Overview
Students often ask why they should major in English, or they ask what they can do with a degree in English. I've gradually come up with a few standard answers.
(Please note: Even though I've created this page, I'm still happy to talk with students in person!)
Where to begin
I suggest that you start with a book titled What Can You Do With a Major in English?, especially chapters 3 through 7. It's available in the USC Upstate library in both print and electronic format, and Google Books provides a limited online preview:
What Can You Do With a Major in English? : Real People, Real Jobs, Real Rewards
by Shelley O'Hara, Jennifer A. Horowitz
USC Upstate Library: call number HF 5382.7 .O57 2005
Limited online preview: http://Books.Google.com/books?id=MtTndp36ZcYC
More detailed advice
First, research potential careers by reading the information compiled by the Department of Labor: http://stats.bls.gov/oco/
Explore what you find there:
- What qualifications, such as education or experience, are required by the career that interests you?
- How much money does someone in that career earn?
- Is that career field growing or shrinking in terms of the number of jobs available?
Second, get some kind of internship before you graduate.
There are several good reasons to get an internship, including these:
- An internship can count towards your degree (e.g. As a writing-intensive course). Talk with me about what kinds of opportunities are available.
- An internship will put experience on your resume that goes beyond campus jobs (or jobs at, say, Kinko's, which is how I worked my way through college), and it will give you the kind of experience that will set you apart from other recent college graduates.
- An internship gives you an opportunity to make a good impression on someone beyond the university, someone who might have connections and be able to get you a job or at least write a very helpful letter of recommendation.
Third, consider going to graduate school or professional school after you finish your undergraduate degree.
You might want to get a masters in English or Education, or a PhD in literature or rhetoric or communications, or a law degree, or...
...so you should...
- ...prepare to take the necessary standardized test, such as the GRE or the LSAT. Your professors can give you specific advice about how best to do this.
- ...draft a cover letter for graduate school and ask for feedback from your professors.
- ...draft a list of graduate programs or professional schools you're interested in and talk about your list with your professors.
- ...draft a list of the professors in those graduate programs and what they've published.
- ...draft a list of the requirements to get into those graduate programs.
- ...draft a list of the deadlines for applications.
Fourth, start work now to prepare yourself for the post-graduation working world.
Put together the materials you’ll need when applying for jobs and graduate or professional school:
- Draft a resume.
- Draft a cover letter to accompany future job applications.
- Draft a list of the professors you will ask to write letters of recommendation for you.
- Draft a list of supervisors and bosses who will be references for you.
- Talk to 1 or more professors about the drafts you have come up with.
- For guidelines on generating your job market documents, read the following:
Fifth, take advantage of the career-oriented help your campus offers.
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