What kinds of job can somebody get with a major in Anthropology?

Question

I will be attending a university in the fall and plan on majoring in Anthropology. I would love to do research type work, but I doubt that will happen. My family thinks I am wasting money on a useless degree. What would be some good jobs I can get with this major? Wages are not a big problem, I would just like to be able to live comfortably.

Answer 1

which one??? there is social and physical anthro??? physical would be like working with primates and zoo animals (maybe with an undergrad but i doubt it). social anthro-no clue with an undergrad

Answer 2

Your parents are probably right that an anthropology degree won't improve your job opportunities too much.  But it is still better than no degree at all, and you can always go onto graduate school.  Here are some ideas:

Professor of Anthropology--duh.

Work in the medical field--major in anthropology and go onto medical school and be a doctor, nurse, epidemiologist, whatever.  If you do this then you will want to focus more on the physical aspect.  Also you will probably want to minor in something like biology or chemistry, to get ready for the MCAT.

Work in advertising/marketing--Besides actually majoring in advertising and marketing, anthropology is the best degree you can get for this (or psychology is just as good).  People don't realize how scientific marketing is.  There is almost no difference in the methodology of an anthropologist observing and interviewing people in a foreign place than a marketer here at home doing the same.  The only difference is the latter is doing to to find a way to sell more hats or whatever.  Plus in anthropology you will eventually study linguistics, and this is important for name branding (http://www.catchwordbranding.com/capabil...  In fact, a lot of people who started modern advertising in the early part of the 20th century came from psychology and anthropology.  If you want to do this you should minor in business and get an MBA in marketing.

But if you just have an anthropology degree, you probably will have a hard time finding a job.  The only degree that you can actually find a job with just a bachelors is engineering and a few sciences.  Even then you usually have to get at least a masters if you want to go far.