Make Your Own Rainbow

A while ago, I posted some initial thoughts about the book You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a Useless Liberal Arts Education by George Anders. My first reaction was that he was cherry-picking examples of students who happened to have graduated with a liberal arts degree and subsequently gone to have successful careers (usually in positions or fields that had little or no direct connection to their area of study).

I've since finished the book, and still feel that there is a good amount of "just so" story-telling involved in his account of the "power" of a liberal arts education as the causal factor in the anecdotes he shares. Here is my admittedly over-the-top caricature of the types of folks whose story he cites:

When she graduated from Princeton with a major in Comparative Literature, Melody never thought that she would find herself the administrative assistant to the head of marketing for an international firm. Like many recent graduates, she relied on family members and friends to help her find her first job. Working as an executive assistant to her father's business partner gave her an introduction corporate lifestyle. And an internship with Goldman Sachs after completing her MBA showed her the power of creative thinking. When an international firm came calling, her liberal arts education had perfectly prepared her. Her love of languages, nurtured by her family's annual summer vacations to Europe and winter stays in Rio de Janeiro, gave her the confidence to work with a global staff. Those long nights discussing Proust and Joyce with her friends gave her the stamina to endure intense business meetings.....   

The moral of the story is that smart, creative, proactive individuals can get jobs. It helps if their parents are well-off and well-connected. Credentials or skills (in addition to the BA) can be useful.

That said, Anders does have some good general advice for folks seeking employment: assume that you will have a series of careers, so get used to uncertainty; use your connections. such as an Alumni network, if available; sell yourself based on what you can do, not just what classes you studied; and don't be afraid to interview for positions that you aren't really right for with the intention of being so wonderful that the company modifies the position or creates a new one just for you. Although none of these suggestions are unique to liberal arts majors, they seem to be fairly decent suggestions given the somewhat dismal job market currently.