Jobs for the Major
How this major affects a job search
Like most liberal arts majors, English majors don't have a pre-packaged job waiting for them once they get out of college. Often, they continue on to graduate school to become professors...or something completely different.
Our advice? Get started on that decision early. You don't want to be the college graduate who answers, "What are you going to do after college?" with a blank stare.
Don't despair. The skills you pick up while learning how to close-read and analyze literature will probably be useful no matter what kind of job you get. In fact, they might even be marketable. English majors stand out as having really great analytical and word skills. They also have a special knack for understanding all sorts of themes and underlying messages, which is why they often find success in advertising and marketing.
Of course, all that writing helps, too. English majors often try their hand at writing for TV, movies, or video games. The truth is, they can fit in throughout the business and public sector world.
Common Career Fields
Advertising. With their love of language and snazzy writing skills, lit lovers head on over to the world of advertising to flex their copywriting skills. While there, they take care of business because to them, impossible is nothing. The only question left is: What would you do for a Klondike bar? Whew. That kind of got taxing after a while, didn't it? Don't write too much copy in one day, kiddos. It can wreck your brain.
Copyediting and Publishing. No one is going to take you seriously if you mispell everthing and have bad, punctuation. (We hope you caught that.) We're not really sure why people make such a big deal out of including letters that aren't even pronounced, but hey, it is what it is. A copywriter makes sure a writer's grammar is perfectly pristine and ready for publication, so employers naturally look for people with English degrees. English majors feel right at home with all the reading and analyzing done for publishing jobs because let's face it...who else loves to read as much as they do?
Journalism. There's a reason famous news anchors like Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer majored in English. After all, research and writing are two major parts of the job. Riddle us this: How annoying would it be if journalists didn't use amazing rhetorical skills when writing an article or reporting the news? If Babs started spouting nonsense, we'd turn off our TV faster than you can say "Oxford comma." It's no wonder these majors fare so well in the news.
Marketing Research. When you hear the word "research," you might think of math or science more than English, but stick with us here. Marketing researchers often hail from the lit world because they were asked to do the same stuff in college as they do in their job. Essentially, this research involves looking at how different groups deal with various stimuli and situations. Then they analyze the data to figure out what kinds of products people want and why. Analyzing real-life humans isn't so different than analyzing texts, if you think about it.
Public Relations. When a celebrity crashes a car or has one too many drinks on a night out, a PR person steps in to smooth things over. There's a reason celebs have them on speed dial. Major companies do, too. Public relations specialists make sure customers, investors, and—you guessed it—the general public are all on board with the decisions that companies (and superstars) make. English majors might venture into the PR world to make a higher salary than some other jobs, but the basic skill set is the same.
Teacher/Professor. (Requires a Master's degree or Ph.D.) "But wait," you ask. "I'm only allowed to teach English lit if I get a graduate degree? Isn't that...unfair?" Why, perhaps it is. But that's the way things are. This is the typical career path of lit nerds, maybe because they just can't get enough of all things literature. By teaching the stuff, they get to stay a hand in it every day. Plus, when you teach, you have to spend less time cramming for exams or plowing through a massive reading list two days before your final paper is due. As a professor, you get to design your own course and pick the books you like to read and talk about. Pretty sweet, huh?
Writer. We know that independent writers are often portrayed as dramatic, troubled souls with some sort of vice or addiction. "Will I ever get discovered?" "Why hasn't anyone notice my superior intellect and scintillating wit?" "How will I ever pay rent without becoming a sell-out?" Well, Shmoopers, there are actually plenty of companies that employ people to write company stuff in exchange for a nice, steady paycheck—and hey, maybe they have time to perfect their dystopian sci-fi thriller after-hours. So whether you decide to hook up with a company or write whatever you fancy, an English degree will help get you there.
Current unemployment of the major
7.0%Percentage of majors who get a higher degree after college
43.0%Stats obtained from this source.