What have History Graduates done with their degrees?
Welcome to our employability blog where we post about what recent students have done with their undergraduate History degrees!
Not sure what to do with your degree after you graduate? Well, take a look at what past students have done with theirs!
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!
Not sure what to do with your degree after you graduate? Well, take a look at what past students have done with theirs!
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!
5: Do you use the skills learned in your history degree at work? If so, how?
Research is an essential part of the historical novelist’s job. I continue to use the same information-gathering, critical and analytical skills that I learned during my degree, and my approach to note-taking and referencing remains every bit as rigorous as it was when I was writing my dissertation so that I can follow up on lines of enquiry at a later date.
At the start of each new project I’ll usually spend several days in the University Library in Cambridge, consulting the relevant primary sources and secondary literature, making copious notes, and generally laying the foundations on which I can build my novel. Each project takes me in new directions and requires me to delve into different aspects of life in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, so I’m continually adding to my understanding of the period. (I’m also still adding to my historian’s skillset: last year I took some classes in early medieval palaeography and Anglo-Saxon art.)
Finally: Do you have any careers advice for history graduates?
Thank you, James!
 |
| James Aitcheson |
1: Your name:
James Aitcheson
2: Where did
you study, what was your degree programme and what year did you graduate?I studied History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where I specialised mainly in the Middle Ages and late antiquity. In my first year I was introduced to Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, which sparked an interest that continues to this day, and my dissertation concerned the life and career of Harold Godwineson. I graduated in 2006.
3: How did you feel about your career choices when you graduated? Did you know what career you wanted?
When I graduated, I had no clear idea of what career I wanted to pursue. I considered perhaps working in the heritage sector, in archives, or in journalism and PR, without being entirely enthused by any of those options. I'd been writing fictions from a very early age and had always harboured ambitions of one day becoming a novelist, but at that stage, publication remained a distant dream. I took a year out to consider m choices and then, in 2007, I made the lead: I enrolled on the MA in the Creative Writing programme at Bath Spa University, where I began developing the manuscript that ultimately evolved into my first novel, Sworn Sword.
3: How did you feel about your career choices when you graduated? Did you know what career you wanted?
When I graduated, I had no clear idea of what career I wanted to pursue. I considered perhaps working in the heritage sector, in archives, or in journalism and PR, without being entirely enthused by any of those options. I'd been writing fictions from a very early age and had always harboured ambitions of one day becoming a novelist, but at that stage, publication remained a distant dream. I took a year out to consider m choices and then, in 2007, I made the lead: I enrolled on the MA in the Creative Writing programme at Bath Spa University, where I began developing the manuscript that ultimately evolved into my first novel, Sworn Sword.
4: Describe your current job (including job title and organisation)
I’m now a full-time writer, with four novels published concerning the Norman Conquest of England. My latest title, The Harrowing, was published by Quercus in 2016. Set during an especially brutal phase of the Conquest known as the Harrying of the North (1069-70), it centres upon five English refugees – a maidservant, a lady, a priest, a warrior and a poet – who are forced to band together for survival as they flee the devastation of their homeland by the invaders.
Being a novelist involves a lot more than simply typing at my computer. Public engagement with the Middle Ages is a huge part of my work, and I regularly speak at literature festivals, schools, colleges, libraries, historical societies and events such as English Heritage’s annual Battle of Hastings re-enactment. I continue to keep in touch with the academic world by attending and occasionally even delivering papers at conferences on the Middle Ages. I also run workshops in creative writing, working primarily with young people, and I’m a graduate mentor at Bath Spa University.
I’m now a full-time writer, with four novels published concerning the Norman Conquest of England. My latest title, The Harrowing, was published by Quercus in 2016. Set during an especially brutal phase of the Conquest known as the Harrying of the North (1069-70), it centres upon five English refugees – a maidservant, a lady, a priest, a warrior and a poet – who are forced to band together for survival as they flee the devastation of their homeland by the invaders.
Being a novelist involves a lot more than simply typing at my computer. Public engagement with the Middle Ages is a huge part of my work, and I regularly speak at literature festivals, schools, colleges, libraries, historical societies and events such as English Heritage’s annual Battle of Hastings re-enactment. I continue to keep in touch with the academic world by attending and occasionally even delivering papers at conferences on the Middle Ages. I also run workshops in creative writing, working primarily with young people, and I’m a graduate mentor at Bath Spa University.
5: Do you use the skills learned in your history degree at work? If so, how?
Research is an essential part of the historical novelist’s job. I continue to use the same information-gathering, critical and analytical skills that I learned during my degree, and my approach to note-taking and referencing remains every bit as rigorous as it was when I was writing my dissertation so that I can follow up on lines of enquiry at a later date.
At the start of each new project I’ll usually spend several days in the University Library in Cambridge, consulting the relevant primary sources and secondary literature, making copious notes, and generally laying the foundations on which I can build my novel. Each project takes me in new directions and requires me to delve into different aspects of life in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, so I’m continually adding to my understanding of the period. (I’m also still adding to my historian’s skillset: last year I took some classes in early medieval palaeography and Anglo-Saxon art.)
Finally: Do you have any careers advice for history graduates?
The skills you pick up from studying history are transferable into many different sectors and jobs, so think laterally and creatively about how you might harness and sell your experience to potential employers. Don’t be afraid to look beyond the obvious career routes, or to pursue a long-held passion and see where it leads you. Take the path less travelled! Financial reward is important, but so is job satisfaction: better, if you can, to spend your working life doing something you really care about.
Workshop Event:
On Tuesday 21st of February at 4pm-6pm in Glyndwr Lecture Room B, make sure you don't miss the
Writing Historical Fiction: a workshop with author, James Aitcheson.
All staff and students are invited to attend this workshop led by James Aitcheson and Swansea University Lecturer in Medieval History Dr Charlie Rozier.
For further information, please email Dr Charlie Rozier.
Workshop Event:
On Tuesday 21st of February at 4pm-6pm in Glyndwr Lecture Room B, make sure you don't miss the
Writing Historical Fiction: a workshop with author, James Aitcheson.
All staff and students are invited to attend this workshop led by James Aitcheson and Swansea University Lecturer in Medieval History Dr Charlie Rozier.
For further information, please email Dr Charlie Rozier.
Thank you, James!
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
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/
http://www.swansea.ac.uk/employability-academy/
Blog posts by Academic Officer,
Carlie Andrews
Carlie Andrews
