The majority of people associate the degree you get with the potential to make a great salary.
That is probably one of the main reasons why students are going into engineering, computer science, medicine or business.
How much money you will make in the future is very important, but it should not be the top priority.
Instead, you should look for a field that fulfills you intellectually. And that is specifically where the field of philosophy comes into play.
When you think of pas philosophers, you might picture people rambling on about a topic that is too deep for the majority to understand. And, anyone who thinks that could not be more wrong. Philosophy is not about ramblers at all.
Philosophy is a field of study where you'll get encouraged to ask questions, and then work towards answering them. Even if they seem difficult at first.
At the end of a program of a Master's in Philosophy, you will have gained a lot of great and valuable skills. And they do not include rambling about various topics.
These particular skills include:
- Critical thinking
- Analysis
- Argument building
- Effective communication
- Advanced research
- Problem-solving
So, in essence, once you get your degree in philosophy you will have gained the neccessary knowledge and skills that you worked for, and also the diploma on your wall. But, after a while, you look at your diploma and wonder “What now?”.
Well, with this article we will go through almost all the possible careers for philosophy majors and jobs that you might get, and make a living out of it.
What is a Master's in Philosophy?
A Master's in Philosophy is the study of human existence, its main problems and behavior. The field strives to use rational thinking and logical approaches in order to discover the knowledge that humans need so they can live well.
It's actually the foundation of ideas in morality, ethics, government and democracy in general.
Those who have already got a degree in other fields usually transfer to philosophy just out of curiosity.
A Master's in Philosophy can either be an MPhil or an MA in Philosophy.
The Mphil is a strictly dedicated philosophical field that concentrates on equipping students with the proper and necessary skills in it.
While the MA in Philosophy can be organized that it also involves the knowledge and skills of other fields to complement that of philosophy.
Careers you can choose from
Interestingly, Philosophy is a diverse field that has many applications.
You gain so many useful skills that there are really no boundaries to what you can do with this degree. Your career path purely depends on what makes you feel more fulfilled, or what gives you higher flexible working conditions.
Nevertheless, if you're uncertain about what career you can choose with your Master's in Philosophy, we've listed the top 6 below.
Fit for the Public Sector
Philosophers came up with the idea of the state, and developer a large amount of literature on it.
They usually talked about how societies can and should be organized, and how the order is supposed to be kept to keep everything right. Additionally, all of our ideas about democracy and society come from one philosopher or the other.
So, when you look at it, it kind of makes perfect sense that a master's in philosophy would prepare you for a career in the service of the government.
The public sector is really very diverse, so you can really pick and choose whatever you want to do. You can work in the main branch of government, in health care, civil society or any other area that you are interested in.
This is the sector where you get to apply the ideas you've read and discussed while getting your degree.
Teaching
If you look at it, Philosophers are professors!
That what you might've heard at some point in your life, and it's not entirely wrong. The skills you will gain while pursuing a degree in Philosophy are incredibly useful in the teaching sector.
This includes critical thinking and problem-solving. That is probably why most of the students go into teaching after they get their degree. This could really be at any level, be that primary, secondary or tertiary.
Of course, some countries have different regulations about teaching. You might need to have some form of teaching degree or certificate in order to become a teacher or professor. So, if you want to teach philosophy, you might need additional qualifications besides your philosophy degree.
Additionally, the skill of problem-solving makes you tremendously great at research since you can look at it from different perspectives.
Ethical authority
In essence, the philosophy degree encompasses teaching about what is right and wrong and the fine line between those two. Students learn how to navigate this gray area and that particular skill makes them truly great judges of character and ethics.
That being said, it's really no wonder that a good career for someone with a Master's Degree in Philosophy is to become an ethical authority in any kind of institution. This includes:
- Universities
- Hospitals
- Courts
- Others who need someone to make a decision
Law and legal
Essentially, law and legal are made of philosophy.
Any kind of institution that works with the law desperately needs in-depth analysis, presentation of arguments and problem-solving. All of these skills are gained once you finish your master's degree in philosophy.
If your main goal is to become a lawyer, then your degree in philosophy will be an immense help to achieve that goal.
Interestingly enough, those who have a degree in philosophy have the highest rate of acceptance in law schools. That's because they have the analytical capability that is required.
So, after you complete the mater's degree in philosophy, you can freely go and apply for law school and jumpstart your career as a lawyer.
Computers and programming
At first, you might think that those two have literally nothing in common. But you couldn't be more wrong!
Philosophers are very eager in learning logic and thinking. They learn whether something is true or false, and analyze it deeply.
Computers operate on logic and thinking – a statement or a number is either true or false, and a ton of analysis is needed to program it.
That's why some of them who finish the Master's degree in philosophy tend to go in workplaces with computers and programming. It comes naturally to them.
Computers, in essence, are logical and mathematical and philosophers are built to work the same way.
Human resources
Philosophers know how to understand people and their thought processes.
As said above, they are very good judges of character and have a very strong ethical background.
That's why a person with a master's degree in philosophy will make a great person for the job of fitting people into companies.
Working on human resources essentially requires that particular skill and people with the philosophy degree have it.
You will have to go through people's resumes, interview and test them. And after that, you will have to decide whether they fit the company or not.
While you interview the said applicant, you will out the skills of making better decisions you learned while getting your degree to use. This will ultimately lead to better results in the company you work for.
Earning power
Despite the fact that money should not be a top factor in deciding to pursue this career, it still is something to think about.
So, after learning what you can do with a degree in philosophy you might be interested in knowing how much money you can make. After all, let's be honest – at the end of the day, we all have to pay bills and get groceries.
A master's in philosophy is not exactly a degree that determines your salary immediately. Since you can go into many various career paths, your salary can also go into various directions.
This means you can end up making ~40,000$ as a copy editor or ~140,000$ as a systems engineering manager.
The reality of it is that you will most likely make something on the average of those two, which is not bad at all!
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John Marx is a native of Nebraska, and graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College in 2014 with a B.A. in French. Continuing his studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy.
