Sociology has the advantage of preparing its graduates to work in a number of different fields. The required statistics and methods courses provide background in both qualitative and quantitative research, all of the courses promote critical thinking and excellent writing skills, and the study of sociology promotes an understanding of social structures and situations that can be extremely useful in any occupation.

Planning Ahead

Even though the sociology major gives you a broad background that will be valuable in a number of different jobs, there are advantages to deciding on a career path early on. Once you know what you want to do, you can design your courses and special activities (internships, special courses, award applications, service work, etc.) to give you relevant experience and make your application package more appealing. Your advisor can help you to make those kinds of decisions. We also have various sources of information that can assist you in planning for your career after graduating:

1) BC Alumni Information with Tips: We’ve collected and charted information from BC sociology undergraduate alumni to find out what kinds of jobs they found after graduating. The subpages also provide BC-specific tips on how to plan for these careers.

2) The Boston College Career Center careers page has a number of links that give information on planning for and finding a job in a sociology-related field.

3) Career matrix: The career matrix developed by the Career Planning staff of Career Services at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a great resource that provides a list of potential employers in various occupational areas, along with general strategies to prepare for those career paths.

Finding a Job

Boston College has an exceptionally good Career Center that has a great website and a number of activities designed to help people prepare for the job search. You can use these services not only as a student but even after you’ve graduated (see their alumni page). Their resume section is particularly helpful, and includes several samples. You should also include on your resume any relevant extra activities that you incorporated into your time at BC, and check with your advisor to see if there are other things you can do to make your application more distinctive. The Career Center will even review your resume to help you make it stronger.

Finally, the Career Center provides a list of links to job search engines. Sociology majors are also likely to be interested in the jobs posted on sites like idealist.org, and on the Career Center's page for socially responsible companies.