You’re at work or at home talking to relatives during the holidays, and they ask you what you’re majoring in, “Oh, I am an English major with a minor in Technical Writing.”
“What are you going to do with your degree? Are you going to teach?”
“No,” I say, “I’m going to go into publishing and editing.”
There’s a musical called Avenue Q and it has a song, “What Do You Do with a BA in English?” and it’s a puppet talking about how they didn’t learn any skills in college with their useless English degree. Well, here are few wonderful professions you could do with that “useless” English degree.
Teaching, the one job that everyone assumes an English major is going to get. Teachers are wonderful and I respect their profession 100%, but I am tired of being told that I should be a teacher. English majors can do so much more than just teach. People who decide to be teachers are dedicated to their students and wanting to teach their ideas that they gained in school to students that are willing to learn. The median salary for teachers in Texas is $44,500 a year.
Editing and Copywriting is a profession that needs an English degree. Writing skills and techniques are necessary when it comes to editing articles for HerCampus or doing transcriptions of interviews. English majors gain all the necessary skills to make sure that everything is spellchecked and has the proper flow. The median salary for an editor is $56,000 a year.
Another job that and English major could pursue is being a librarian. When I was younger, all I wanted to do was be a librarian. I, personally have always loved books and using them as an escape from my everyday life. Academic librarians are not just the sweet older women you see at your public library but use technical services, user services, and administrative services. The median pay for a librarian is $56,800 a year.
I am proud to be an English major. Yes, I almost always have three essays due around the same time, and I do read 12 books a semester, but I love every second of it. All of my professors who teach literature or editing or even French, had to take English classes to get to where they are today. I am on my way to getting my bachelor’s degree in English. I will become a copyeditor and publisher, and I could not be happier with my choices in my degree.
What do you do with a BA in English? Whatever you want to do. The choices are endless, you just have to make the decision.