One of the questions that I have been asked most often is, "What kind of a career/job can I get if I study an arts degree?” The best way to start is to look at who is best suited to study an arts degree.
Employers value graduates who have an arts degree, many employers do not specify what type of degree you have, they are more interested in the key critical skills that you have acquired while studying an arts degree
Career exploration
In arts and humanities you are looking at the study of human behaviour and human culture in subjects such as psychology, Celtic civilisation, modern Irish culture, geography, history, languages, and social studies. These are some of the key subjects you would need to have an interest in. The degree offers a broad range of subjects and you can combine different subjects. When looking at a student’s general aptitudes we look at verbal reasoning, which is problem solving through words, abstract reasoning, which is looking at general problem solving abilities, and numerical reasoning. For most arts and humanities degrees, maths is not a requirement. When choosing an arts degree look at how you learn, if you are academic, if you like continuous assessment or if you learn by doing, hands on. Most colleges offer an arts degree at Level 8, however Carlow College offers a Level 7 arts degree which leads on to a Level 8 higher degree.
Skills and qualities
Would you consider yourself a creative person or an enterprising person? Are you interested in persuading people to come around to your point of view? If so a career in media or journalism may be something to consider. These careers can be pursued with an arts degree. Are you an adaptable person, are you a risk taker, because by taking an arts degree and because of the broad range of subjects offered you may not necessary have a direct path at the beginning of your degree. As you mature and by the third year of your degree, you will have developed many critical skills such as acquiring knowledge through research and development. You will have many transferrable skills.
If you are interested in law and you are concerned that you may not necessarily have the required points, it is offered as one of the subjects through arts at NUI Galway, where it can be studied along with another subject. Following the completion of your arts degree you can then apply for a conversion course if you wish to continue to study law at a deeper level. Equally, many students who study an arts degree apply for postgraduate studies to become a primary school teacher. The subjects you study in an arts degree also allow you to teach those subjects at second level.
Things to look out for and where to find the correct information
Do you want to study an arts degree in three years or four years? Mary Immaculate College in Limerick offers a four year arts degree, while UCC and NUIG offer it in three years. Mary Immaculate College offers a choice of 13 subjects, one of them includes media and communication studies; in many of the other colleges this subject is not offered through arts. Graduates of this degree are now employed in television, radio, and newspapers. If combined with a language it gives you a broad degree offering many career options.
Other larger universities have a wider range of options. The subject lines, which are similar to your Leaving Cert timetable, differ in different colleges. When researching any third level course check out the course content, subjects offered, postgraduate options, and progression routes.
The websites www.careersportal.ie and www.qualifax.ie will give you more information, along with the prospectuses of individual colleges.
As you can see there is a wide and varied range of career options available through an arts degree, including journalism, teaching both primary and second level, psychology, law, social studies, media and television, tourism, civil service, health services, and charities.
