Jobs for the Major
How this major affects a job search
This might sound strange, but if you want to be a librarian, you need a graduate degree. Did you think that ''librarian'' was one of those easy, fall-back jobs? Think again. Not only are these people college graduates, but to actually be considered a librarian, you need a Master's Degree at the very least.
While a librarian is the most common career to look for with this major—after all, it's right there in the title—it's not the only one. If you love knowledge, and not just the abstract concept but the physical and electronic manifestations of it, then library science could be a good fit for you. Make no mistake, though: it's hard work. You're going to have to be organized to the point that other people say, "Wow, that person is organized!"
Well, maybe not exactly that verbatim. (Seriously, who does that?)
Common Career Fields
Librarian (Requires a Master's degree). When you think of a librarian, you probably think of a middle-aged lady with a cardigan, cat-eye glasses, and some funky earrings. Add ''Master's degree'' to that list of accessories. Since you're not allowed to be a full-fledged, card-carrying (sorry, we had to) librarian unless you've got your Master's, not everyone who works at your local library is a librarian—some of them are just library assistants. There are many different kinds of libraries you can work at: public, private, school, university, federal, and more.
Documentation Specialist. Much of adult life revolves around documents—the endless onslaught of forms, slips, applications, and receipts. A documentation specialist keeps a specific kind of documents organized and easily accessible for search. They can work in any number of places, too. If an office has a bunch of filing cabinets or the computerized equivalent, they might need someone to sift through them.
Director of Community Service. The organizational skills you learn aren't just for books. There are many nonprofit groups out there who can use someone who knows what you know. They need direction; they need organization; they need someone like you to make sure they can do what they're for.
Web Analytics Manager. We've said it before and we'll say it again: library science doesn't necessarily mean physical books. A lot of business is conducted online these days, and in the future, it'll only be more. Sites live and die by the traffic they receive. With your abilities to both retrieve and organize information, you'll be able to figure out how much traffic that is and you'll probably have an idea about how to improve it. People will pay for that.
Archival Consultant. This job is pretty amazing. As an archival consultant, you go from place to place, never settling down. You're like a cowboy…or a pirate. Or a pirate cowboy…in space. You work in various archives, private or museum collections of books and artifacts, and you organize them. You'll get to see books that most people never even knew existed.
Researcher. Research will always need to be done. It's one of the great inevitabilities of the universe, like death, taxes, or stepping on the one wet spot on the floor when you're wearing socks. Your skills make you an ideal researcher. You know how librarians think; you can get inside their heads and then find whatever it is your employers want to know about. They probably aren't thinking dark and sinister things…but you never know. In other words, you're really good at learning stuff.
Web Archivist. This is a position somewhat similar to a web analytics manager, but while that person is getting people to come to the site, you're making sure there is a site. Web presences will have archives of old updates, products, listings, directories, and so on. It's important to keep this stuff searchable for the company in question. You build the archive and you install the search engine. You are the master of this virtual space. You are a librarian…of the future. Ray gun not included. Sorry.
Current unemployment of the major
7.0%Percentage of majors who get a higher degree after college
67%Stats obtained from this source.