Can My Liberal Arts Degree Get Me a Job in Tech?

Is there a place for liberal arts majors in tech? It may seem like liberal arts and science careers are worlds apart. But if you dig deeper, there are many connections between the two. So let’s explore this. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about pivoting professional paths and landing tech careers with a liberal arts degree. 

Are my liberal arts skills relevant in tech?

Yes. Maybe that’s a spoiler, but we’re not going to leave you in suspense. And we can get into more detail. What can you do with a bachelor’s in liberal arts if you want to switch to tech? You can use it as proof that you have skills crucial to the industry.

This can lead to unique job opportunities opening up for you. In fact, it can even make you a more compelling candidate for tempting job opportunities because of your diverse background. 

Your creativity helps you find unique solutions

The ability to think creatively can help bring fresh perspectives to tech projects. This can lead to innovative solutions. 

Many liberal arts programs include art, literature, and creative writing courses that directly encourage creative expression. In addition, the diverse knowledge base common to liberal arts graduates can foster creativity by enabling you to connect seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts.

So even if you took a creative writing class “for fun,” the prompts that got your brain working could have helped you gain truly useful skills. Think about it: if you were asked to write a story about the world in 100 years, you gained the ability to look into the future based on current trends. That sort of creative forward thinking can help you write more robust and long-lived code that is clearer to programmers down the line.

Your presentation and storytelling skills allow you to build consensus

Remember how many times you gave presentations as part of your coursework? This practice helped you hone your public speaking skills and effectively communicate ideas to an audience.

Also, presenting information clearly and engagingly is vital for effective knowledge transfer, especially in product or project management roles, which can involve training or onboarding new team members.

Your ability to convey information and intelligently and effectively respond to questions about your presentation helped you graduate. If you defended a thesis or participated in a seminar, you know exactly what we’re talking about. 

You may have stood up before your peers and made your case that The Aeneid wasn’t an epic and was instead an extended advertorial celebrating the Julo-Claudian dynasty. You might have won your fellow students over with a close reading and a logical, convincing feed of information delivered when it’s most effective.

The skills you gained while doing that will translate perfectly. Only instead of academic subjects, you’ll apply this know-how to convince stakeholders of all sorts that the company should integrate an additional programming language, for example.

Your critical thinking empowers you to tackle complex questions

This is a must if you want to succeed in tech. The good news is that you probably already have strong critical thinking skills simply because of the nature of liberal arts curricula across the country. 

Liberal arts programs typically ask students to take courses in various subjects, from literature and history to sociology and philosophy. This broad knowledge base can help you understand different perspectives and think holistically.

In a liberal arts education, you are taught to take nothing at face value. Is Holden Caulfield really interested in duck migration when he asks about where they go in the winter? Likewise, is fundamentally altering the website’s code really the best idea? Your ability to think critically might prevent your company from inadvertently taking their services offline.

Your communication skills form the bedrock of productive relationships

Clearly communicating complex ideas is critical in the tech industry, whether you’re developing documentation as a technical writer, creating product pitches, or collaborating with a team.

During your liberal arts studies, you probably took some writing classes and handed in essays, research papers, and other written work. This consistent practice helped you magnify your ability to express thoughts, arguments, and information clearly and coherently. 

This is all of key importance in day-to-day work in tech, and good communication skills are even crucial in the job search process, meaning they can even open you up to wider career opportunities.

To deliver a group mid-term project for your marketing class, say, you needed to navigate fellow students’ different priorities and schedules. You needed to practice being part of a group working together to achieve a significant common goal.

You’ll apply those same skills nearly identically in tech. Just as you built the relationships that helped the mid-term project come together, you’ll build relationships across a tech company to ensure team cohesion as you construct the world’s first dating app whose algorithm matches people based solely on their preferred type of warm beverage.

Your research skills enable you to unearth unique insights

Liberal arts programs often require students to complete extensive research assignments and papers. This practice involves identifying research questions, gathering information, analyzing sources, and synthesizing findings.

