Redditors that have completed a History phd but did not become a professor, what do you do now? Was your PhD worth it? Did you attain any skills you use in your current job?

I'm a translator - usually French to English but the occasional Latin diploma too...

I got this job through essentially random choices throughout my life so "live my experiences exactly as I did" is not really helpful advice. The short version is, I always studied French (I'm one of the weird Canadians who actually likes it) and I had a "real world" job while I was in school. Then I got a postdoc job in France afterwards, and since I was pretty sure I was never going to get a teaching job, I thought working as a translator might be fun. People go to school to get a degree to do that too, but work experience and a semi-related PhD was good enough for me.

Aside from that, I think I learned useful skills in grad school. I learned how to manage time and stress. The people I worked with at the translation company told me the guy I replaced just went out for lunch one day and never came back. He couldn't handle the pressure! But trying to write a thesis and mark tests and essays in grad school was way more stressful than that. I don't think working is actually easier, I think I had just learned to pace myself and manage my time. I think also learned pretty good communication skills.

Time/stress management and communication transfer easily to the non-academic world and they're things that employers will be looking for. I think sometimes people just get so focused on finding a tenure-track teaching job that they don't realize their skills are transferable.