I have an A.B. in English. I run a systems department in higher ed, managing servers, managing large-scale tech projects, etc. We’re part of a larger IT department, so we are pretty specialized in the types of systems we implement and support. and I can rely on the expertise of others for the really highly technical pieces.
I have a good friend who also has an A.B. in English. He went on to get a Masters in International Relations and is now a CFA at a major investment firm, specializing in Near and Middle East investments.
You can do a lot with an English degree. It doesn’t qualify you for anything specific, which is part of its beautiful utility.
If the specialty was in writing, then it opens many opportunities. Tech writing (already mentioned a couple of times) can pay well. Freelance writing, marketing, advertising, Web design: these all need strong writing skills. There are also copyediting and proofreading jobs available.
Basically, there are jobs everywhere for someone who writes well.
If the specialty was literature or poetry, then it really hasn’t prepared him for anything but teaching (but he’d have to go back and get an education minor to get the teaching credential), working in a bookstore, or working in a library (but he’d have to go back and work on library science to get hired as a full librarian).
I’d go with the others who said tech writing as a possibility. My university didn’t offer a tech writing certification/path when I was there (I graduated in 1990, FWIW), and my BA has an emphasis in Medieval and Renaissance lit. They do now offer that certification, and apparently a lot of others do, too, based on what I know of my (somewhat younger) co-workers’ backgrounds. I am working as a tech writer/editor now, but it did take me longer (I assume) than it would for someone who does have the tech writing background right out of school.
Like PaulParkhead , my lit degree led me into IT after circuitous rambling. I started out by working on the WTC recovery right after college, then moved on to analytical work for the government, then became a systems administrator (also government), and have thus far landed as a security consultant.
An English degree (in any concentration) can be useful in almost any field. A friend’s father was always trying to persuade me to go into law. I’d initially planned on going into education (wanted to teach college lit). High-level literacy is actually a frighteningly scarce commodity these days.
I think a better question is what can you do with an Engrish degree? Those people get snapped up like hotcakes in areas like manual writing, video game design, and international marketing. I would see if the school offers a subprogram in it.
I double majored in English and Philosophy. I was editor of the college literary magazine, also did the page-layout myself to save money and print more copies with our limited budget.
This “lay-out” experience got misunderstood by a factory manager where I worked who needed a CAD person in a bad way. He gave me, what in the apparel business is, essentially a draftsman’s job.
My last three jobs, and now my independent consulting business have all been in the mechanical design field. The communication skills my degree honed have served me well. I’ll second the sentiment that 19 of 20 jobs are just looking for “a degree” not a specific degree. Most of the engineers I work with envy the freedom of my position. I get to work with all the cool 3D software, while they end up being project managers using only spreadsheets and timelines.
I have been described as a silver-tongue smoothie. You should see the women these talents attract. Not as numerous as my actor friends though, but you try telling me it’s not worth it. Remember, ‘at your best when least sincere.’
Workplace? Indispensable there too.
In fact the better question is “what can’t you do?” Professions.
Not sure about this. I know plenty of tech writers, marketing writers and a few freelancers, and they all did a degree in English literature or philosophy or history. Some of them also did a second degree in computer science or took several CS courses, but none of them did a specific writing degree. I don’t know anybody working as a tech writer who actually did one of those tech writing degrees.
A degree in literature, poetry, philosophy, history, etc., requires you to think, read, research, organize and write, write, write. Is it possible to specialize in English lit and not write a ton of papers?
I don’t know, since I never got an English Lit degree. I do know, however, that a focus like creative writing, journalism, or technical writing puts the emphasis on creating readable prose rather than analyzing what other people have written. A strong grounding in the fundamentals of writing understandable prose, coupled with a basic understanding of modern technology will be much more useful to a tech writer than the ability to quote Shakespeare or expound on the motivations of Poe.
I’ve got over 10 years experience as a program manager, and training development/delivery manager and my BA is in English.
I did just complete an MS in industrial/organizational psychology, because I’ve been drifting toward that field over the last couple of years and wanted the credentials to go with it. But the English degree has served me very well.
I’ve noticed when I search for jobs that often the requirement will be for either a more specialized degree OR an BA in English.
I’m sure we don’t want to debate the issue, especially since we’re getting way off topic, but a strong grounding in the fundamentals of writing understandable prose was at the core of my Eng Lit program. As far as I know, it’s at the core of all literature programs. In any case, I still haven’t met a tech writer who did a writing degree. They’ve all done degrees that require critical thinking and an ability to express thoughts in clear, well-structured, consistent prose.
Indeed, I’ve read the same about history graduates.
Funny to see two “what to do with” threads on the degrees my sisters came from university with on the same day
Edit, to say that one is working as finance officer for a charity and the other in some sort of centre that works on search engine entries for websites.
It depends on your location. Tech writing education in the US is far more advanced than in Canada–US universities grant degrees in tech writing, but most Canadian universities aren’t quite there yet. Community colleges in Canada do have tech writing certficate programs–I taught in one for a number of years, and sat on the college’s advisory board–but generally, they were continuing ed programs, designed for people who were working and either making a career shift, or making their English or History (or whatever) degree more marketable. These college certificate progams would never be confused with a four-year degree program though; when I left the college in about 2000, the program was only two years of part-time study. In a nutshell, though, Canadian tech writers don’t tend to have tech writing degrees, while American tech writers do. Thus, if you’re in Canada, you’re unlikely to meet a tech writer who holds a tech writing degree.
Of course, tech writing has developed greatly over the past 25 years or so, but a discussion of that is probably inappropriate for this thread.
To get back on track, I’ll put in another vote for tech writing. I met plenty of wannabe tech writers–they were my students–and the variety of educational backgrounds they had was wide indeed. Many had English degrees, and did quite well, both in our program and out in the working world.
Has your son practiced saying, (with feeling), “Would you like fries with that?”?
Sorry. No one had gotten around to it, yet.
In addition to falling into jobs the way many of us B.A. types have done, your son might also look around for corporations that deliberatelately hire B.A.s for the purpose of grooming them to enter management so that in 15 - 25 years there will be people at the top of the corporation who are actually capable of communicating above an eighth grade level. (Even GM used to have such a program, although it has long since fallen to budget constraints.)
It’s been said a few times now, but proofing and editing jobs are always looking for English degrees. I’ve been trying to move up the chain in this line of work, and I can tell you the vast majority of companies needing an editor are looking for English, Communication, or Journalism degrees.
After discussing it with my linguistics professor, he seems to make a good bit of money by speaking on cruise ships over the summer. He is a very interesting speaker, and cruise ships hire all kinds of entertainment for the ride. He said it is nice because they pay well and he gets to wander around the ship at his leisure, not like those working in food service on the ship who sometimes aren’t allowed out at certain times.
I have taken my B.A. in English lit to law school, where they love English majors. Basically, 90% of a lawyer’s job is writing, and what better major to prepare you for that than English?
My big sister took her B.A. in Comparative Literature (essentially an English major that isn’t constrained to a particular language) to the publishing business, where she is climbing the proofreading-copyediting-middlemanagement ladder.
