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Where can an English degree from a Top University get me career wise?

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Original post by TheRandomer
Haha I totally hate people who just say things without knowing what they're on about. I'm sure there's plenty of fantastic opportunities if you do an English degree. Anyone who says otherwise isn't doing that degree and therefore knows bugger all really.
I once heard someone say 'oh you can't do much with Physics apart from teach it really, or become a lecturer, isn't that right?' hahah.

Lol what did you reply with?
Reply 21
Original post by Trailblazer
The last intake of pupils also was 50% non law. I did work experience at a high street firm and a lot of the solicitors I met were non-law. I'd rather safely continue to study a subject I love for another three years, at a top university, and go for a career in law afterwards -which if I get a first I'll definitely do.

Legal employers love strong academic degrees such as History, Philosophy, English, Economics ect. They involve the same skills as a law degree - evaluation, analysis, product solving, writing prose


Thankyou for expressing what I meant to express!
Law?
Reply 23
Original post by lilmissyox
after deciding i will not get into medicine, i've decided to settle for an english degree however im still confused as to what career i could get into if i were to get an English degree from a top university i.e. UCL, KCL, St Andrews, Durham etc. i know journalism is the obvious one but what other careers besides that could i get into?


What is your academic record and what subjects are you taking at AS Level? I feel a decision to stop following a career-path always requires a wide-range of opinions. If your final decision is to stop pursuing a career in medicine, An Engish degree would allow many career paths, even if not in 'English'; for example, doing a law conversion course as many others have stated.
Original post by Pandabär
I disagree. Back in the days when I planned on going into law (oh how things change :tongue:) , I studied German and Arabic at a top- 5 university. This included a year abroad, during which time I worked for a German law firm.

Throughout my degree I did mini-pupillages and two vacation schemes at excellent commercial city firms, all of whom complimeted me on my degree choice.

The law graduate (of which there are a LOT nowadays) knows the theory of law, but my German and Arabic degree set me apart from them because it was more practical. I'd not only proven that I could function long-term in a law firm (as shown by my year abroad), but I also spoke two languages, which were highly sought-after by international firms.

Yes, a law student may do a bit of language in their spare time, but I'd bet they wouldn't be at the standard that they could go to a large foreign law firm and start work as a paralegal.

So, yeah, there's no way I'd advocate doing a law degree if your heart lies in another subject. Provided that subject is respectable, study it and convert. Just my two cents.


I think the fact that you're doing a language degree does support the claim, that doing another degree can be particularly helpful and I understand that. I just struggle to see how doing an English degree can be anymore beneficial than a Law degree, UNLESS you're not interested in the study of law. you. Doing a languages degree will equip you with skills, that a straight Law graduate will lack, I'm not sure English provides any skills which Law doesn't.


Original post by Trailblazer
The last intake of pupils also was 50% non law. I did work experience at a high street firm and a lot of the solicitors I met were non-law. I'd rather safely continue to study a subject I love for another three years, at a top university, and go for a career in law afterwards -which if I get a first I'll definitely do.

Legal employers love strong academic degrees such as History, Philosophy, English, Economics ect. They involve the same skills as a law degree - evaluation, analysis, product solving, writing prose


Any half decent degree requires evaluation, analysis and writing prose to a reasonable standard, so that seems like a weak reason, as to why English requires the same skills as a Law degree. A Law or Economics degree almost certainly requires more problem solving and lateral thinking than English and History. I do understand where you're coming from, but the skills people claim you gain from a English degree are just generic transferable skills, which are pretty much present in any semi-respectable degree at a top university.I just disagree that doing an English degree is 'smarter' considering that an English degree isn't any more versatile than a Law degree.
Original post by Tsunami2011
I think the fact that you're doing a language degree does support the claim, that doing another degree can be particularly helpful and I understand that. I just struggle to see how doing an English degree can be anymore beneficial than a Law degree, UNLESS you're not interested in the study of law. you. Doing a languages degree will equip you with skills, that a straight Law graduate will lack, I'm not sure English provides any skills which Law doesn't.




Any half decent degree requires evaluation, analysis and writing prose to a reasonable standard, so that seems like a weak reason, as to why English requires the same skills as a Law degree. A Law or Economics degree almost certainly requires more problem solving and lateral thinking than English and History. I do understand where you're coming from, but the skills people claim you gain from a English degree are just generic transferable skills, which are pretty much present in any semi-respectable degree at a top university.I just disagree that doing an English degree is 'smarter' considering that an English degree isn't any more versatile than a Law degree.


