How easy is it to get a job in Anthropology?

Question

I was going to go to college to major in Anthropology, but I was wondering if there are enough jobs so I would not be left with a degree and no where to go. So, I was wondering if there are a lot of jobs for Anthropologists?

Answer 1

It is not easy.  I have personally checked into it, since I wanted to be a cultural anthropologist.  After I found out that the job is hard to obtain and the salary is about $40k plus a year, I switched my major to International Business.  That way, I can apply cultural anthropology methods into business and earn lots of money!

here is the website that you should check out:

http://www.aaanet.org/profdev/careers/

Good luck!

Answer 2

It really depends on what branch of Anthropology you are looking at.  Many times, colleges offer Anthropology as an umbrella term for everything from Cultural Anthropology, which can focus on certain social groups, to Forensic Anthropology which is about dead bodies and crime scenes - though not nearly as glamorous as seen on TV.  Then there is Anthropology that is sometimes seen on National Geographic - often really Archaeology.  The reason all these are lumped together is because they are all Anthro- (p) - Ology (The study of Humans).  I guess I can't say much about cultural or foresic anthropology, but as far as Archaeology goes, there is a different meaning in "job".  Archaeologists for the most part, at least with a bachelors degree (and sometimes even a masters) don't have a job that they keep for 20+ years like buisness majors do.  We tend to move from job to job, and many people ask when we are going to get a "real" job - as in a job that we sit at a desk all day (ICK!).  To actually get a job in Archaeology, you need to:

A.) get at least a bachelor's degree, or be on track to get one.

B.) most companies require a field school - if your school doesn't offer one, go to www.shovelbums.org and look at the field school directory.  This is required because not only does it teach you field techniques, but it weeds out people who have too romantic a notion of what it is like playing in the dirt all day.  Mind you it's fun, but not hollywood.  It's probably a good idea to take a field school early on - you don't have to major to do one - to make sure it's what you want to do.

C.)  as long as you are at www.shovelbums.org, go ahead and look at the jobs.  It will give you a really good idea of what kinds of jobs there are out there for Cultural Resource Management.  CRM is the bureaucratic term for archaeology, and is a billion dollar / year industry, and accounts for 95% of Archaeology done in the US*.  Keep in mind that it is winter, so it's not the busy time of year. (Hard to dig in frozen ground.)

Good luck in college, and if you feel you are up to it, come be a shovelbum, it really is quite fun!!

Answer 3

I can't add much to what the other posters have said, but here's a few more ideas to consider.  Along with your anthropology major, you should be sure to take some additional course that might allow you to get some interesting jobs that would take advantage of your anthropology major.  Taking courses in things like research methods, statistics, computer science, Web design, database management, or even speech would give you some additional skills that employers would like to see.  For social-cultural anthropology, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and universities are good places to look for work with an undergrad anth. major plus good "skills" courses.  

I actually have a graduate anthro. degree, and got a job one time based on my general social science methods background (statistics and  research methods), not on the specics of having an advanced degree in anthro.

Answer 4

In a nutshell, no.  It's sort of like being a philosophy major -- it's interesting to study, but not the greatest idea if you want to make a career as an anthropologist.  

You have a few options, if you do major in Anthropology.  You can plan on getting your masters and/or Ph.D. in Anthropology, and then teaching at the university level, or you can try to get a corporate job.  I took a few anthropology classes in college, and this one lady came in to talk to our class about "corporate anthropology", a concept I had never heard of.  Basically you do market research to find out how people use the company's products.  This lady worked for a washing machine manufacturer, and went and stayed with people for short periods of time to find out how they really used their washing machines.  It might not really sound like anthropology, and it's probably selling out, but really there's not much else you can do specifically with an anthropology degree.

On the upside, if you live in the States, it's not essential that your major correlate exactly to your future career.  I was a Spanish major, and now I'm a legal assistant.  I know people who were Biology or English majors who become systems administrators.  Other people major in political science and get jobs in social work.  There are some jobs that require you to major in a certain subject, like biologists, chemists, engineers, etc., but there's nothing wrong with majoring in anthropology and not making anthropology your career choice.

Best of luck!  Anthropology is a fascinating subject.