Alternative Jobs for New Writers

Every May, the workforce's ranks swell with a fresh batch of newly minted, hyper-talented, and frighteningly enthusiastic writers. While these graduates rightly claim to be gifted poets, essayists, and novelists, those not immediately blessed with MFA assistantships will likely find themselves clamoring for any run-of-the-mill entry-level editorial or reporting job. Publishing houses, advertising firms, and media outlets of all kinds (newspapers, magazines, popular web sites, etc.) receive dozens, sometimes hundreds of resumes for every position they post. This drives down salaries for today's aspiring professional writers and creates an atmosphere where new writers know that, come next commencement, another crop of equally hungry, equally talented wordsmiths will appear more than ready to work long hours for little pay. In other words, the modern job market for new writers is hardly lucrative, rarely rewarding.

However, there are many creative, interesting, and well-paid jobs that new writers usually overlook. As writers are so often reminded in their undergraduate days, a good liberal arts education is adaptable to any kind of intellectually challenging writing work. A cursory glance at the classifieds beyond the reporter and editor searchers reveals several, largely untouched markets for writers to explore.