't enjoy anything else, I mean literally, nothing else could possibly give you an iota of joy or meaning in life. Because ultimately, pursuing a career in academia will most likely leave you empty, broken, unemployed, and destitute. There is a small chance you could eek out a minimum-wage level of income, and a vanishingly small chance of a meaningful and rewarding career. Think of it like trying to make a living as a musician, but without the possibility of teaching music as a fallback. And with a much more brutal lifestyle.

I did history in undergrad then moved on to a career in student affairs, and am now in medical school. Never regretted my choices for a moment. The academic path is brutal. It destroys people's self esteem and self worth, is wildly political and unfair, and is incredibly difficult to make a good living out of.

Have you considered the possibility of teaching at the high school level?

A history undergrad degree is just as useful as any other arts degree - which is to say, it's not direct job training, but if you take the right things out of it you'll learn how to think and how to write, and those are two very valuable skills. So I would never discourage someone from pursuing an undergrad in something they're passionate about.

Edit:

Just read post by u/sunagainstgold below. It's worth a read, and every word of it is true.

I'm not a historian, but I do have a BA in history, and I did consider a history postgrad, because I wanted to be able to "do" history as a career.

There aren't many history jobs that are open to undergrads, regardless of what you want to do (it might be different if you've got great grades from a great university, but for most of us...), so you will need a postgrad.

This isn't something that everyone realises - I know of a few people who work in supermarkets because they are just waiting for that perfect job related to their passionate knowledge of Viking history to come up (clue: it won't!).

So you will need to do postgrad (and the debt that entails) if you want a history job.

IMO, there are two ways to get there.

1. PhD - if you want to teach university, then you'll probably need to go this way. As others have noted, there is huge competition for jobs, and terrible pay/conditions How much do you really love history?

2. MA in a vocational field. For example, public history, museums, heritage management.

The money here probably won't be great either, but you'll have more options (education, conservation, management etc) and more ability to move between jobs? Education at a high school or museum would be an option.

My experience: After I finished my BA, I worked as a researcher across various industries. When I went back to do a postgrad, I decided to do an MA (museums/heritage), as the job opportunities were better.

It meant that I had a good mix of theory and practical experience from a vocational MA and my work experience. This helped finding a job (policy) where I do some history projects as part of my wider role, but also let's me develop more transferable skills and isn't anywhere near as stressful as trying to build a career in academia.

Lots of people I work with do history projects on the side as a hobby - it means that they can concentrate on things that interest them, rather than what pays well.