How to Market a Liberal Arts Education

I graduated from New York University in 1984 with three things:

  1. A Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature
  2. No clue of what career I wanted, and
  3. No plan to get started searching for a career

Nonetheless, ten years after I graduated, I loved my work and was earning over $100,000 (remember this was the early 1990s) and four years later I was making over $200,000 and a couple of years after that, just under $300,000.

If you have a Liberal Arts education, it’s my goal help you slice years off of your quest to have both a rewarding career and to earn the income you want. In fact I’ve recently started a consulting firm (with two friends) called SixFigureStart to do exactly that, give you the information and the power to springboard into a career that excites you and is financially rewarding. Here are some tips for how to leverage your liberal arts education into a successful career in the private sector:

Tip #1: A liberal arts education teaches a student how to learn by thinking through issues. What firm wouldn’t need someone to do this, on a daily basis? So when you interview with a company, be sure to give specific examples of how innovative you can be, even if it’s in a non-business environment. For example, you and a group of peers in college wanted to raise $10,000 dollars for a charitable event, and you were falling below your goal with just 30 days to go. So you thought of and implemented two ideas that helped you meet your target. One idea involved soliciting help from the football team to sell t-shirts at the weekly games and another was to hold a handball tournament with an entry fee.

Tip #2: A liberal arts education has variety so you can go anywhere and do anything. The benefits to any company here are clearly undeniable, as you will not be limited by a specialization. In my first position at Citigroup, I was placed in a marketing group where I was expecting to think up new and better ways of marketing our product. So I cringed when I was asked to create revenue analysis from our eight retail centers. But I dove into this project anyway. Because it wasn’t my strength, I checked the information two and three times, asked others to proof it, and by the time it went to my boss, it was in great shape. I even suggested a more effective format, which was adopted. It was a huge confidence booster and after that I felt just as comfortable with numbers as I did with creative marketing ideas.

Tip #3: Show your passion for the major you chose. I LOVED English Literature, especially 18th Century English Literature, but how could I possibly sell that to Citigroup? When I interviewed with them, I described why I specifically liked Beowulf and compared one of the characters to Riply in the movie Aliens, because both where driven and defined by their maternal instinct. I made a connection that surprised the interviewer–one that was passionate, genuine, colorful and different.

Tip #4: Know and embrace your skills as a Liberal Arts major. Liberal Arts majors know how to communicate, both verbally and in writing. This is critical to any business. I can’t tell you how many business majors lack the basic writing skills necessary to produce an effective e-mail. During the interview, talk enthusiastically about a project you worked on and how you communicated with teammates about its status. Talk about how critical that communication was because it ensured that everyone was on the same page and individuals weren’t wasting time going in different directions. Be proud of the fact that you wrote the final team project, compiled feedback from other team members, and presented the final version to the professor and the class. Effective communication is the backbone of any business and any firm that cannot do this will fail.

Tip #5: Your resume should proudly state your Liberal Arts skills, including:

  • Exceptional problem-solving, creative thinking and communication skills
  • Strong teamwork and leadership skills
  • The ability to conduct research and organize it clearly and effectively
  • Evaluative and critical thinking skills
  • The ability to meet goals and deadlines, while managing time effectively

Remember to connect these skills to specific achievements. All businesses consider these skills critical to their success and would embrace any candidate that can demonstrate them effectively.

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