A few actual answers for any panicking liberal arts majors out there:
Paralegal (8wk cert helpful but usually not required). Industry is desperate for employees. In my experience, you’ll often make as much as the junior attorneys. Excellent job security as long as your firm exists. And if it folds, there are more firms desperate to hire.
Public Relations, Communications, and Marketing. No you do not need a specific degree in those areas to apply for jobs in them. Most of the communications people at my current place were English majors (many graduating in the last five years)
Yes, you can teach English with just an English BA, at least in the US. Most K-12 private schools do not require a teaching certificate and you can start immediately. And if you want to teach public K-12, most states have a fast-track 8wk (one summer) teaching certificate program
Grant writer. Look for universities and nonprofits. Not a traditional job route but one you CAN do - volunteer to write grants for nonprofits in your area to build your portfolio, then apply to jobs with your experience supporting you. Your English degree is incredibly good training for this field.
Copy editing and publishing. Jobs are limited but if it’s your passion, you can find something. Work at it and self-advocate.
Executive Assistants with a heavy writing responsibilities often get paid relatively well and can have fascinating jobs.
Creative writing. Take a year and write your sci-fi novel, or scripts for YouTube videos, or whatever else you’re called to write. The world will be waiting on the other side.
Also: get creative in looking for positions!! English is an incredibly powerful degree in that it’s trained you how to quickly and analytically process a large amount of information and communicate it back with critical analysis. The only reason it gets trashed is that the career paths from are rarely traditional or straightforward: it’s not an engineering degree that pipelines into one of three industries (that you’ll probably be fired from within five years), it’s a degree that you use to find your own way in the world.
My English major friends went on to become (with zero additional schooling): a hospital administrator making six figures, a translator living in Belgium, a report writer for McKinsey & Co, a state representative and political organizer, a nonprofit vice president, a bank manager, and a script supervisor for Hollywood.
Or, at the end of the day, maybe you just want to be a very well-read person doing a job that might only require a GED or AA/AS. That is perfectly fine too. Education for the sake of education and not to better commodify yourself in the economy is a wonderful way to spend your brief time spinning around the globe and I’m very proud of you for doing that.
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