Hello! I'm in a bit of a squeeze and would like your advice- please don't stress over it though! See, I'm about to be a senior in HS, and I don't know what I want to major in. I love English, and I love reading, but unfortunately I'm not a good author. I'd love to major in English but I just don't what kind of job I would get, besides a teacher, which is out of the question. I don't particularly enjoy or want to do anything else. What's your advice as an English major? Thanks so much!
I have absolutely no idea how long this has been sitting in my inbox but now that I have access to internet again, I’m basically jumping from excitement to answer this! Like, this question is the best one to get asked??? It’s my favorite question so far, literally. Don’t worry though darling, I am here to answer your question to the best of my ability. Just remember that this is my opinion and I’m certain other people will have different things to say. I’m just one tiny fish in a big sea after all!
First off, you can (basically, and sometimes with the addition of another major I believe) be anything you want to be. There are no limits to what field you have access to as an English Major. While writing, publishing, and teaching are the most prominently thought of jobs for an English Major, you could also find a job in: legal work, government, other education roles, entertainment, media, and so much more. Sky’s the limit with an English Major, all you need it the drive to pursue the career you want.
From experience, even as an English Major who has a concentration in Literature and Writing and an unpublished author there were only two jobs out in the world I wanted to pursue thanks to my degree: literacy agent and anthropologist. Looking at them, they’re very different career choices, right? As a literacy agent I would work to find manuscripts to publish and help them get into the hands of the right publisher and hope for the best for that author. An anthropologist studies human societies and cultures from around the world and across time.
Despite their differences, as an author who writes fantasy, becoming an anthropologist would be an amazing career choice for me. It could help me develop so many cultures and religions for my stories, and for a fantasy author who wants to have characters defined both by their religion and their culture (not only by the one they follow, but the one they were influenced by growing up if it changed) this is a seemingly perfect choice for me. I’m also just a huge nerd and I love cultures from around the world because they’re so different and knowing them lets you understand people from those cultures. So you know, there’s that too xDSince I love to read, and I love finding hidden gems in the book world, that’s why I wanted to be a literacy agent. It would be my job to find hidden gems and bring them to the light. How amazing does that sound? I could be responsible for finding a bestseller in upcoming YA books, plus read some awesome YA books as well that I could tell people about, make them excited for. I absolutely love recommending books out that I adore (serious everyone who wants an awesome retelling mashup and does read adult please go read The Collectors’ Society series by Heather Lyons because it it fabulous and I love it so much. Also, for paranormal readers, the Amber Lee Mystery books by the amazingly friendly Katerina Martinez are great picks too. Just sayin’).So, those are my career picks as an English Major, and I’m definitely sure those of my followers who are also English Majors can recommend some other ideas. For now though, this is a great place to start to make you think about what you eventually might want to be.Good luck darling, I hope you enjoy your time as an English Major and find the career path that’s perfect for you! <3
