SUMMARY
As you complete your course of study in anticipation of a career in applied anthropology, it is very important to assess who you are and what you want to accomplish in the future. This requires continual self-assessment. Self-assessment makes sense only if it is the foundation for the strategic acquisition of new skills and experience in their use. An excellent way to learn about yourself is the process of putting together a resume geared to a specific job. This forces you to think about who you are and what you are capable of doing to help meet societal needs.
The number of work opportunities for anthropologists as anthropologists is quite small. But there are many opportunities for people who know and do what anthropologists know and do. The basis for employment is what you can do, not what the market believes about anthropology. Except for a few cases, you will compete with people with many different types of training. Therefore you have to be aware of other disciplines and their relationship with the job market.
The job search starts as soon as training begins. As students, we have to work for the skills needed on the job market. Success is not based on indifferently following a course of study with individual curiosity the only guide. Success requires clear specification of goals as these relate to the needs of potential employers. The end point is not a cynical market orientation, but a careful assessment of what society needs and then action in terms of those needs.
Applied anthropologists often have to master special knowledge about doing business as an anthropologist. Which is to say, they need to be able to assume the responsibilities of being a consultant if that is the employment framework within which they are working. This includes special attention to working with clients to solve their problems, and overcoming the problems of communication.