Outside of academia, are there any jobs for historians?

One could work at a historical society or historical museum.

Government jobs too and even the military. I just did a very quick Google search and came up with this http://federalgovernmentjobs.us/job-search/historian-0170.html

I would think there may also be positions within some very large organisations who want to preserve the history of their organisation. And as @answerjill said, definitely museums and historical societies. What about universities too. You may find work as a research fellow but you will have to do postgraduate study too and possibly for a number of these positions.

Museum curator or administrator
Free-lance writer
Non-fiction book writer

any job with a history phd will be hard to get. I wouldn’t go into the field if you have no plans on being a professor (and the job market for that is wicked hard)

Some large companies have historian positions, basically you research and record the history of the company.

They could write text books, or perhaps historical fiction if they have any talent for writing.

“And that is why Napoleon should’ve stayed the fuck out of Russia. So, would you like fries with that?”

@bob_ That sounds so perfect, right up until the fries…

They can work as a tour guide, or in a museum. :)

I have a friend who has a History PhD and works for ETS (the standardized test company that makes AP tests, SATs, etc.) He works on creating the History AP tests. But to be honest, he is there because he could not find a good job teaching at a university and he is kind of bitter about that. As someone who was once in a History PhD program, I’d say that you might want to reconsider going for a History PhD if you do not plan to teach and do research at a college/university. There are probably shorter and easier career paths to some of these other jobs.

Mediators for example in the context of peace talks.

I have a degree in history and do family research and genologies for a state agency. Very rewarding.

You can also work in the library; my friend worked in the archives cataloging ancient texts.
A degree is a good thing to have; but some are more career-focused. I am a proponent of following your interests, doing what you love and allowing the chips to fall where they may.

@GoJessGo – I would make a distinction between going for a 4 year History Bachelor’s Degree or a 2-year Master’s degree and a History PhD, which can often take 8 years or more to complete and will likely make you appear “over-educated” when you apply for many jobs outside of academia. (I should clarify that the PhD can easily take 8 years—on top of the 4 year college degree—in the US, anyway.)

@WestRiverrat: that would be a Company Archivist, not a historian.

You could get a job working for the government, in a position that had as a prerequisite a BA or BS degree. Job would probably not be history related, but it would be a job.

@jca No, I’m looking specifically for jobs where you would be a historian.

@MyNewtBoobs – Where are you in your education at the moment (working on BA, MA, etc.)?
Edit: Oh, I see that I knew you in your former Fluther incarnation. You are a college student, if I recall.