In tech, decisions often need to be backed by data. Your skills in collecting and analyzing data can be invaluable in making informed decisions. Specifically, if you end up with the word “data” in your job title — data analyst, data scientist, etc. — know-how here will be invaluable.

In any paper you wrote, you needed to dig deep to find the sources that you knew were out there. Likewise, as you sift through data, this ability to stay tenacious and spot the one thing you’re looking for — whether it’s the data point to examine in detail or it’s an outlier to be eliminated — will serve you well throughout your tech career.

Your adaptability makes you a reliable colleague

The diversity of subjects in liberal arts programs requires students to adapt to different ways of thinking and doing things. This experience subtly builds the ability to adapt quickly to new environments or challenges.

Second, tech companies often operate internationally, and you may someday work with teams or clients from different cultures. So cultural adaptability is also an advantage.

The time you spent learning a foreign language, for example, or even the semester you spent abroad made you more open to other perspectives. Did you spend a semester in Stockholm? Your understanding of the importance of taking a fika will allow you to forge stronger bonds if you join a company with a second branch in Sweden.

Or did a sociology class make you realize your norms were just one way of doing things? This will help you see good solutions and approaches for what they are, and keep you from getting hung up on doing things how they’ve always been done. This will ensure that you grow along with your team and company as tech keeps advancing.

What jobs can you get with a liberal arts degree?

It’s a fully reasonable question, especially when you’re switching fields. But jobs for liberal arts majors abound in tech. Let’s say you pursued a passion for art history or another of the wide range of less employment-focused majors in your higher education. And let’s say you find yourself wondering (only occasionally despairingly), “What can I do with a liberal arts degree?” We have you covered. Here are some suggestions for tech jobs for liberal arts degree holders.

Software engineer

In this role, you’ll solve complex programming and system design challenges. This is where your critical and creative thinking come into play as you find innovative solutions.

The role also requires effective communication. You'll likely need to collaborate with your team and regularly explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

In addition, the problem solving know-how you gained is another of the numerous transferable skills you’ll be able to apply. You’re going to be faced with a coding task to solve, and it’ll be up to you to untangle how to do that.

Good thing you put in so much practice doing all of this when researching and presenting abstruse topics for one of your 300-level courses. Just augment your abilities by learning some coding, and you’ll be more than ready for a great role (with a nice average salary_{The Entry-Level Software Engineering Salaries Bootcamp Grads Earn}) when you enter the job market.

Quality assurance engineer

Do you enjoy paying close attention to details and identifying problems to make sure things are spotless? Then Quality Assurance Engineering_{How to Become a QA Engineer} is for you. In this role, you'll benefit from your ability to meticulously analyze text and concepts.

Identifying problems is just one aspect of quality assurance; solving them is another. This is where the critical thinking and creativity developed through a liberal arts education come in handy as well.

Data analyst

Primarily, data analysts draw insights and make informed decisions based on data. Here’s where critical thinking comes back into play. Your liberal arts focus on understanding context and background can be valuable in interpreting data.

After uncovering insights, data analysts often need to present their findings to others. So you're sure to benefit from your advanced communication and presentation skills in this role.

Data scientist

Data scientists take data analysis and supercharge it to craft machine learning models and artificial intelligence. They must also analyze data and tell a story with it to inform decision-making. This is a fairly computer-science-heavy role, but we’re still confident it belongs in this list of tech jobs you can get with a liberal arts degree.

Data scientists often combine insights from different disciplines. This is where the interdisciplinary nature of a liberal arts education comes in handy.

As a liberal arts specialist, you already know how to manually handle vast and disorganized data, search for sources, and validate them. With new data science knowledge, you can use algorithms to ease and automate your work.

