Career Opportunities in Bay Area?

[phantompilot]

Lots of people in tech have liberal arts degrees - they just work on the business side of the tech industry...as for an English degree, that might be a good fit for a marketing/communications role. As for actually writing for a living....I'd advise against it unless you just love it - but business writing is really not going to provide most people with the satisfaction they get from writing fiction. There is not much of a creative aspect to writing business content. There are few opportunities for artistic expression in business writing.

But Marketing and communications might be a fit. Advertising is more creative.

As for earning 70-100K, if you want to go into Sales, that is easy to realize even for a first job. New college grads are getting compensation in this range with zero work experience and no particular knowledge of anything related to the tech industry beyond what they know as consumers.

Also, if you're a skilled communicator (written AND verbal), and enjoy presenting to or convincing others, then Sales would be an excellent choice.

Also since you're so young...what about law school?

[comingbacktocali]

you could find opportunities in the biotech field. outbound marketing, technical writing, blogging, etc.

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, there are jobs for a variety of businesses in handling their online PR presence. I've seen job listings for people who can manage a comprehensive social media presence for various companies, large and small: twitter, facebook, and webpage development/maintenance. I don't know what the pay is, but it sounds like something that would be easy to combine with another job.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by snd37

I am relocating to the Bay Area this summer, and I'm trying to get a better sense about job opportunities there. I'm in my late twenties with a master's in English and teaching experience. However, I'm interested in changing careers. I'd like to work in tech but in a non-tech position (at least in the beginning). But, I'm open to any and everything that I'm qualified for and that offers competitive pay.

What sorts of jobs are available out there for people like me with a strong background in research, writing, communications etc? Is it possible to land something where I'm making at least $70-100K/yr with my background?

If you want to work in Tech but not as a technical programmer, engineer, etc... then it really helps if you have a business degree or business background. That means something to do with account management, marketing, corporate development, business project/process management, public relations, etc.

[SwizzyFicket]

I have a friend who makes about $68K in the bay area in a marketing role within the healthcare industry. He has a masters in journalism, though (not sure what his undergrad degree was in), plus he has quite a bit of employment experience.

I would recommend zeroing in on where you want to go from here (Marketing? Advertising? Technical writing? Social media management?) and start checking out job postings and required qualifications. If you don't have any direct experience you might have to start with an assistant-level role, which probably won't pay quite the range you're aiming for.