There are all sorts of reasons people choose to study their degree subject, not everything revolves around how beneficial it will be for their future careers. Many lawyers have little interest in law academically, but enjoy their jobs; a law conversion course is perfect for those sorts of people.

Typically, English graduates are highly articulate and can present their arguments in a very succinct, structured manner. They also know how language works to manipulate opinions and situations in all sorts of contexts at a very advanced level, while also being able to do such manipulations themselves. Yes, a Law graduate would also be articulate, but there simply is not enough time in a law degree to hone the sorts of skills I mentioned above during a Law degree compared to an English degree. An English degree is all about the manipulation of language. An awareness of this and an ability to manipulate language themselves which would be a highly useful skill for lawyers.

Consequently, English graduates generally have a greater openness for the possibilities of other opinions and interpretations and can detect nuances in an argument to a higher degree. Yes, Law degree students would be aware of this as well, but an English degree promotes this skill to a higher level because there is the time to do this.

Therefore, if somebody wants to do an English degree then convert to law they would have the advantage of having the extra skills gained from their English degree plus the skills they learnt from the law conversion course.
Reply 26
English teacher
Reply 27
Original post by lilmissyox
after deciding i will not get into medicine, i've decided to settle for an english degree however im still confused as to what career i could get into if i were to get an English degree from a top university i.e. UCL, KCL, St Andrews, Durham etc. i know journalism is the obvious one but what other careers besides that could i get into?


I'm sorry, I can't believe nobody has picked up on how much of a fail this is.

You'll "settle" for an *English* degree (it might help if you pick up on little details like that if you plan on studying *English*)?

Firstly, I find it genuinely sad that people don't seem to choose to do a degree for the love of the subject.

I don't know you therefore I could be mistaken, but it looks to me like you completely skipped the question 'Is university right for me?', instead proceeded with the hideous presumption that a life without a degree = automatic fail, then went "Herp derp can I do medicine or law coz all I want is da monies?", realised your grades aren't good enough for that and so have decided to "settle" for English (it was probably between English and History, right?) and now you're desperate to see which is the most lucrative career that you could feasibly get into with an English degree. Hell, why not just come straight out and ask "Can I gets a job in da investment bankingz?"

Try thinking about what you might actually LIKE to do as a future career and start from there. And know that spending 3+ years studying towards a degree that you're not actually interested in greatly detracts from the overall experience.
Original post by yabbayabba

Typically, English graduates are highly articulate and can present their arguments in a very succinct, structured manner. They also know how language works to manipulate opinions and situations in all sorts of contexts at a very advanced level, while also being able to do such manipulations themselves. Yes, a Law graduate would also be articulate, but there simply is not enough time in a law degree to hone the sorts of skills I mentioned above during a Law degree compared to an English degree. An English degree is all about the manipulation of language. An awareness of this and an ability to manipulate language themselves which would be a highly useful skill for lawyers.


Lawyers are notorious for manipulating the law and the language used to make it suit their agenda. You would assume that from reading massess of cases, law students would develop this skill pretty rapidly. These are all wishy-washy skills in my personal opinion. Writing in a very succint and structured manner' will be present in the writing of any strong law student, an English is not more likely to be able to write in a succinct and structured manner than a Law student. Skills such as problem solving are widely needed in Law, whilst from my limited knowledge of English, It doesn't seem to be the same there.

Consequently, English graduates generally have a greater openness for the possibilities of other opinions and interpretations and can detect nuances in an argument to a higher degree. Yes, Law degree students would be aware of this as well, but an English degree promotes this skill to a higher level because there is the time to do this.


I would agree with this.

Therefore, if somebody wants to do an English degree then convert to law they would have the advantage of having the extra skills gained from their English degree plus the skills they learnt from the law conversion course.


A GDL is basically a crash course in Law, so I doubt it'd equip you with the same skills, that a LLB student had. But the whole point is that it doesn't matter, since, the study of Law is largely irrelevant to the practise of law bar the compulsory modules, especially in commercial law, is why a law degree isn't essential.
Original post by Tsunami2011
You would assume that from reading massess of cases, law students would develop this skill pretty rapidly.


But law students would only be able to do this [manipulate language] in a law context and generally it is unlikely they would be able to do it as well as an English graduate. The ability to manipulate language in other contexts is what English can provide, this would allow a lawyer to be able to think more laterally compared to a straight law graduate. Therefore, English plus the law conversion can be slightly advantageous.

