AHA Career Contacts

1. Sign up by filling out our short intake form(opens in new tab). It’s very quick—we ask for contact information and follow with a few short questions about your professional interests. If you aren’t sure what those are yet, that’s ok! Just fill out as much of the form as you can.
2. Talk with an AHA staff member. After you submit the form, we'll email you to schedule a brief 5–10 minute intake call. We'll use this conversation to learn more about your interests so that we can select the right guide to connect you with for your informational interview. And again, it’s okay if you aren’t sure what kind of careers you might want to learn about. That’s why we’re here—we’ll help you think through possibilities during this call.
3. Connect with your career contact. Within a day or two of your intake call, we’ll email you the name and contact information of your guide. You take it from here. You’ll email the guide to set up an informational interview, either on the phone or via video chat—whichever you’re both most comfortable with.
4. Request another match (optional). After your informational interview, you’re welcome to request another match. To do so, just email us directly. No need to complete the intake form again.

If you have a graduate or undergraduate degree in history, work in a field other than postsecondary teaching, and want to help historians exploring career pathways like yours, please consider signing up to be a guide(opens in new tab). Your perspective will help others better understand career options for historians, as well as how to articulate the value of their training and historical perspective in diverse professional settings.

Once you’re signed up and in our database, you’ll receive a notification email from us whenever we match you with someone. Your match will reach out to you directly to set up a time to meet.

When you meet with your matches, please be prepared to answer questions about your career path choices, current and former employment, and day-to-day work details, as well as to provide feedback on professional materials, including resumes and cover letters.

I’m exploring careers and am about to meet with a guide for the first time. How should I prepare?

• We’ll share some tips and tricks about informational interviews with you via email when we send you your guide's contact information. Be sure to read these through.
• Come to the informational interview prepared with questions about your guide's career, current and former positions, employment sector or industry, or anything else relevant to your interests.
• Maintain a professional demeanor with your guide.
• Respect the limits of the program in terms of depth and continuity of contact. These informational interviews are intended to happen one time only.

Who are the guides?

• Our database of career guides includes hundreds of people who have degrees in history and work in a variety of fields and settings, including academic administration, nonprofit management, public policy, archives and libraries, museums, K–12 education, as well as a range of positions in the federal government and private industry.
• All work in the US or Canada.
• All signed up voluntarily to serve as guides through this program.

We expect both participants and guides to maintain professional demeanors when interacting as part of this program.

Questions about Career Contacts? Contact us at info@historians.org(opens in new tab).