What have History Graduates done with their degrees?: Ally

What have History Graduates done with their degrees?

Welcome to our new series of blog posts where we post about what recent students have done with their undergraduate degrees in History! We have worked with Dr Charlie Rozier, the History employability officer, to give you some insight into what you could do with your History degree!

You might be surprised!

Ally Lomas

    1: Your name:

        Ally Lomas

    2: Where did you study, what year did you graduate?

        University of Kent, 2006

3: How did you feel about your career choices when you graduated? Did you know what career you wanted?

When I graduated I wasn’t entirely sure of what career I wanted, but I was aware that I wanted to take a break from academia to experience the ‘real’ world and to travel.
Shortly after graduating I applied for the JET Programme (https://www.jet-uk.org) and spent three years teaching English in rural Japan, before travelling back to the UK overland following the Silk Road through Central Asia and Iran. These experiences led to me thinking about work in international development, but the 2008 recession hit while I was away, making things a little more difficult than expected …

4: Describe your current job (including job title and organisation)

Between 2011 and 2016, I worked as senior programme officer at a London-based charity called Cara: The Council for At-Risk Academics (http://www.cara.ngo). In this role, I worked with university lecturers and researchers from countries including Syria and Iraq, who were at risk of discrimination, persecution, suffering or violence. I brokered partnerships with universities across the UK and beyond so that these academics could continue their work in a place of sanctuary, and provided the logistical support required to bring them to their host institution. Our intention is that they return to their home countries once the situation improves to rebuild the higher education systems there; if not, we hope that they can contribute their skills to UK universities and organisations.

I recently left this role, and I’m currently undertaking an MA in Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. I’m studying a mixture of practical documentary filmmaking and anthropological/philosophical theory. I have a keen interest in telling the stories of the underrepresented, especially refugees and forced migrants, so I hope this course will lead me into a career as a documentary film director. Returning to academia has been great, although it’s challenging after a decade away in the world of work!

5: Do you use the skills learned in your history degree at work? If so, how?

While it’s now rare that I use the content that I learnt in my undergraduate degree (I focused on early medieval history), the skills that I developed have proven invaluable. As Cara is reliant on universities for much of its funding, a very high standard of written English is expected – especially the ability to construct a compelling, well-argued narrative from limited materials. All applications from academics seeking support must be fact-checked and cross-referenced with up-to-date information (which in conflict-affected areas is often hard to come by), in much the same way as a historian constructs an essay from sources of variable reliability. A broad knowledge of events in world history puts modern conflicts and political problems in context. Organisational skills, especially time management and multi-tasking, have also been important when dealing with highly stressful emergency situations and a very heavy workload.

I also still enjoy reading history books for pleasure!

Finally: Do you have any careers advice for history graduates?

While a history degree may not seem to give you the employability of a computer science or engineering qualification, it does give incredible scope to do whatever you like! My former course mates have gone into all sorts of careers, and while many of them may not have followed orthodox paths, if they’re anything like me they will have had a lot of fun finding out where they’re going.    

Thank you, Ally!

Remember, if you want to get any careers advice or want to
arrange an employability appointment, contact Dr Charlie Rozier by email at c.c.rozier@swansea.a.c.uk 

Also, follow him on twitter - @RozierHistorian

You can also find out more careers advice from SEA
http://www.swansea.ac.uk/employability-academy/