Does Your Liberal Arts Degree Belong at a

Startup?

It’s Spring, which means a new crop of freshly minted liberal arts grads are starting to ask themselves the question...

“What should I do with my career?”

There are the traditional career paths…

What about a startup?

“But, don’t you need to be a programmer to work at a startup?”

There are lots of great roles at startups for liberal arts grads…

Sales Development Rep“The Deal Hunter”

A Sales Development Rep (SDR) is…

• the front line of any startup’s sales team

• focused on building lists of prospects and qualifying opportunities

• constantly communicating with potential customers by phone or email

• on a team of other young people

• probably not closing deals (yet)

• a good fit for psychology / communications / education majors as well as college athletes

The Road Ahead for an SDR

• Business Development/Partnerships

• Renaissance Rep

• Non-technical founder (particularly for a company that sells to businesses)

• VP/Head of Sales

• Chief Revenue Officer

• Chief Executive Officer (particularly for a company that sells to businesses)

Read more about the role

• What Sales Development Job Descriptions Are Really Telling You by Ralph Barsi

• The Career Progression Of A Sales Development Rep by Greg Klingshirn

• Why Every Startup Founder Must Be a Brilliant Salesperson by Mikita Mikado

Customer Success Manager“The Nurturer”

A Customer Success Manager (CSM) is…

• not reactively responding to support tickets (that’s customer support)

• proactively building relationships with customers to ensure they are getting value from the product

• in charge of driving retention as well as up-selling

• interfacing with the Product team to make recommendations

• a good fit for Psychology / Communications / Education majors

The Road Ahead for a CSM

• Business Development/Partnerships

• Product Management (particularly for a company that sells to businesses)

• Non-technical founder (particularly for a company that sells to businesses)

• VP/Head of Customer Success

• Chief Customer Officer

• Chief Executive Officer (particularly for a company that sells to businesses)

Read more about the role

• Customer Success: The Definitive Guide by Lincoln Murphy

• The Exciting Customer Success Career Path by Dan Steinman

• Managing Customer Success to Reduce Churn by David Skok

Growth Analyst“The Experimenter”

A Growth Analyst is…

• in charge of customers flowing in and out of the product

• running experiments to drive customer acquisition, activation, and retention

• a role that requires an analytical background and a comfort with data

• different in scope and responsibility depending on the size and market of a startup

• a great fit for analytical majors like econ, business, poli sci, and international relations

The Road Ahead for a Growth Analyst

• Growth Marketing Generalist

• Channel specialist (Paid User Acquisition, Conversion Rate Optimization, etc.)

• Product Manager

• Non-technical founder (particularly for a company with a consumer product)

• VP/Head of Growth

• Chief Executive Officer (particularly for a company with a consumer product)

Read more about the role

• Why "Growth?" by Brian Balfour

• Indispensable Growth Frameworks from My Years at Facebook, Twitter, and Wealthfront by Andy Johns

• The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking by Neil Patel

BizOps Analyst“The Systematizer”

A Business Operations Analyst is…

• in charge of building the systems and processes that allow a company to reach scale

• like an internal consultant for the business

• a role that requires an analytical background and a comfort with data

• different in scope and responsibility depending on the size and market of a startup

• a great fit for analytical majors like econ, business, poli sci, and international relations

The Road Ahead for a BizOps Analyst

• Sales or Marketing Operations

• Business Development

• General Manager

• Non-technical founder

• VP/Head of Operations

• Chief Operating Officer

Read more about the role

• Why Your Startup Needs a BizOps Team by Jordan Kong

• Why BizOps is the Hottest Team in Tech by Dan Yoo

• The Secret Weapon to Scaling: Sales Operations by Jeffrey Bussgang

Content Marketer“The Writer”

A Content Marketer is…

• responsible for producing and distributing content via channels like email marketing, social media and PR

• a role that requires a great portfolio of writing samples and an exceptional command of written communication

• someone who enjoys writing every day

• a great fit for english, history, philosophy majors

The Road Ahead for a Content Marketer

• Channel specialist (Email Marketing, SEO Specialist, etc.)

• Product Marketing Manager

• Head of Content or Editor and Chief

• Non-technical founder

• Chief Marketing Officer

Read more about the role

• The Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing by Isla McKetta

• A Day in the Life of a Content Marketer by Danny Wong

• What a Career in Content Marketing Looks Like by Corey Wainwright

Product Designer“The Architect”

A Product Designer is…

• Someone with the right mix of empathy and aesthetic sensibilities to create elegant solutions to other people’s problems

• comfortable interfacing with people as well as screens

• often taking an idea from a user interview all the way through a high-fidelity mock up

• comfortable with various design tools and knows some front-end code

• a great fit for someone with an architecture or fine arts degree

The Road Ahead for a Product Designer

• Senior UX /UI/Product designer

• Product Manager

• VP/Head of Design

• Product-focused founder

• Chief Product Officer

• Chief Executive Officer

Read more about the role

• What is Product Design? by Eric Eriksson

• What does a Product Designer Do, Anyway? by D. Keith Robinson

• Architects, stop everything and pursue a career in UX by Gavin Johns

Looking for some help with your career?

At Tradecraft we’ve helped a few hundred people transition into fast-growing startups like Facebook, Uber, Discord, Udemy etc. If you’re serious about making this your career path and you want hands-on help with tactics & execution, drop us a line.