Jobs for the Major
How this major affects a job search
Like all liberal arts majors, sociology majors don't have a pre-packaged job waiting for them once they get out of college. Sociology majors can continue on to graduate school to become card-carrying sociologists or professors or…something completely different. But get started on that decision early—you don't want to be the college graduate who answers the "What are you going to do after college?" question with a blank stare.
Remember this: the skills you pick up while learning sociology will probably be useful no matter what kind of job you get. In fact, they might even be marketable. Sociology majors stand out as having really great numbers-based analytical skills (well, relative to the other humanities majors, at least). They also have a special knack for understanding all sorts of groups and organizations, which can take graduates into fields like business, communications, and public sector jobs.
Common Career Fields
Advertising and marketing. This is where all that math finally comes in handy. Both fields use a lot of statistical analysis to understand consumers and to figure out the effectiveness of their advertising/marketing campaigns. Sociology majors, with their people-watchin' noggins and statistical model-cranking computers, are great at these gigs.
Business management. Sociology majors can make great managers and human resources people, since they understand how many types of organizations work at a fundamental level. They also get why people behave the way they do… which, as any HR person will tell you, is essential to this job.
Communications media. Hopefully those nights spent drowning in a sea of papers and books won't be for naught. Sociology majors usually acquire strong communication skills, which are great for journalism and public relations jobs. In addition, sociology majors understand society, so they know what people want to read and hear. This skill comes in super handy in a publishing house, when you're deciding what manuscript might go big and what manuscript should go straight into the recycling bin.
Counseling. (Requires a Master's degree.) By this point, you'll have learned how people behave pretty well. And the motivations behind those behaviors. Plus, you'll have learned how to deduce patterns from multiple data points. All of these skills will be extra handy in the counseling field. Counselors and therapists know how to use patient trends to figure out what a patient's problem is before providing assistance in a compassionate and caring way.
Criminal justice system. Given that the justice system is a massive government organization, sociology majors do quite well at understanding how it works... when it works. And why it fails, when it fails. Sociology majors also do well in the justice system because they can identify all of the social conditions that might influence people to commit crimes.
Education. The motto for all humanities majors is, "When in doubt, teach." Sociology majors, however, can really affect education-related jobs because they know how education can lead to social stratification. Through their work in the field (being a teacher or an education advocate in a non-profit organization), they can work to fix the problems in today's education system, not just make sure their students are trig-whizzes.
Sociology. (Requires a Master's degree or Ph.D.) "But wait," you ask. "Why am I only allowed to be a sociologist after getting a graduate degree? Isn't that unfair that I can't call myself a sociologist even if I graduated with an undergraduate degree in sociology?" Why, perhaps it is. But that's the way things are. As an "official" sociologist, you will get to do actual research with government organizations, NGOs (non-government organizations), and consulting firms. This research, if you're lucky, will address society-wide questions. If you're really lucky, you might even get the results of your research published in a journal… that later college students will study, and your name will live on forever and ever.
Current unemployment of the major
7.0%Percentage of majors who get a higher degree after college
34%Stats obtained from this source.