The University of Kentucky History faculty are committed and concerned mentors, who spend a great deal of time working with their Ph.D. students on a one-on-one basis to prepare them for the job market. In particular, individual faculty mentors focus on crafting the CV and on the art of writing academic application letters. 

The History Department, in conjunction with the History Graduate Student Association, sponsors a variety of workshops on professional development.  Recent topics have included grant writing, interviewing and CV writing, careers for historians in the federal government, academic book publishing and article publishing. 

In the fall, History faculty routinely organize mock-interviews for job candidates in advance of AHA and telephone interviews.  They also attend candidates’ mock-job talks in preparation for campus interviews.   Our individual attention to our graduate students facilitates their thorough and thoughtful preparation for the job market, and this preparation has yielded excellent results.  

The University of Kentucky Department of History has a strong record of placing its graduates in academic teaching positions. Our graduates have full-time appointments at such institutions as Appalachian State University; Baylor University; Berea College; Canisius College; Eastern Kentucky University; Harvard University; Indiana State University; Kentucky State University; Marshall University; Middle Tennessee State University; Millersville University; Oregon State University; Penn State University at New Kensington; San Diego State University; St. Ambrose College; U.S. Military Academy; University of Kentucky; University of Puget Sound; University of South Mississippi; Valdosta State University; West Texas State University; Xavier University; and many others.

Many of our Ph.D. and Master’s Students who are not teaching at the college level have been successful in their pursuit of history related employment; our recent graduates have become academic librarians, secondary school teachers, museum curators, public historians, and have worked in historic preservation. They have also been employed by universities in administrative positions such as director of undergraduate admissions, in student services, and in university-community outreach. Still others have gone on to rewarding careers in government, as ministers, and in many other lines of work.