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The advantage of having a general graduation degree is that you are able to attain a set of generalised skills that allow you to explore your strengths either in a workplace or elsewhere and then choose a specialization that you can pursue in a post-graduation.

You may choose to begin working immediately after graduation, pursue a post-graduation and/or begin working and pursue further studies.

Irrespective of what you choose to do, it is essential to remember that you have to identify and choose your options on the basis of both your aptitude and skills. A lopsided decision based on either or neither will only lead to frustration.

Let us discuss each of the options separately.

If you choose to begin working……what are your options?

Depending on the subject that you chose as a major at the graduation level you can begin scouting for career options in the respective field.

For instance, if you chose sociology/social work, you can consider working with NGOs, with research firms, with human resource departments of companies or agencies, with Corporate Social Responsibility units of corporate houses, carry out independent researches on topics of interest, teach students of sociology at school/coaching class levels etc.

Similarly, if you have majored in any particular language, you can consider translation and interpretation jobs, editing jobs, teaching etc. If you have a creative bent of mind, you could try your hand at writing books/poetry!

With a graduation in subjects such as History, Geography or Political Science, you can consider independent researches on topics in your domain or work with organisations involved in research in these fields. You can consider contributing to textbooks written on the subjects for schools/colleges and or work for publishers who print books on the subject.

If you have a graduation in journalism, you may want to consider trying a job in the form of media that you best prefer – print/television/web.

If you choose to continue pursuing further studies….what options do you have?

It is wonderful to be confident and to be able to take a decision with complete conviction that it is the right step for you.

If you are sure of the specialization that you want to take up at the post-graduation level and subsequently the career path that you would like to follow, then go right ahead.

But if you have even the slightest of doubts, you should consider taking an aptitude test and personality test, if you haven’t already, to gauge your strengths and then decide a future course of action.

An aptitude test and personality test will help you to realistically decide if your chosen field is appropriate for you as a career and what your chances are of succeeding in it given your aptitude for it.

Equipped with this information, you will be able to make an informed choice on what you want to specialize in and therefore begin working towards a successful career.

Once you have done a post-graduation in your field, you can consider clearing NET and apply for teaching positions at college/University levels. You may also want to pursue a doctorate in the field to further specialize in your domain.

These days a number of individuals prefer to do a business administration degree/diploma after graduation and leverage their position in the job market. It is essential to remember here that it may work for you if and only if you have the aptitude for it. Since an MBA also requires substantial financial investment, it is a good idea to be absolutely sure (aptitude test-sure) before deciding to go down this road.

If you choose to both work and study ……what are the kinds of options available?

There are surprisingly quite some options available to those who may want to both study and work at the same time, especially a Humanities graduate who has many skills at her/his disposal.

Whether you choose to do a full-time post-graduate course, a correspondence course, a part-time degree/diploma course or even short certification courses, you can still comfortably find time to work as well.

If earning money is not an important consideration for you at this point, you may want to consider doing internships with various organisations while pursuing your post-graduation. This will help you on two counts – it will help you gain experiences in different work environments and help you get a realistic perspective on work life. Similarly, as an intern you will get the opportunity to work in various departments within an organization thus helping you zero in on your specialization with the field.

Those who want to earn a buck while exploring their field of interest may want to consider work-from-home options that allow flexibility in timings so that it does not interfere with studies and vice-versa. For instance, if you have a flair for languages/writing, you can take up freelance content writing assignments on a wide variety of subjects.

Similarly, if you have majored in a foreign language, you can explore the option of taking up translation jobs and or interpretation jobs while pursuing a certification/post-graduation in the subject.

As an aspiring journalist, you can work for the local supplement of a newspaper/research team of a news channel or as a reporter for a website while you pursue that post-graduation.

Whatever subject you may have graduated in, there is a career option available for you – even if you want to begin work right away, or do a post-graduation and then work or do both. The important thing is to be sure of your career choices and moves.