What career opportunities do I have with a LIBERAL ARTS degree?

[Question Queen ?]

I have a B.A. in Spanish, but my university says on the diploma-a Liberal Arts degree. & the Dept. chair o Foreign Languages told me that we aren't supposed to expect to be fluent in French/Spanish upon graduation. I'm not fluent in Spanish, so she told me to consider myself as having a Liberal Arts degree with a CONCENTRATION in Spanish. But since I'm still not fluent, in the meantime, what career options do I have with a Liberal Arts degree until I become fluent in Spanish & become a translator/interpreter?

[BiologyGeek]

You can teach elementary school, or go to grad school. Did they not tell you this before you started the program?

[Erendis]

I suggest you go get a Master's degree in Spanish, or you go back to an undergraduate school and get more Spanish credentials. Liberal Arts degrees aren't that valuable these days--you need them in certain majors.

[higherlovetx]

What can you do with a Major in Liberal Arts?
Career Specializations within liberal arts
Opinions on the availability of jobs available to Liberal Arts students upon graduation vary. Some advisors will tell you that your initial job search will be difficult, but your prospects will grow as you move up the corporate ladder and closer to those professionals who hold degrees and therefore understand the true value of a liberal arts degree. The other opinion is that upon graduation you will find more opportunities open to you because you have a broader base of knowledge and vital communication skills than a candidate who has specialized in only one discipline. As with any career pursuit, the answer lies in your own preparation, previous experience, and perseverance.

Your career choices can include teaching, communications, media, advertising, marketing, public service or law, and all within business, government, non profit, science, social science, music, or language sectors. It can be as diverse as labor relations specialist, women's rights advocate, or planned donations officer at a museum.

Beyond entry level positions at an associate or bachelor level, many higher level professionals start their careers in seemingly unrelated, but in actually quite valuable, liberal arts degree programs. A future lawyer can begin his or her education with the English, public speaking, government, philosophy, history, economics and computer courses available with a liberal arts curriculum.

Providing a list of the courses you took to obtain your degree may be beneficial when you prepare your first resume because it will show the interviewer that you have the background in areas beneficial to your desired career. A human resources specialist in employee relations can take courses in psychology, sociology, political science, economics or statistics, and organizational behavior that would put him or her ahead of candidates with a strictly business background.

Look beyond the obvious choices for careers when choosing a liberal arts degree specialization. For example, a modern languages degree can lead directly into translation and interpreting jobs, but can also apply to international concerns such as foreign services, immigration, non profit or international aid agencies, or even local in groups who deal with ethnic communities such as neighborhood medical services. Developing the skills to work in different languages can also lead to careers in areas as diverse as computer programming and ciphering work with intelligence agencies.

[bookish]

No, you can't teach elementary school. You need to be an education major for that, you need to take certification tests and be licensed by the state. You certainly could work in a day care facility, if working with kids is something you want to do. You can get some kind of assistant job at an office.
What are you doing to become fluent in Spanish?

[Davefromlexky]

well I have a degree in history, I can say that that degree is a little better than one in a language. I would say just look into jobs that require just a 4 year degree. I mean there are quite a few out there. You should look into a graduate program and start getting ready for the GRE as well. Best of luck to you, I never could do a foreign language. I ended up taking sign language to fulfill my language requirement. I wish you the best of luck!! Oh you might want to try to look for some companies that may need people who can speak Spanish. Yeah, so you are not fluent in it, you know enough to talk some, and it will help you get more real life practice which will make grad school easier.

[Theodore H]

Spanish teacher