These are all wishy-washy skills in my personal opinion. Writing in a very succint and structured manner' will be present in the writing of any strong law student, an English is not more likely to be able to write in a succinct and structured manner than a Law student. Skills such as problem solving are widely needed in Law, whilst from my limited knowledge of English, It doesn't seem to be the same there.


Writing in a structured manner may be a wishy-washy skill to you, but they're still very important skills to possess. And yes, I agree a strong Law student would write in just as succinct and structured a way as a strong English student; I concede that. And yes you are right, an English degree does not promote problem solving skills, not exactly sure what those skills specifically are. But that doesn't detract from the value of English + law, seeing as a graduate can just pick up whatever problem solving skills you learn during a law degree during the conversion course.

Basically, English + law gives an advantage to a graduate because 1) they get to study a subject they enjoy for their main degree, giving greater personal satisfaction. This is a valid reason to do a degree. 2) Due to the additional skills an English degree provides, an English graduate with a law conversion possesses both the skills of an English and Law graduate. This would be advantageous, no?

By the way, I'm not knocking the value of a straight law degree, that obviously has the advantages of providing knowledge in a wider range of law topics. I'm just saying English + law also has its advantages too.
Reply 30
Original post by Kenocide
I'm sorry, I can't believe nobody has picked up on how much of a fail this is.

You'll "settle" for an *English* degree (it might help if you pick up on little details like that if you plan on studying *English*)?

Firstly, I find it genuinely sad that people don't seem to choose to do a degree for the love of the subject.

I don't know you therefore I could be mistaken, but it looks to me like you completely skipped the question 'Is university right for me?', instead proceeded with the hideous presumption that a life without a degree = automatic fail, then went "Herp derp can I do medicine or law coz all I want is da monies?", realised your grades aren't good enough for that and so have decided to "settle" for English (it was probably between English and History, right?) and now you're desperate to see which is the most lucrative career that you could feasibly get into with an English degree. Hell, why not just come straight out and ask "Can I gets a job in da investment bankingz?"

Try thinking about what you might actually LIKE to do as a future career and start from there. And know that spending 3+ years studying towards a degree that you're not actually interested in greatly detracts from the overall experience.


Other than a possible dubious use of 'settle' this thread appears to be a genuine question from someone who has had to change their career ideas and wants to know what options English could provide. Where's the 'fail' in that?

P.s. correct use of capital letters in a forum does not affect your chances of doing well in an English degree.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 31
Original post by hr30
Other than a possible dubious use of 'settle' this thread appears to be a genuine question from someone who has had to change their career ideas and wants to know what options English could provide. Where's the 'fail' in that?

P.s. correct use of capital letters in a forum does not affect your chances of doing well in an English degree.


I would argue that I've already proactively answered your question by quite clearly detailing why I think this is a poor show from the OP in my initial post. But for the sake of clarity, I will reiterate.

Firstly there is nothing dubious about the use of the word 'settle' insofar as the meaning of the word - 'settle' is exactly what was meant and that is fail part 1: don't bother doing a degree if your attitude towards it is so contemptuous before you've even started. You will not enjoy it.

Secondly the 'changing of career ideas' you refer to is basically this process: 'Aw crap, I don't have good enough grades to study medicine/law which are the degrees I and/or my parents ambiguously regard as 'the best' - what is the next 'best'?' Fail part 2, if not already obvious: This is the wrong way to go about choosing a degree and, in the case of medicine, future career. OP either doesn't want to do medicine enough or wanted to do it for the wrong reasons (as outlined above) because otherwise the realisation that they don't realistically have a chance would be soul-crushing and they would be looking for alternative routes into the industry, such as nursing, midwifery, or ANYTHING sciencey. But no, they'll move on to "settle" for English instead because that's 'next best'.

Thirdly OP asks where an English degree can take them and what career options are open. On the surface there is nothing wrong with that, get as much info on potential career options as you possibly can. But the multifaceted fail part 3 is this:
- Common sense tells you there are going to be very few professions that specifically require an English degree, English teacher being the blatantly obvious exception. Any others will be extremely niche areas.
- 10 minutes spent researching graduate schemes will show you that most graduate jobs in areas that aren't extremely technical will accept virtually any degree provided it's a 2:1, so all those options are potentially open (admittedly this is more the fail of the respondents in this thread rather than the OP).
- You can't expect help from others without first trying to help yourself. OP should first try and really think about what interests them, what careers they would actually like to do. That way you find 1/2 careers which appeal to you and your question becomes much more refined and easier to answer: 'Can an English degree get me into a career in _________?'

