What can one do with a major in English?...

[happykids]

My 16yo dd is trying to decide what her college major will be and might be interested in English with teacher licensure and a piano minor.
What else can you do with an English major in case she ends up not teaching?

Thanks!
Sabrina in NY

[Laura K (NC)]

Warning: I'm not the best one to give advice. I got a music degree cum laude with no teacher certification and I couldn't do much with it. I could be a manager of a bookstore chain. I could be a manager at a fast food restaurant. I could do telemarketing.

I think if I had tried harder to stick with a job long-term I could have developed skills to get myself into a decent career. I had babies instead. I think my arts-and-sciences degree prepared me perfectly to be a homeschool mom and discussion board denizen, but it didn't prepare me well to do much else.

Of course this is anecdotal, and a young woman's success is largely up to herself.

[Mrs Mungo]

Many Fortune 500 companies will hire Liberal Arts graduates. However, she would want to take some business classes and probably serve as an intern while still in school.

[Janet in WA]

My 16yo dd is trying to decide what her college major will be and might be interested in English with teacher licensure and a piano minor.
What else can you do with an English major in case she ends up not teaching?

Thanks!
Sabrina in NYWell, my son will graduate soon with a degree in journalism and minor in English. His plan is to be writer. He has contacts with several publications that are interested in hiring him. They say that it's not the "journalism" part of his degree that makes them interested, but his portfolio of writing and resume of writing experience. It seems to me that an English major could also get into the writing field. Or possibly publishing or editing.

[happykids]

Dd also wants to be a writer and has been going back and forth between journalism and English, but she is not sure if she'd like to write news stories. She tends to enjoy fiction writing more.
Would journalism or English be better if you want to be an editor? She's thinking she might like that also.

Writing fiction won't get her a job as easily as non-fiction, so we're trying to be practical, but she also needs to enjoy her work.

Thanks!
Sabrina

[Sandy in Indy]

DD will graduate in 2009 with an English major and editing minor. Her freshman English class did an interesting survey...they asked English majors from the last several years *what* they were doing. Many had gone on to advanced degrees...med and law school. Some were in the publishing field; others in teaching. Many of them said they had multiple opportunities because they had a DEGREE and that a lot of companies just want people who can learn. Companies can teach the specifics of their business, but they need candidates who have proven learning potential.

DD has tried to maximize her possibilities. She's a TA next year and works in the student writing lab assisting other students. She's going to be the editor of the English department publication next year. She's looking for an internship with a local publishing house. She's also considering getting an advanced degree so that she can teach at the college level.

[Janet in WA]

Well, he has the writing he's done for his classes, of course. And he's a staff writer for his college's newspaper as well as a contributing writer for the newspaper of the town where his college is located. He has also worked on the newspaper staff at the BSA high adventure base where he works every summer.

I'm not sure about the best major for an editor. I suppose it would depend somewhat on the type of publications she'd be editing. I would hope that a college advisor could steer her in the right direction when the time comes. But they don't always know as much about "the real world" as one might hope. It might be an interesting and informative project for her to contact some editors (your newspaper, a magazine or two that interests her, etc.) and ask them this question.

[danielle]

Run, do not walk, to your bookstore and buy "Secrets of a Freelance Writer" by Bob Bly and "Well Fed Writer: Back for Seconds" by Peter Bowerman. If your child wants to make a living as a writer, this is absolutely the way to go.
Danielle

[Veronica in VA]

Maybe technical writing. My dh is an engineer and ends up having to rewrite many engineers letters and manuals. His college (West Point) not only emphasized the technical, but provided him with a very good background in the liberal arts and writing. He is sometimes amazed at how badly some college graduates write. If your child can write well, companies may hire her to rewrite the technical manuals, etc.

Hope that helps,

Veronica

[Anne/Ankara]

Publishing! That's a great field for young people if you like the world of books, authors, and interesting people. I worked for McGraw-Hill in their College Division for some 12 years, and it was lots of fun, very interesting, and certainly paid enough for a single person to live on (and save up!).

[happykids]

Did you apply for the job after graduation, or did they expect you to have experience elsewhere?
What kinds of things did you do with your publishing job?

Any details and other info. you can give me would be great!

Thanks!
Sabrina

[happykids]

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[happykids]

All of a sudden I can't see the whole thread subject lines under my original post any more. How do I get back to showing those?
Thanks!
Sabrina

[Kareni]

Sabrina,

Above the top post on the far right is a button labeled "Display Modes". Click on that and you'll be given several options. Click on each one to see what they do. I think you'll find what you are looking for!

Regards,
Kareni

[strider]

Editing, proofreading, copyediting are all good options for English majors. I also worked for a time as the Editorial Administrative Manager, which was a combination of office management and editorial work.

I worked in the area of book publishing, but my degree could just as easily have taken me into magazines or even newspapers. If your child knew for sure that newspapers and magazines were his/her love, a major in journalism could be considered.

Another option is to double-major in English AND journalism. Personally, I double-majored in English and Rhetoric (which is just another way of saying writing was my second major). The requirements for the two majors overlapped quite a bit, so I was able to complete my degree in four years comfortably.

[Anne/Ankara]

Did you apply for the job after graduation, or did they expect you to have experience elsewhere?
What kinds of things did you do with your publishing job?

Any details and other info. you can give me would be great!

Thanks!
Sabrina

I graduated in 1983, and wrote to many publishers in New York City, inquiring about editorial assistant positions, then got about 5 interviews, and then only one offer, at McGraw-Hill, in their bookstore, not even their editorial department! Hmmm... but I was young and enthusiastic, and quickly moved up the ranks-- from bookstore clerk, to editorial assistant, to assistant editor, associate editor, sales person, Editor...

Since McGraw-Hill is a big company, there were lots of opportunities (and lots of turn-over), so a good worker with the right attitude could do quite well. And it was fun! I got to travel and work on campuses (the authors were college professors), and learn about the business, editing, design, marketing side of textbooks. They also had divisions in magazines, at the time, which was also interesting.

I must say, it was fun... going to sales meetings in nice resorts, planning a textbook launching campaign, meeting very important leaders in their fields (Chang in Chemistry, etc). Very nice profession!

[happykids]

If I could do it all over again, that is what I would want to do!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Sabrina

[happykids]

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[happykids]

exactly what working as an editor or copyeditor for a publishing company entails?
Thanks!
Sabrina