Philosophy majors develop important skills desired by employers.
Studying philosophy promotes critical thinking, effective communication, and intellectual engagement with key ideas. Employers are looking to hire people who can think and communicate well.
“We hear again and again that employers value creative problem solving and the ability to deal with ambiguity in their new hires, and I can’t think of another major that would better prepare you with those skills than the study of philosophy,” says Lydia Frank, the senior editorial director at PayScale.
Philosophy majors demonstrate their strengths in analytical thinking and verbal skills on graduate school admission exams like the LSAT and the GRE.
Philosophy majors tend to achieve high scores on graduate admissions exams. In fact, philosophy majors consistently have the highest average scores of any humanities / liberal arts major. Philosophy is also the most common major for law school applicants, and philosophy majors have the highest rate of law school acceptance. See the following to understand the data:
http://cdn.ymaws.com/www.apaonline.org/resource/resmgr/Images/phil-test-scores-salaries.png
Philosophy Major Salaries
Over time, philosophy graduates do well financially because they’ve developed the skills that allow them to adapt and change as the workforce does. On average, they make more than those with degrees in fields often seen as more “practical.”
http://dailynous.com/2015/09/04/salaries-of-philosophy-majors-over-time/
Philosophy Degree Careers
Instead of training for one particular type of career, philosophy majors can branch out into a wide variety of areas. Thinking well and writing well can be transferred into many fields. It is the ultimate “transferable work skill.” With its emphasis on reason and argumentation, philosophy is excellent preparation for a career in law, religion, business, international diplomacy, social work, medical management, writing, and post-graduate education. Philosophy majors successfully work as or in, but are not limited to:
- Lawyer
- Institutional Research
- Management
- Social Worker
- Public Relations Director
- Business Ethics
- Marketing Research Analyst
- Teacher
- Public Relations
- Medical Ethics
- Writing
- Paralegal
- Counselor
- Banker
- Journalist
- Librarians
- Consulting
- Accountant
- Professor
- Labor relations
- Public Policy
- Nonprofit work
- Ministers
- Teachers
- Foreign Service Officers
- Self-employed
You can become…
- President of Morgan Stanley (Robert Greenhill)
- Supreme Court Justices (Stephen Breyer AND David Souter)
- Investor (George Soros)
- CEO of Overstock.com (Patrick Byrne)
- Supreme Court Justice (Stephen Breyer AND David Souter)
- Mayor of Los Angeles (Richard Riordan)
- U.S. Secretary of Education (William Bennett)
- Prime Minister of Canada (Paul Martin, Jr.)
- Network Television Journalist (Stone Phillips)
- Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author (Studs Terkel)
- Host of an Iconic Game Show (Alex Trebek)
- Cofounder of Wikipedia (Larry Sanger)
- Comedian/Actor/Producer (Ricky Gervais)
- Academy-Award Winning Filmmaker (Ethan Coen)
- Four-star General in the US Army (Jack Keane)
- Fighter in the French Resistance in WWII (Stephane Hessel)
- Co-author of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (P.C. Chang AND Charles Malik)
- Martyr to German Opposition to Nazism in WWII (Sophie Scholl)
- Pope (John Paul II AND Benedict XVI)
- Seminal Anthropologist (Claude Levi-Strauss)
Career Services at Georgia Southern University can help the expected graduate or the already graduate reach out to employers and opportunities. Resources available by the department include job shadowing, internships, and eager companies who want to hire Philosophy majors.
Georgia Southern’s Philosophy Graduates
This is Andres Montes, MD. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Georgia Southern University Honors Program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. While in College, he co-founded and served as CEO of The Hearts and Hands Clinic in Bulloch County. Dr. Montes earned his Medical Degree from Mercer University School of Medicine. During medical school, he was inducted into the prestigious Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Montes went on to complete his residency training in OB/GYN, including serving as chief resident at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Dr. Montes now practices at St. Joseph’s/Candler.
Andres says that his degree in philosophy “enables me every shift to connect with my patients on a more humanistic level, bringing a deeper meaning to the work done each day in the pursuit of healing others.”
Deborah Anice Swofford Graduated from Georgia Southern University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, cum laude. While attending Georgia Southern University, Deborah was engaged in campus-wide leadership. As a result of her successful leadership, Deborah was recruited to participate in leadership training and consulting through the Georgia Southern INSPIRE Leadership Team. In that role, Deborah was responsible for the leadership development of college and high school students.
Deborah joined The Law Offices of Kevin J. McDonough in September, 2012. Deborah’s primary practice areas include family law, corporate law, and business litigation.
For more well known philosophy majors, visit: http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/14-famous-people-who-were-philosophy-majors/