Dr.
Laurel Black recently presented “What Can You Do with an English
Major” for Sigma Tau Delta. Below is the list of resources used in
that presentation.
·
Check out this
blog. It has lots of links to excellent
articles debating the value of a degree (including a Ph.D.) in English, how you can leverage your
communication skills into jobs, and what kinds of tech knowledge and skills you
need to succeed. http://jobsforenglishmajors.com/
·
The article found
at the College English Association looks at studies by various institutions
which explore where English majors “go” and what they “do” after
graduation. What surprises some is that
about 1/3 of the graduates wind up in business and service industries, but,
over time, even more wind up attending law school. http://www2.widener.edu/~cea/382brown.htm
·
Winthrop
University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has a great page on what you can do
with an English major, with excellent links.
They focus on how you can translate your course content into skills, and
though they note that graduate school and teaching in the field seem like
obvious choices, graduates go into a wide range of fields.
http://www2.winthrop.edu/english/undergraduate/careers.htm
The obvious choices are
teaching, graduate school, or becoming a writer, but graduates also excel in
many other areas. Because English majors have learned how to write, analyze
material, and communicate effectively, and are good problem solvers, they work
in many different fields, including sales, management, advertising, and many
others. English majors are found in program management, marketing, editing,
reporting, creative and technical writing, public relations, medicine, social
work, government work, non-profit organizations, and financial services. The
kinds of text analysis, writing, and thinking English majors specialize in
enhance their creativity, their understanding of human motivation, and their
ability to present clear and logical arguments, both in writing and orally. And
your foreign language education gives them a competitive advantage in today’s
multicultural employment market.
·
The University of Texas has a 20-page
booklet in PDF form that you can download that focuses on careers you may not
have thought about moving into. While
some of the booklet describes the university’s own program, the rest lists jobs
that can easily use your skill set.
Reading through these, though, I would say that your MINOR and your
INTERNSHIP will make a huge difference in what direction you travel next. Check it out here: http://www.lifelearning.utexas.edu/handouts/booklets/SLCC_English%20Rhetoric%20and%20Writing.pdf.
A quick list of some of the careers they see grads
moving into follows.
Alumni
Relations & Development Specialist
Admissions
Student
Services
Book
Publicist/Packager
Business
Writer/Copy Editor
Corporate
Communications Manager
Grant
Writer
Labor
and Industrial Relations Specialist
Patient
Advocate
Public
Relations/Advertising/Marketing
Real
Estate
Banking
Meeting/Convention
Planner
Management
Consultant/Corporate Trainer
Legislative
Analysis/Assistant
Institutional
Researcher
Market
Research Analyst
·
You can regularly check back to http://money.cnn.com/2000/09/01/career/q_degreeenglish/
in the Personal Finance page to check on jobs in your field. The following chart looks at where you can
find a job with ONLY a bachelor’s degree in English:
·
The following
site (http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/careers-for-english-majors.asp) has updated
info on careers in English along with the salaries each pays. For example
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·
IUP’s Career Services Office has a
one-page PDF on careers for English majors.
It lists many of the jobs you can find on the Texas list. The site also lets you look at jobs in other
major fields, so you can see what overlaps.
Check it out at http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=9913
·
The following site, part of the US
Bureau of Labor Statistics, has a great 10 page PDF by Diana Gehlhaus about
liberal arts majors and job skills. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2007/winter/art01.pdf
·
Try reading: McNabb, Richard. “Making
the Gesture: Graduate Student Submissions and the Expectation of Journal
Referees.” Composition Studies
(29.1): 9-26. Helpful not just for grads
but undergrads.
The bottom line is that while
some majors easily funnel or channel graduates directly into a field, an
English B.A. prepares you broadly for many careers and specifically for
graduate programs. You need to look at
your interests, your passions, your hobbies, other courses you’ve taken and
enjoyed. Look carefully at your English
classes: maybe you didn’t like a course overall,
but there was an assignment you really enjoyed.
What did that involve? Where
would you do something like that in a job?
MINORS at IUP
Have you selected a minor or
even two minors? Can you double
major? Did you know that there is a
business minor for those in the Fine Arts?
If you’re thinking of running your own business, acting as a writing
consultant for example, do you have the business skills you need?
Minors typically require
students to take one or two classes; the rest of the 15-18 credit hours are
electives. Some, like the minor
mentioned above, offer less choice and are more structured. Your catalog has information on minors–you
need to look carefully, because it is usually just a small paragraph.
If a program does not offer a
minor but you are interested in that field, you might create your own,
“unofficial” minor. Often, after you
have explained your interest to the department Chair or Assistant Chair, you
can take courses limited to majors; you can get an over-ride.
Your minor can help you get
an internship, can help you land a job, can put you in contact with those who
are majoring in a different field, and can connect you to professors and
professionals you might not otherwise meet.
INTERNSHIPS
All programs at IUP offer a
493 course: an internship. While some departments regularly support
internships, others limit them. Usually,
majors or minors in a department can register for an internship, and each
department has an internship coordinator.
In English, that’s Dr. Judith Villa (jvilla@iup.edu).
Even if you find that you
cannot take, for some reason, ENGL 493, you can do an internship without
receiving credit. And if you can do an
internship for free, at no cost to a company, most are happy to take you on. You may need to get letters of support to
convince a company that, even without pay, you are worth the effort that goes
into training someone. But those
internships lead to connections with professionals in fields that interest you. They offer valuable skills, and they help you
enter graduate school or look for employment with an advantage over students
who do not have such experiences to discuss or apply.
If you were interested in
going to law school or working in politics, you could be an English major,
political science minor, and do an internship using PLSC 493. Interested in being a science writer? Check out a minor in biology or chemistry.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?
Are you a member of national organizations connected
to English? Have you worked at the
Writing Center? Have you helped with the
New Growth Arts Review? Have you
privately tutored other students? Have you
submitted writing for publication at journals that focus on undergraduate
scholarship and creative writing?
Have you independently produced publications
of some kind? Tried working at the
bookstore? Worked for Admissions,
Student Services, the Public Relations Office?
Human Resources? If you have ten
extra hours a week, can you volunteer your time to one of the campus offices
where your communication skills can be useful?
Volunteered your time during the summer at a business or
organization?
It would be great if we could
just sort of “fall into a job.” But the
more you prepare yourself, the more quickly you’ll recognize an opportunity and
the confidence you will have to apply.