When entering the job field and applying for a new career it can be challenging to show your background and experience to prospective employers. Even harder to convey to a new employer can be the expertise that your degree brings when it a lesser studied or less common degree such as Sociology. Here are some good tips to Sociology students when prospecting for a new job. Be sure to include your own experience in job hunts and interviews in the comments!

Addressing Your Degree

It is important for those who studied Sociology to explain in the interview what the study is and how it would be beneficial to the company. Usually in your resume, you can simply address how Sociology addresses both micro and macro level groups and is the study of all aspects of society. Every interaction within society can be applied and studied in a Sociological way. Consider Emile Durkheim’s take on The Rules of Sociological Method. By studying human interaction and how people participate within a society in a scientific manner, it allowed Sociology to be adopted as a Social Science. A person with a sociology degree is a huge asset to a company because this person is going to be able to address and see a wide range of problems, be able to apply reason, quantify the data and come up with a unique way to solve the problem. That’s applied Sociology!

Fields to Consider

When you have a sociology degree it is hard to decide where your degree should lead you. Of course social work and corrections are common places to use your degree, but there are other interesting less considered jobs that the degree is beneficial.

Insurance- What better place to apply Jeremy Bentham’s theories of Utilitarianism than in an industry that focuses on covering bad things in people’s lives with shared costs in premiums. Figuring out what should be covered and not, the severity of claims, etc are a good start for a sociologist.

Sales- Sociologists make excellent salesman because they have the ability to read people. They understand that making people want to ‘keep up with the Jone’s’ is just another Social Norm and they are good at addressing that point.

Politics- Getting involved in politics is a great career path for a sociologist. Applying consideration to the masses and critical thinking are a huge part of quantifying data. This is perfect for a government job.

Management- Regardless of the career path you choose, management is always a place that a sociologist can wind up. You’ve studied everything about the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat in class conflicts with Karl Marx. Now apply that study to the true interactions of today. You can be that go between the owning class and the workers you manage

Obviously there are quite a few other opportunities for a Sociology Major. Perhaps you’d like to teach sociology and get to share and relive the first experience with sociology over and over again. Regardless of what you do, sociology is a great degree to have and is a degree that will help you land a job!

Where are you using your Sociology Degree now? What other industries can benefit from a sociological background? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook and on Twitter!