Associate Chair Sunny Hyon introduces panel at the SEE (Strategic Employability in English) event on April 26. Photo: Peter Acosta/CSUSB
Careers for English Majors
An English degree is unique. It prepares you for a wide range of careers and offers much pleasure along the way. While reveling in literature, language, writing, and rhetoric, you develop highly transferable skills for the job market, including analytical thinking, effective writing, creative problem-solving, linguistic sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and insight into the human condition. With this skill set, you can do just about anything—including work in writing and editing, business, law, education, technology, health, science, government, and politics. A bachelor’s degree in English also offers an excellent foundation for graduate study in various fields.
Valuable Knowledge and Skills Gained as an English Major:
- Analytical reading
- Effective writing
- Critical and synthetic thinking
- Imaginative problem-solving
- Information literacy and research skills
- Ability to connect with multiple audiences
- Awareness of diverse perspectives
- Emotional intelligence
- Deep understanding of human nature
English majors are highly successful in a range of careers and callings. They pursue such varied professions as law, grant writing, teaching, corporate communications, language pathology, video game design, and medicine; they are also highly sought after by large corporations, small businesses, start-ups, government agencies, media organizations, and a wide range of other employers.
The English Major in Demand
- 'The surprising thing Google learned about its employees — and what it means for today’s students” The Washington Post, December 2017. “The seven top characteristics of success at Google . . . sound more like what one gains as an English or theater major than as a programmer.”
- “Why Entrepreneurs Should Hire English Majors” USA Today, July 2016. “I love English majors. I love how smart they are. I love how well read they are. I love their ability to write well and think critically, and most of all, I love to hire them. For my money, I think English majors are a great choice for any entrepreneur’s next employee or intern.”
- “14 Jobs for English Majors that Pay at Least $60,000” Forbes, October 2016. “It turns out that even the digital economy needs people who are good with words.”
- “To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf” New York Times, May 2016. “To say that more good developers will be produced by swapping the arts for engineering is like saying that to produce great writers, we should double down on sentence diagramming.”
- 'Carlyle Co-Founder's Formula for Success: Study the Humanities' New York Times, January 2014. “’Humanities teach problem-solving skills that enable students to stand out among their peers and to achieve success in the business world,’ Mr. Rubenstein said. ‘Career-specific skills can be learned later,’ he said, noting that many of Wall Street’s top executives studied the humanities.”