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I'm majoring in English and plan on getting my Bachelors soon. I was wondering what type of things I can do with it besides teach. Im not even taking the right classes to be a teacher. I know it's not as practical as say an engineering degree. My math skills are too weak to major in something that involves a lot of math. I am not too worried about my job prospects. I feel like if im persistsnt enough I will find something decent that I will also enjoy. my goal is not to be rich but i dont want to be barely making either. I don't want to hear "work at McDonalds." I would like to hear from posters that either have an English degree or know someone that does and what was done with it. Thanks!
Last edited by aboveordinary; 09-16-2013 at 12:05 AM..
I don't have an english degree but I have seen people with english degrees:
-teach abroad in Japan/Korea
-marketing
-copywriter/technical writer for tech companies
-work for online editions of magazines, such as National Geographic for Kids, etc.
-manage retail establishments like Dicks Sporting Goods, Target, and Enterprise Rental Car.
-become a military officer
-become a cop
-some have become lawyers; however, this worked for people who graduated pre-2008. Most that I know post-2008 are bar graduated waiters and waitresses
-work for a nonprofit to campaign and advance their causes
-customer service agent to customer service manager - I've seen a few work in call centers. One worked up to managing a call center department.
-paralegal- this was after working in a call center that involved landlord tenant issues.
-social media director for magazine
-warehouse logistics
I think in any degree field, you need to be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up and realize where you begin is not necessarily where you will end.
oh and I have an prior english major pal who is a financial planner for Ameriprise. so I guess I would throw in "sales positions - like financial planning and selling insurance"
I'm a 51-year-old with a degree in English. Opportunities abound.
There's always some idiot who wants to say, "Pshaw. What are you going to do with that?" What they don't realize that we've entered the Great Age Of Content, where the communication of knowledge is becoming more and more critical, making the ability to write effectively and persuasively highly valuable skills. Further, the ability to synthesize a working thesis from abstract information is also a highly prized ability.
AT&T did a long-term study on the subject and found that while those in the liberal arts struggled their first few years, they actually start outearning more career-driven majors by the time they hit their mid-30s. Because the ability to glean information, summarize it, and articulate your thoughts in a convincing way is supreme. An English major is a lifelong learner, and don't you forget it.
Heck, just two weeks ago, I was asked to participate in a 'firing squad,' a roundtable that was assembled to test a business idea that was about to ask for venture capital. Mind you, the entrepreneurs were all seasoned business guys and one even earned his MBA from Harvard. So these weren't exactly slouches. But in about five minutes, I had managed to dissect their business strategy, find the flaws in it, and rework the entire structure of the thing so that the essential selling idea was untouched but was given a much better chance for survival in the open market.
One of my classmates, like myself, never took a business class in her academic career. But she now heads up an entire commercial lending division for a top 20 bank. If I had time, I could go down the list and name what my other fellow graduates are doing today. It's quite a list.
It boils down to this. If you simply think of a degree as an entree to a job, then you're going to lose every time. The world of 30- and 40-year-olds is littered with dispirited burnouts who majored in something that would earn them a decent paycheck out of college, yet wound up hating the work they did. If you think of a degree as something that teaches you how to think and approach the world, then you suddenly have an education. And educated people do quite well in the world.
If you think of a degree as something that teaches you how to think and approach the world, then you suddenly have an education. And educated people do quite well in the world.
I agree with this, whole-heartedly.
Also, I am with you on the writing skills are needed everywhere. You would be surprised how many business graduates cannot write and it is definitely a necessary skillset when you need to use your data, but also compose succinct arguments for one decision or another.
(my minor was in writing and rhetoric and I use those skills daily)
Also, I am with you on the writing skills are needed everywhere. You would be surprised how many business graduates cannot write and it is definitely a necessary skillset when you need to use your data, but also compose succinct arguments for one decision or another.
(my minor was in writing and rhetoric and I use those skills daily)
One caveat, however. Between now and graduation, gain as many contacts and real-world skills as possible. Get outside the bubble of the university. Go to industry luncheons, make contacts, and stay in touch with them. If at all possible, land a writing job or some freelance gigs. You'll have a leg-up on everyone.
"What can you do with an English degree besides teach?"
A degree in English gives you a nice rounded education but doesn't exactly open up doors of opportunity as do more specialized degrees. As a former newspaper editor-publisher I hired a few reporters with English degrees over the years. The last English major I hired had a masters, iirc, or maybe it was a double major in psychology and English. She was hired as a typesetter earning slightly more than minimum wage and at that was probably overpaid.
What an English degree should have done is taught you how to reason, organize your thoughts and communicate well. From there it's up to you to sell yourself for the job you want and then to use what you've learned to succeed in the job and to grow into the next one. People often scoff at English degrees, but if you use what you should have learned, it can take you far.
Just as an example, when I was a high school sports jock, the young sports editor for the local weekly had an English degree. A few years later I worked for that same newspaper, and he had become managing editor. A few years after that he bought a newspaper, and when he took a temporary job as the governor's press secretary I "replaced" him at his newspaper. He went on to become publisher of one of the larger newspaper organizations in the country, then manager of a large chain of radio stations, and as of a few years ago was CEO of a major banking company. That "degree" didn't land him any of those jobs, but his formal education and his drive to continue learning took him through an interesting and very successful career.
I would look into jobs that just require a degree but don't require a specific dgree - I.e... We only want to hire finance majors.
So management trainee programs for enterprise, ups, Firestone -really just look up management trainee programs. Insurance aside from actuary does not require a specific degree- so I would look at claims, underwriting , sales though I would avoid the 100% commission sales
And of course you have the customer service and retail
I have a degree in English. I've taught, I've tutored, I've developed teaching and youth mentoring programs for nonprofits, I've worked as a print journalist (both writing and editing), and I've been a legal assistant. When I was in journalism, my papers typically hired English majors over journalism majors, due to the particular stylistic slant of the papers (primarily feature writing).
My brother has a degree in English. He is a newspaper reporter and columnist.
My brother-in-law has a degree in English. He is a sports writer for a newspaper, freelance, and works full time as a legal assistant at a large urban law firm.
My dad has a degree in English, and he taught for many years and then became a small business owner.
My ex had a degree in English, and he was an insurance claims adjuster.
My fiance has a degree in English, and he was a middle school language arts teacher, and is now military, a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy, and his rating is a communications-related one. so chosen due to his degree and related civilian work experience. He has recently taken a position as an A-school instructor at a Naval base.
There are quite a few routes one might go with an English degree, including any job where communicating professionally and concisely and strong writing skills are a priority.
I don't actually know anyone personally who has an English degree who has strictly worked retail or customer service for the long-term.
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