Business intelligence analyst

Business analysts help improve processes and systems within an organization. They evaluate and analyze data, understand trends, and make informed recommendations. They must be adept at researching industry trends, competitors, and market conditions. Finally, analysts communicate their findings to decision-makers.

These tasks and skills sound familiar, don’t they? Yup. It’s basically the whole suite of know-how you gained in your liberal arts education.

Are there any stories of real people who have successfully transitioned from liberal arts to tech?

Since 2019, TripleTen has helped thousands of people start their career in tech. And only a small percentage of them_{So, Who Would My TripleTen Coursemates Be?} had a background in STEM. So, we do have a list of great examples of grads coming from the liberal arts and successfully switching to tech. Here are some of them.

Desiree Bradish

A talented animator and graphic designer, she felt unhappy about the endless hours and low pay. Looking for a job, she decided to try software engineering because she was good at solving problems and had already built a website.

It was a game-changer. She began studying software engineering at TripleTen. This boosted her confidence and provided her with valuable skills. The stars soon aligned as she applied for her first job. To her delight, she got hired. Read Desiree's full story here_{From Graphic Design to Code Design: Desiree Bradish’s TripleTen Story}, and see how TripleTen contributed to her success.

Isabelle Cuisset

Isabelle, who had worked in the fashion world for over 20 years, decided to change things during the pandemic. She and a friend were thinking of starting a small fashion project and needed a website. Isabelle got curious about coding. 

After trying to learn on her own, she felt a bit lost. Then she found TripleTen's Software Engineering Bootcamp. She enrolled, and soon started building websites for artists, designers, and consultants. Here_{Refashioning a Career with Tech: Isabelle Cuisset’s TripleTen Story} you can read Isabelle's full story and find out what she has planned for the future.

Zachary "Rex" Rodriguez

Zachary felt that his background in filmmaking helped him in web development, especially when making things user-friendly and pleasing to the eye.  

As a kid, he fell in love with technology but decided to study film. After finding it difficult to get a job in that field, Zachary dabbled in tech projects and enrolled in the Software Engineering Bootcamp. It helped him land a job working on Salesforce and WordPress for a real estate company. 

Now he's applying himself to exciting projects, like working on a Pokémon website. Read the full story about how Zachary did it all here_{Breaking Through a Professional Ceiling: Rex Rodriguez’s TripleTen Story}.

What steps should I take to start a career in tech?

Choose a career that makes sense to you

First of all, you can take our career quiz if you don’t know where to start. But essentially, the most important part of this step is to consider your preferences and long-term goals. Lifehack: talking to professionals already in the field can provide invaluable insights. 

Send out feelers through your network on LinkedIn to find these professionals, join industry events in your area, or simply get active on relevant subreddits — you’re sure to find someone who’ll give you a few pointers.

Determine the skills you need and pursue learning

Once you've chosen a career path, it's time to acquire the skills needed for that role. Formal education, such as a degree, is fine, but it's not the only way. Choose a learning path that fits your schedule and budget. 

If you need help determining which path would be best for you, we’ve got you covered. Take our self-assessment quiz.

Get your first experience

Entry-level positions are a great place to start. But don't overlook internships, freelance projects_{Landing Freelance Gigs as a Software Engineer}, and pro-bono contributions_{Four TripleTen-Approved Sources for Pro-Bono Front-End Engineering Experience}. These ways of starting out can be invaluable in understanding the practical aspects of your chosen career and can help you build a portfolio.

Leverage your background 

Highlight how your unique background can bring a different perspective or expertise to the tech industry. Don’t forget to mention your critical thinking, creativity, adaptability, research, and storytelling skills, as well as all your other professional assets_{Soft Skills at TripleTen: What, Why, and How We Teach Them}.

Need help with your career journey?

Whew, that’s a lot of information, we know. So let’s make it personal to you and cut through the noise. Gain some clarity on your career with our Get-Hired-in-Tech Checklist. It will help you discover how you want to grow, explore the skills you already have, and identify the ones you’re about to master.