5 Reasons to Hire a Liberal Arts Graduate in Boston

Liberal arts degrees are worthless in the modern economy, right? Wrong. Liberal arts colleges are still cranking out thousands of graduates a year, and companies are hiring them in droves. Liberal arts graduates work in every field from sales to banking to technology. Here are five great reasons your company should hire liberal arts graduates in Boston.

Liberal Arts Graduates Are Creative

One of the biggest complaints among managers today is their teams lack creative problem-solving abilities and critical thinking skills. Liberal arts graduates spent years reading, writing, defending positions and looking for new angles on topics that have been studied for hundreds of years. They can look at something other people have been dealing with for a long time and see that problem from a different angle.

Liberal Arts Graduates Are Practiced Listeners

Knowledge workers need to be able to listen to what is being said, read between lines and make inferences about what is not being said. Liberal arts majors tend to have highly developed listening comprehension skills. They spent their days in lecture halls, and then had to fill in the blanks to develop papers and projects that exceeded their teachers’ expectations. Listening is a critical success factor in today’s marketplace and employers should emphasize this skill when hiring for new roles.

Liberal Arts Graduates Consider Different Perspectives

The ability to understand people and problems through different lenses and consider different perspectives is not an attribute everyone possesses. Liberal arts majors understand how to turn competing viewpoints into a compelling narrative. In technical programs, students don’t spend as much time considering differing views. They have specific skills and competencies to learn, and there is little room for debate and consideration of ideas.

Liberal Arts Graduates Are Well-Suited for the Modern Economy

Today’s business environment is rapidly changing. Globalization, mobility and the rise of the gig economy is changing the way people approach work. Liberal arts majors are not married to specific ways of doing things, they are highly adaptable and tend to be more amenable to change than others.

Major Tech Companies Are Actively Hiring Liberal Arts Majors

Still not sold on the idea of hiring liberal arts graduates? Consider this: Companies like Carbonite, PayPal, Slack, IBM, HP, Microsoft and more hire a significant number of liberal arts graduates every year. According to Investopedia, a survey of 500,000 U.S. workers in the internet industry showed that less than 30,000 had computer science degrees and 10,000 had psychology degrees, 9,000 had English degrees and 6,000 where history graduates. Companies in every field – not just tech – can benefit from hiring liberal arts majors.

Are You Looking for Top Talent in Boston?

No matter what program a student graduates from, they need to be well suited for the role. At Contemporaries, Inc., we help Boston employers make stronger hiring choices. Contact us today to learn how we can help you find the right people to move your organization forward.