Career Development Resources
“History is a body of knowledge. More importantly, it's also a way of producing knowledge, a way of looking at the world. Historians possess habits of mind that employers require. The historian in the room will ask good questions, demand better evidence, consider multiple perspectives, and make strong arguments. S/he will also remain curious, flexible, open-minded, and self-motivated. When presented with a problem, the historian won't panic but will rather think through the dilemma and, perhaps, develop a creative solution.” –
Tim Herbert, University of Illinois at Chicago.
For historians entering the job market, there’s a host of resources available to assist your career search. Whether entering academia or not, finding a job takes planning, organization, and knowledge of where employer’s post their openings. This page is dedicated to aggregating career diversity and professionalization resources for historians to build themselves into the best candidates possible. Included here are lists of on campus resources, job-search websites, articles discussing professionalization, and guides to the job market.
This page will be constantly edited as new resources become available. If you have a resource that would fit this page, please forward it to Colton Adkisson (cadksn@iastate.edu)
Professionalization Resources
- Iowa State Graduate College Career Page
- Iowa State Liberal Arts and Sciences Career Services Page
- UC Berkeley Graduate Student Professionalization Guide
- ImaginePhD
- MyIDP
- AHA Career Resources page
- Chronicle of Higher Education
Academic Job Finding Resources
- Where Historians Work
- AHA Hiring Process Guidelines
- Academic360
- Academic Careers Online
- Academic Jobs Wiki
- Academic Keys
- H-Net Jobs Guide
- HigherEdJobs
- Idealist
- OAH Job Guide
- PostDocJobs
- UniversityJobs
- VersatilePhD
Non-Academic Job Finding Resources
General Career Databases
Consulting
Museums and Public History
- American Alliance of Museums
- American Cultural Resources Association
- Global Museum
- National Council on Public History
International Development
Non-Profits
- Chronicle of Philanthropy
- Council of Foundations
- Idealist
- National Council of Non-Profits
- Non-Profit Career Network
Professional Research and Think Tanks
Publishing
U.S. Federal Government
- Department of Defense
- Department of Education
- Department of Health and Human Services
- State Department
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Partnership for Public Service
Career Diversity Articles
- “Searching for Jobs Outside the Academy?” by Christina Copland, July 30, 2018.
- “Can You Train Your Ph.D.s for Diverse Careers When You Don’t Have One?” by Leonard Cassuto, August 22, 2018.
- “Academic Job Searching for Dummies” by Gabriela Montell, March 16, 2001.
- “Getting Psyched Up for the Market” by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julie Miller Vick, August 29, 2003.
- “Your Official Job-Application Checklist” by David D. Perlmutter, October 21, 2012.
- “Your Unofficial Job-Application Checklist” by David. Perlmutter, November, 19, 2012.
- “The Repurposed Ph.D.” by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, November 1, 2013.