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By Lisa Russell, Memorial University of Newfoundland

An arts degree --- is it worth it?
That statement probably sounds familiar to anyone who has an Arts degree, has thought about pursuing an Arts degree or is in the process of completing an Arts degree. Conventional wisdom holds that Arts degrees are not valuable or marketable in the current economy. This idea could not be further from the truth. Those with Arts degrees have much to offer an employer.

How can an arts degree help me?
So, if an Arts degree is valuable and worthwhile, what can you do with it? The short answer is almost anything. The beauty of an Arts degree is that it provides you with options. Some people feel that because it does not come with an occupational title or professional designation that it is unemployable. The reality is that with an Arts degree, there are so many options that it can be overwhelming trying to narrow down the choices. While the diversity of options is the key to success with an Arts degree, it is also one of its greatest challenges. Therefore, narrowing down your options, so you know what you want to do and where to focus your job search efforts is essential. After all, if you do not know what you are looking for, you are going to have a difficult time finding it.

Will I be qualified?
Arts graduates often feel they do not have anything to offer an employer. They feel unqualified, in part because they see their peers in nursing or engineering have no trouble identifying organizations that are in their field, or positions for which they can apply. As a result Arts graduates often feel they do not have employable skills. However, Arts graduates possess a great many of the skills most in demand by employers. Research has identified reasoning, communication, and interpersonal skills as the top qualities employers are most looking for in new employees. Furthermore, the ability to take a great deal of information, synthesize it, and make reasoned, independent decisions is a skill increasingly in demand. These skills match very closely with what all liberal Arts degrees provide to their recipients.

Can I earn money?
The career success of Arts graduates proves their marketability and employability. Did you know that the CEO's of Bank of Montreal and Altamira Investment Services Inc., and the president and general manager of General Motors of Canada Ltd. all have Arts degrees? A number of studies have demonstrated the success rate, measured by earnings and advancement, for those with Arts degree's and it is comparable, in the long term, to those with either a Business or Engineering degree. Arts graduates may have a slower start than their counterparts, but over the course of a career Arts graduates catch up and sometimes even exceed the success rate of those with other degrees.

What do I need to know?
So, how can Arts graduates market themselves? In order to market a product, you must know all its selling features and how those features will fill the need of the prospective buyer. Not knowing what you have to offer an employer is one of the hurdles to career success that Arts graduates must overcome. Career fairs and other recruitment activities provide fabulous opportunities for Arts graduates to meet employers and make professional contacts, but you must be able to approach employers with a specific list of what you have to offer and what you can do for them. All organizations, even high technology firms, need people with the ability to conceptualize, who have a sense of the relationships among complex ideas, and the ability to reflect. These are just a few of the characteristics that Arts degrees provide.

Are there opportunities for me?
As for career opportunities, the sky really is the limit. An Arts degree does not mean that you must go and teach, although that is certainly a viable choice. Business services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, and finance have proven to be strong employers of Arts graduates at a rate almost equal to that of Commerce graduates. The non-profit sector, sometimes referred to as the third sector, also has a significant proportion of its employees with Arts degrees. Government, at all levels, is another important employer. Even those high technology firms that Arts graduates usually feel provide little opportunity recently reaffirmed the importance of a liberal arts and science education. They, along with most employers, need people at every level of the organization who are capable of dealing with issues in a broad context. People who can communicate effectively for the shared purposes of the organization in many areas, such as hiring and training, managing and policy-making are always in demand. Arts graduate have these capabilities in abundance.