As part of the Career Diversity for Historians initiative, the AHA is producing and making available short videos of historians working in unusual places talking about what they do. The newest video features Aaron Marrs, historian at the Policy Studies Division in the US Department of State.

“The Many Careers of History PhDs,” the AHA’s 2013 report on history PhD career outcomes, showed that 3.2 percent of those graduating with a PhD in history find careers in the federal government. Aaron Marrs describes his work this way: “Research and writing is at the heart of what I do every day.” How did he get this job? He deployed a little thing we like to call “intellectual self-confidence.” Listen to the interview to hear more about his federal career and how he got there.

Interested in a career as a historian in the federal government? Check out the directory maintained by the Society for History in the Federal Government, watch these other videos about different federal jobs enjoyed by historians, and read this previous post on AHA Today.

Check out more What I Do videos and additional Career Diversity for Historians resources here.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.