7 Thriving Career Options In Humanities After 12th

Conventionally, Humanities Subject are considered sub-par to Science or Commerce. However, like traditional wisdom tells us, ‘Conventionality is not Morality,’ all of us need to rethink the  common notion- “Why Arts?”

The time when Humanities was seen as a stream meant for under-achievers is slowly, but surely going away for good. Parents and students have, although gradually, started understanding the importance of Humanities subjects.

Humanities as a career are the least explored of all the three streams. The people who say “why Humanities, what scope does it have” are apparently the ignorant ones. If you tell them the ‘scope’ that it has, they would perhaps be astounded.

Though it would not be wise to pitch science and commerce against humanities and arts, for each stream has their pros and cons, but humanities certainly offer a wider variety of choices. In this article, we will be discussing seven such options, which you can consider after 12th (Humanities). They will make you realise how broad the scope is after pursuing this rather neglected stream.

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Read the descriptions carefully and analyze the career options in humanities after 12th, according to your interests and skills.

1. Journalism
2. Content Writing
3. Civil Services
4. NDA
5. Human Resource Manager
6. Government Jobs
7. Librarian

Given below are the details pertaining these best career options in humanities.

• Journalism

If you have always been interested in current affairs, and hate the predictablity of a nine to five monotonous job routine, you can consider Journalism as a career. Besides being on the toes, the skills needed for this profession are an inquisitive mind, good command over language, ability to face challenges and a flair for writing.

With the increasing presence of news channels on T.V. and the proliferation of news organisations on the internet, the need for journalists has increased rapidly. However, Journalism as a career requires a lot of hard work, tenacity, and passion. So, do not enter into this field half-heartedly, for it might produce adverse results. Research a lot, consider every little aspect and then take your decision. If you think you have the right skills and passion, you will surely have a flourishing career.

To start your career in Journalism after 12th, you can go for a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Mass Communication, Mass Media or Literature followed by a Master’s in Journalism or Mass Communication.

Some of the best colleges to study Journalism are:

• AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia University
• The Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai
• Times School of Journalism
• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, JNU

• Content Writing

Being a content writer requires an aptitude for language and vocabulary. People who love to read, write, and explore the subtleties of English, are best suited for this profession.

Though a degree in English literature would be perfect if you want to pursue this career, a Bachelor’s degree in any other field would not restrict your opportunities.

The best way to improve your skills in this area is to intern with some newspaper, magazine, online publication or any other company that deals with providing online content on various topics.

You might not be paid during your internship, but once you have excelled the skills, you will make decent money which can go up to Rs. 50,000 per month (as per Payscale.com). Besides, you can even freelance your writing work for various online content providing companies.

• Civil Services

 

The post of IRS/IPS/IAS/IFS is apparently one of the most esteemed jobs in India. Every academically inclined student must have heard this at least once in his life – “bade hoke tumhe IAS/IPS ke lie try karna chahie.”

Though civil services exams are extremely difficult to clear, they are one of the most sought after competitive exams.

The claim that civil service officers earn more than any private sector job doesn’t hold water, but the prestige, power and perks that come with it are incomparable.

However, a Civil Service Officer’s job is extremely demanding. Decision-making ability, responsibility, knowledge, selflessness, dedication, and honesty towards the job are the requirements of this profession. Moreover, this is not an ordinary nine to five job; sometimes the officers might need to work beyond the usual working hours and face a lot of stress.

But, the good part about this job is the perks and adds on benefits that include accommodation at negligible rent and along with domestic help, vehicle, lifetime pension and other retirement benefits, option to take leaves to study abroad, and a lot more.

• NDA

With 12th in Humanities, you are eligible to join NDA. For this, you need to clear the NDA entrance test conducted by UPSC, twice a year.

However, you will be eligible for the Army wing only and not for the Indian Air Force or Navy. Besides, the option to appear in the test after 12th is available only to the unmarried male candidates. The girl candidates interested in joining NDA Army Wing shall have to complete their graduation and appear for CDS (Combined Defense Services) exam conducted twice a year by UPSC. To be able to appear in this exam, the age of the candidates should be between 19 to 25 years.

NDA provides its employees with multiple job benefits like job security, handsome salary, medical facilities for the family, subsidized higher education, fairly decent accommodation, lifetime pension after retirement, and a lot more.

But before taking this decision, it is highly recommended that you find someone who is, or has been a part of the Indian Army, to gain some insight into the extraordinary life that soldiers live. This understanding is critical to taking the decision to proceed in this direction.

• Human Resource Manager

If you have always been a genial and outgoing person, and you have the right confidence to talk to new people, you must consider being an HR Manager. More than that, this profession requires a person to have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

A Human Resource Management Department is the essence of any company that strives to hire the best talent. An HR Manager not only interviews the prospective employees but his/her area of responsibility includes, facilitating communication among employees, conducting inductions, organizing meetings, maintaining data related to remuneration, retaining employees, employee engagement, etc. However, the work of an HR Manager varies with the nature and size of a company. In large enterprises, their job is more specialized while in small enterprises they are supposed to handle multiple responsibilities.

To pursue a career in this field after 12th, you can get a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management and afterwards you can apply for a job, or you can even proceed towards an MBA in HR Management.

An entry level job might pay you as low as Rs. 15,000, but there is an immense scope for improvement, and your salary can go up to lakhs if you are sincere and put in the right efforts.

• Government Jobs

If you fancy a stress-free life with decent monthly income, you can’t miss considering government jobs as a career.

Though the salary in the Government sector is not at par with the salaries in Private Sector, the add on benefits are what make people give it a serious thought.

Please note that there is this misconception associated with Government jobs, that they are not demanding, and one can spend one’s whole life in leisure, without needing to work. However, this is not the case any more; the government is making policies to deal with the non-performers.

So if, you are planning to enter the government sector with the mindset that you will survive even if you do not have or learn the skills then please rethink.

However, the best part about Government jobs is the add on benefits which include medical facilities, accommodation with all the necessary facilities, job security, children’s education allowance, lifetime pension after retirement, etc.

After 12th, you can start preparing for LDC for an entry level job in Government sector. Other than that you can go for a Bachelor’s degree in any field of your choice and in the meanwhile prepare for SSC CGL, which you will be eligible to appear in after graduation. Besides, you must keep yourself informed and updated about various other state level Government job vacancies.

Every year millions of candidates appear in these exams, so the competition is really tough. You will need to put in great efforts to clear this exam.

• Librarian

A Librarian’s work goes beyond sitting on the computer and managing the books to helping the students with their research, analyzing user’s needs and providing them with the required books.

Students who have an interest in books and reading, and who are good at communicating can consider making a career in this field. Besides, in this era of technology, a modern Librarian is not expected to maintain dusty registers or long records manually.

Most Librarian jobs in colleges or universities need you to have at least a Master’s degree in Library Science. However, after clearing JRF NET, you will be eligible to work as a lecturer in any Government or Private University.

As per PayScale.com, an entry level librarian earns around Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000 monthly whereas with experience this can go up to Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000.

Being adept in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and years of experience influence the pay scale in this field.

Hopefully, you have a better understanding of the career options in humanities discussed above. But before moving ahead in any direction, read more about these fields, talk to the people having experience of working in these fields and then take your decision considering your interests, skills, and aptitude.

And just so you know, this is not all; these are just the seven career options in humanities that I found out to be the most interesting. Apart from these, a lot more other career options are available for a Humanities student such as teaching, law, hospitality, foreign language courses & much more. It’s all a matter of what you choose to pursue and go after. Good luck!