After graduating from college English majors go into a variety of interesting and satisfying careers. This spring the English department piloted a one-credit online course, Careers for English Majors, designed to help them navigate this transition. Developed by Senior Lecturer Daniel Wallace, this fully-online course includes the basics: putting together resumes, writing cover letters, interviewing successfully, and creating a LinkedIn profile page. But it also addresses how one translates an English degree into a range of employment opportunities.
“The skills that English teaches—understanding other people, expressing your own ideas, assimilating research, and producing writing in a timely fashion—are in demand everywhere,” Wallace said.
Drawing on his own experience developing a successful email newsletter and hosting online events, he talks about how students can build their reputations by reaching out to other people and sharing relevant ideas with an audience.
The life he wants them to envision for themselves is one where they find, create, and move between exciting careers and their own projects as employment opportunities change and emerge.
“Because there are so many new tools and platforms that handle the tech side of things for you, it’s a fascinating time to be a good writer—someone who is able to express themselves well in a personal way that makes people feel comfortable and willing to keep reading.”
