Rosie Harrington, French studies graduate student, thought teaching would be her only option after receiving Bachelor’s degrees in French and English from Wesleyan College in Georgia.
Harrington is one of many students who may have once felt limited by their liberal arts degree.
Liberal arts includes majors in fields such as art, philosophy, history, biological sciences, psychology, languages and political science.
But the National Association of Colleges and Employers recently released a study that reports communication skills as the No. 1 trait an employer looks for, giving liberal arts a more competitive edge.
Gaines Foster, history professor, said liberal arts classes enhance students’ communication and analytical thinking skills.
“Every employer wants someone who can express themselves, write and think well,” Foster said.
Harrington said she realized her senior year she didn’t want to become a teacher after substituting for a high school class.
“I couldn’t get the job I wanted without more schooling,” Harrington said. “Now I have to play catch up.”
Now a graduate student, Harrington said she plans to take international politics courses. She said she hopes to eventually work for an international non-profit organization or discuss human rights in the United Nations.
Harrington said her professors told her liberal arts majors are marketable because they are easily educated.
“Studying English keeps me from being limited. Engineers learned only how to do one thing,” Harrington said. “They still need English majors to write their manuals.”
Catherine White, interpretive coordinator for the LSU Rural Life Museum, said she would have no problem hiring liberal arts graduates.
“The first things I look for are honesty and dependability, basic things that some people don’t think about,” White said.
She said communication-intensive classes give liberal arts majors an advantage.
“Because working at a museum involves public interaction, communication is a very important quality that I would look for.”
Sara Crow, communications manager for Career Services, said while communication skills are the No. 1 quality employers look for, networking and job experience are also crucial.
“More than 80 percent of jobs are filled through networking,” Crow said. “No philosophy major can get a job without some kind of experience.”
Harrington said she is satisfied with her decision to be a liberal arts major.
“If I could do it all over again and choose a shorter route over the longer liberal arts route, I wouldn’t,” Harrington said. “I feel like I’m well-rounded and trained to do anything.”
—–Contact Kristine Breithaupt at [email protected]