AHA Career Contacts

Sign up by filling out our short intake form. It’s very quick—we ask for contact information and then 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.

Next, we’ll email you to set up a time for a quick intake call (usually 5–10 minutes) with an AHA staff member. We use this call to learn more about you and your professional 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.

Within a day or two of the 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. Once you’ve met and conducted your informational interview, you’re welcome to request another match. To request an additional match with another guide, just email us directly. No need to fill out the intake form again.

If you are a historian working in a field other than postsecondary teaching who wants to help historians exploring career pathways like yours, please consider signing up to be a guide. 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 graduate 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.

AHA membership is not required to participate in Career Contacts (though we hope you’ll join).

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

Questions about Career Contacts? Contact Rachel Wheatley.