Is an English Major Right for You?

An infamous question that English majors seem to always encounter when they reveal what they're studying in college is, "What are you going to do with that - teach?" I thought I had it all planned out - I imagined myself at this point as a successful editor for a publishing company. After temping at a test publishing company, I'm back to square one; I simply don't have the experience required to make myself a valuable asset in the job market. I was starting to see the truth in that question: these days I don't see very many English majors using their degree unless they are teaching.

I know I could have approached my college education much more differently. First of all, I mainly pursued an English degree because English is my best subject. During my college years, though, I did work in a field not related to my English major, as a bank teller. I enjoyed it, and I knew it was something that I could be comfortable doing in the longer term. Unfortunately, I felt I had invested too much in my English degree by that point to switch to a finance major. Also, I was simply too unmotivated to take the math courses required for a finance major. I wanted to keep things simple and take the most basic classes in core areas, while only challenging myself in my own major.

Don't get me wrong - an English degree is worthwhile if you know what you're going to do with it. If you want to teach, or pursue a graduate or even a doctorate degree, then don't be discouraged.

However, if you're only pursuing an English degree because it's your strongest subject, it would probably benefit you more to have it as a minor, while you pursue a more lucrative field as your major. If you work while in school, use your experience to the fullest - you never know what might pique your interests. You could very well find your niche in a job that you hold during college.

What I should have done, in retrospect, is pursue a more sensible major and have English as my minor. After all, the strong writing skills that you cultivate as an English student will definitely give you an extra edge over the competition in the jobs for which you apply after college graduation.