Overlooked Career Options for English Majors

It’s common to think that most people with an English degree write books, work for publishers, become professors or even enter the journalistic world. However, that isn’t the case at all. Those who have spent the time reading the classics, creating literary criticism, and even learning about sentence structure and how to craft a great story have a number of important skills that can translate to multiple industries. Here are a few overlooked career options for English majors.

SEO Experts

Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, plays a crucial role in keeping websites at the top of Google (and other) search results. This requires some language knowledge, like the kind that you received while obtaining your English degree, in order to make sure that the website’s content is well written and properly optimized for search engines.

Public Relations

There are many public relations opportunities out there. Some people with the right kind of writing and social skills work for larger PR companies that take on private clients, while others work for the individual companies themselves. Either way, there’s no shortage of jobs for those who want to work in PR.

Curriculum Development

Did you know that not every teacher creates their own curriculum? In some cases, they use curriculums created by private companies that set up plans based on books that they publish or provide. Some school districts also have curriculum developers on staff in order to lessen the burden on their teachers. You don’t always need a teaching degree to get into this field. Instead, you’ll need a degree that showcases your ability to read, write and think critically, like one in English.

Communications Officer

A communications officer works for the government, either local, county, state, or federal, writing up policies and procedures. They ensure that everything is easy to understand and gets disseminated properly. In order to handle this job, you need to be a good written communicator, as well as have the critical thinking skills to take what your supervisors and politicians develop and use that information to create easy to follow policies and more.

Social Media Manager

Social media is a field that continues to grow, with influencers making money off of their accounts and businesses using the various platforms in order to bring in new customers (as well as communicate with those influencers). What do you need to work as a social media manager? On top of writing skills, which are enhanced in an English degree program, you also need to be good with analytics and familiar with the various types of social media.

Advertising

Last but far from least, there’s advertising. While advertising companies hire graphic artists and designers in order to get the visuals right on their campaigns, they also need someone to write the copy that goes with them. This is where those with an English degree come into the picture. A strong knowledge of words and the ability to “play” with them a bit are assets in the advertising world, both of which a strong communicator can manage.

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