It’s the one question English majors hate the most, and hear most often: “What are you going to do with your degree when you graduate?”
Most people need to take things one step at a time, and live one day at a time. They decided to earn their English degree because they have a love of literature and linguistics, and not necessarily because they have their whole career mapped out, and are planning to go on a warpath.
At the same time, the future is coming, and it’s a good idea to know what jobs an English degree can get you other than teaching. Here are just a few of the exciting opportunities that are out there.
- Managing Editor – Managing editors make a median annual salary of $53,000. These people are responsible for the daily operation of a news department at a print publication, website, or TV station.
- IT Project Manager – Sure, information technology is not exactly the same thing as classic literature, but diagramming a sentence is a lot like IT — you need to break complicated concepts down to their parts and put them back together. IT Project Managers plan, coordinate, and direct tech-related activities, such as upgrading systems to building network security systems. They also make $67,000 a year.
- Proposal Managers – English majors make great proposal managers, because they possess the persuasive skills and argumentative experience required to succeed down this career path. Making a median annual salary of $65,000, Proposal Managers coordinate writers, illustrators, and other team members to prepare proposals on the behalf of their company for contracted projects.
Even if you’re not interested in getting an English degree, instead perhaps preferring a psychology degree, a family studies degree, or perhaps a communications degree, it’s absolutely vital to your future that you pursue an education, and get an undergraduate degree.
About 83% of all college attendees have said their degree “has paid off.” English majors with just their bachelor’s degrees have reported average starting salaries of $36,200, and mid-career salaries of $63,500. At the same time, a Pew Research report has found that workers with at least a bachelor’s degree had median annual earnings in 2012 of $45,500 — well over the medians for people who only had some college ($30,000), or a high-school diploma ($28,000).
In other words, go get that English degree you’ve always wanted to get. There’s a job out there for you.
If you have any questions about the jobs you can get with an English degree, feel free to share in the comments.