Careers after Classics: Department of Classics

Careers after Classics

“We can't overestimate the value of a Classics major. Check this out: according to Association of American Medical Colleges, students who major or double-major in Classics have a better success rate getting into medical school than do students who concentrate solely in biology, microbiology, and other branches of science. Crazy, huh? Furthermore, according to Harvard Magazine, Classics majors (and math majors) have the highest success rates of any majors in law school. Believe it or not: political science, economics, and pre-law majors lag fairly far behind. Even furthermore, Classics majors consistently have some of the highest scores on GREs of all undergraduates. [...] Classics majors get on well in life because they develop intellectual rigor, communications skills, analytical skills, the ability to handle complex information, and, above all, a breadth of view which few other disciplines can provide.”

The Princeton Review

We have created this page to help you think through what career(s) you may want to pursue after your Classics education. It contains some examples of directions Classics alumni have pursued after graduation, resources for career exploration, and prompting questions for considering graduate studies.

Classics is a demanding and distinctive course of study that teaches and strengthens close reading skills, analytical clarity, thorough research, evaluation of evidence, logical analysis, effective writing, and appreciation of nuance and subtleties, historical variability, and cultural differences.

While we are thrilled to see our students pursue further studies in Classics after graduation, we are also excited to see them apply their Classics training to industry professions or to an advanced degree in another discipline for an interdisciplinary edge. We have alumni pursuing experiences including but not limited to studying law, medicine, art history, computer science, paleontology, bioarchaeology, comparative literature, Classics(!), and physics, or working in clean energy consulting, finance, Latin teaching, secondary education, cybersecurity, and political consulting, among other directions. Northwestern's very own Special Collections and Univeristy Archives director studied Classics!

What, How, When?

Undergrad is an important period for self-reflection, exploration, and goal-setting for the future. As you look toward your next steps after graduation, there are two (maybe three) primary questions that will help determine your goals and which require that self-reflection and exploration:

What career(s) am I interested in pursuing?
1. If the answer is "Latin teacher," learn more about how you can obtain Latin Teaching Certification!
Does it make sense for me to pursue graduate education, and if that is something I want to do, when should I do so?

You can always change your mind about these! Life is fluid and nonlinear.

Resources for identifying careers of interest

It can be helpful - but not necessary - to answer question 1 first, since graduate programs can provide training useful or necessary for a particular career direction. If you have not determined what career path you want to pursue yet, or if you simply want to check in with yourself about your current motivations, here are some helpful resources to get started.

If your answer to “What career(s) am I interested in pursuing?” is “professor,” it is wonderful to hear you have such great love for research and academia. Have you also considered other professions? If not, we encourage you to explore some of the resources below.

Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA) provides support through things like advising and a Career Paths by Major exploration tool that uses NU alumni data - the results for the Classics major highlights the breadth of professional opportunities offered to Classics majors in terms of industry areas, jobs/internships, typical employers, skills employers look for, and examples of where alumni work. NCA advisors can help you think through what careers may be interesting to you if you are undecided, plan or prepare for careers/jobs, find jobs/internships, and more!
Career Explorer uses your responses to a survey to build your interest profile across 6 interest areas and returns a collection of careers based on how their interest area score distribution aligns with your profile. It also provides a “compatibility score” determined by your wants, needs, skills, interests, and workplace preferences for each career and recommends degrees based on your profile. Career profiles summarize the job, skills needed, pros and cons of the work, education required, average salary, and job outlook, including the level of impact AI has had on its outlook.
O*NET Interest Profiler similarly uses your responses to a survey to build your interest profile across 6 interest areas and orders its list of careers in each area based on how their interest area score distribution aligns with your profile. Career profiles summarize the job and knowledge, skills, and abilities needed, the personality of people typically interested in the work, the technology involved, education required, job outlook, and related professions. One strength of this tool is that you can filter by level of preparation required for a given job (e.g. whether it requires an advanced degree).

What are those careers like?

After you have identified some careers you may be interested in, the best next thing to do is to talk to people in those professions about their work and their path to that role. Because it likely feels the least intimidating, a good place to start is to reach out to people you know for conversations or for introductions to people they know in those professions. Northwestern also has a robust alumni network that you can take advantage of to learn about fellow Wildcats’ experiences through the Alumni Directory or by finding alumni on LinkedIn. While personal connections and alumni may feel the most approachable, you can reach out to anyone to request a conversation to learn more about their job with a brief, polite email. When you meet or call, ask them what they do, why they chose to do it and continue to do it, and what they like/dislike about their work, and whatever other questions you may have.

Do I want to go to grad school?

Deciding on a career path may help you answer the question of whether to pursue an advanced degree by virtue of education required for the role, but if you are still unsure, it can be helpful to talk to your academic advisor, to professors, and to current graduate students about their experiences and insights and do some personal reflection.

Are there certain skills, experiences, or credentials that a graduate program would give you? Do you want to learn through the educational practices of an academic institution, as opposed to other ways you might learn the same skills (e.g. internships, apprenticeships, etc.)? Does it make sense to complete a full program, as opposed to individual, targeted classes (which would impact the type of credentials you may receive (e.g. a PhD vs. a certificate vs. only personal, applicable knowledge perhaps with a transcript proof of completion)? Graduate education is research-centric, which means that knowing whether you enjoy research may also help you decide whether you are interested in an advanced degree.

The Office of Undergraduate Research is a fantastic resource for you to learn about how to get involved in research regardless of your interest or skill level. You do not need to know anything about research to make an advising appointment with them!

When do I want to go to grad school?

Once you have determined what direction you want to pursue, if that direction requires (or you decided it would benefit from) an advanced degree, it’s important to ask yourself when it makes sense for you to begin that degree. Is that right after undergrad? Or is it after a year or some away, whether to develop perspective or skills better acquired elsewhere, to build your CV for applications to a program of interest, to complete a project or gain experience important to you, or even to simply give yourself a break from academia? The availability of funding may also play a role in when it is feasible for you to do a graduate program. Again, talking with your academic advisor, professionals in your field of interest, and current graduate students and reflecting on your goals and priorities will help you identify a timeline that makes sense for you.