Oh and you are absolutely right that (in/)correct use of capital letters on an internet forum is in no way indicative of performance on an English degree. However, one could be forgiven for thinking that someone who is choosing of their own free will to spend at least 3 years studying the English language would want to avoid using it in a way that would be regarded as improper by a primary school pupil. Furthermore, it is widely known that 99.99999% of top employers will immediately disregard any job application which contains any grammatical errors and that competition for jobs is more fierce than ever. With those 2 facts in mind, using capital letters correctly might be a good habit to get into.
Prospects.ac.uk is a great source for careers options etc. I think the great thing about an English degree is that you don't limit yourself overly to a few select careers (re: medicine) but that gaining such a broadly applicable degree from a top university can actually increase rather than narrow down your options. Check out that link it has some really good ideas for careers if you're worried - & good luck! :biggrin:
Reply 33
Original post by hr30
This is a common misconception, and one that I find extremely irritating.
I ask, why do a tedious law degree for 3 years when you could do a far more interesting English degree then convert it to law in 4?

Also: I spoke to an English tutor at Warwick who has students in everything from the typical careers: journalism, theatre, media, teaching, writing to more obscure ones such as the armed forces, lawyers, people running their own businesses etc etc.

English is great if you're not sure exactly what career you want. It gives you the opportunity to explore your interests and to develop skills without having to pigeon hole yourself to one career option. Take a journalism degree, looks like you'll be doing journalism. Take an English degree, you have options.


Hey this is great, I originally wanted to do law first, but didnt get in because they required minimum grades the I didnt have since I applied a year early..but I got into english lit...qand its fine because I love literature and reading/writing anyway..but still want to further my law ambitions as well as journalism...can an english converted to law degree in fourth year count as an actual law degree as in LLB? :-)
Reply 34
I don't understand how English graduates can enter the health services or something like speech and language therapy? I'm not criticising, I study English myself, but there are some careers that are mentioned as prospective careers that I don't quite understand as being achievable.
Original post by mel0n
I don't understand how English graduates can enter the health services or something like speech and language therapy? I'm not criticising, I study English myself, but there are some careers that are mentioned as prospective careers that I don't quite understand as being achievable.


They're probably talking about the admin/mangerial side of things, lets not forget the NHS is one of the largest bureaucracies in the world, so its not just doctors and nurses who will be needed.
Reply 36
Loads of stuff. Don't be discouraged by people who put the degree down. Remember that 70%of jobs have no specific degree requirement. Also, you've got a free reign once it comes to Masters really (not exactly, but near enough).

Just focus on getting good work experience and a 1:1, and you should be fine.
Reply 37
Original post by x.Hana.x
Hey this is great, I originally wanted to do law first, but didnt get in because they required minimum grades the I didnt have since I applied a year early..but I got into english lit...qand its fine because I love literature and reading/writing anyway..but still want to further my law ambitions as well as journalism...can an english converted to law degree in fourth year count as an actual law degree as in LLB? :-)


You can study for a GDL, which will have you on par with those that have studied Law degrees. Even in top firms, the split between non-Law and Law degrees is near enough 50/50 so you're unlikely to be discriminated against providing you've a good degree from a good university.

Also, crucially, if you can get funding and a traineeship before you study, many firms will pay for all or most of your costs and you'll have a good job to go into afterwards. Sounds ideal, which is why it's immensely competitive.
Original post by mel0n
I don't understand how English graduates can enter the health services or something like speech and language therapy? I'm not criticising, I study English myself, but there are some careers that are mentioned as prospective careers that I don't quite understand as being achievable.


Looking at Speech and Language Therapy specifically, although you can do a 3/4 year undergraduate course which will give you the professional qualification to practice as an SLT, there is also the option to do a 2 year accelerated Masters course. So unlike a lot of Masters courses, it's not the undergraduate SLTs who apply (because it would be like doing the same course again, just more intense) therefore people with an undergraduate in a "related" field apply. I think English, along with subjects like linguistics and MFL are probably the most common first degree subjects because of the transferrable skills you gain. I considered doing English, but because I knew I wanted to be a speech and language therapist- it would've just been the "long way round" for me!
It can get you anything if you have the determination.

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