A liberal arts degree is one of the most diverse and intellectually stimulating educations a student can earn today. Whether your focus is in art history, English, geography or philosophy, liberal arts majors prepare students to work in a wide range of careers, using the invaluable skills they’ve learned in class. Here are 10 ways to promote your liberal art major on the job market:

1. Highlight Your Interpersonal Skills: Liberal arts majors are the quintessential communicators. They enjoy talking, listening and asking questions while engaging in meaningful conversations. If this accurately describes you, it’s important to let your strong interpersonal skills show through during interviews and job-related conversations. Don’t shy away when asked about social, economic and political topics that you can expound on. These invaluable skills will set you apart from other candidates, who often struggle to listen closely, answer open-ended questions and ask important questions when necessary.
2. Describe Your Adaptability: With a liberal arts education, you are prepared to handle anything that may be thrown at you. It’s important to promote your adaptability to change and how you deal with change. Liberal arts education is based on the premise of history, evolution and conflict resolution. Throughout your studies, you’ve adapted to different changes and shifting ideas or opinions. Perhaps, you worked a part-time job or were involved in an extracurricular activity during school, which forced you to manage change and become more flexible. Even if you cannot cite personal examples of adapting to change, you can talk about your willingness to adapt to changing positions and duties, as well as gaining new skills.
3. Show Your Critical and Analytical Thinking Skills: Throughout your liberal arts studies, you’ve been exposed to a wide range of subjects that promote discussion and debate. You’ve also learned how to absorb and understand complex information through careful analysis and critical thinking. Employers like knowing that you’re a deep thinker, who takes the time to look at every situation from several different viewpoints before acting irrationally. However, it’s also important to note that you’re not afraid to act quickly, when need be.
4. Promote Teamwork: Liberal arts majors spend a great deal of their college career engaging in group discussions, giving presentations and working as a team to complete projects. Whether you’ve noticed it or not, this kind of team building has helped you develop as a student and job candidate. Of course employers want to know that you can work independently, without a lot of direction and guidance, but they also want you to be able to work well as a team member. Go ahead and cite examples of working in teams for a school project or extracurricular activity. It’ll show that you’re cooperative, empathetic and an effective leader.
5. Show Your Written and Oral Communication Skills: There’s no doubt about it – liberal arts majors have excellent written and oral communication skills. Whether it’s from all of those research papers or heated political debates, these activities have served you some good, and now is the time to let these skills show through. Communication skills are the most important qualities an employer looks for in an applicant. Having the ability to write well and speak clearly and intelligently will do wonders for you, as long as you show these skills to potential employers.
6. Show That You’re Willing to Take Risks: Liberal arts majors are no strangers to taking risks. Just the fact you chose a major that gets criticized and overlooked a lot, shows that you can overcome challenges and naysayers. In this current job market, you cannot afford to be overly picky about what jobs you take or what job duties you’re willing to do. All college graduates have to start somewhere, and it typically begins at the bottom. Taking a risk by accepting a so-so job could lead to great things in your future, and that experience will always be better than none.
7. Highlight Your Diversity: Even though liberal arts is a pretty common degree, it’s no longer the most popular field of study today. As the job market changes and college students transition to more narrowly-focused degrees, your liberal arts education will continue to stand out. You’ve probably taken everything from history, anthropology to classic literature and have a breadth of knowledge in a wide range of topics, and can discuss a little bit about everything. Use this to your advantage and talk to employers about your diverse education.
8. Show That You’re an Avid Learner: Liberal arts majors are avid learners who have a genuine interest in a range of subjects. Employers want to hire graduates who enjoy learning and want to explore topics in their entirety. As a liberal arts graduate, you should promote your willingness to learn and gain new skills. Your eagerness to learn also shows that you are capable of taking on new responsibilities and want to keep growing as an employee.
9. Promote Your Problem-Solving Skills: As a liberal arts student, there isn’t a problem or task too complex for you to handle. Using the skills you learned as an undergrad, you are trained to dissect problems, analyze issues and develop practical solutions. All employers can use workers with strong problem-solving skills, and you should certainly promote this during interviews.
10. Show Your Business Savvy Skills: Liberal arts graduates have a general understanding of business topics and possess important technical skills needed to excel in various career fields. It’s important to show employers that you have the ability to think critically and solve complex problems that could be used in several different business jobs. If you want to work in business, you have to stress these skills and your interest in a business career. Make employers see how your skills are relevant to their needs and your willingness to learn additional skills can help them.

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Article By: Tina Sans
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