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Study English or Politics?

Hey

I thought a lot about this and it really stressed me out. Maybe someone can give me some advice. :smile:

I love writing and English and I´d like to study this subject because of my passion for it. However, as a non-native speaker I´m really worried about job prospects and whether I will be good since I will compete with native speakers.

I´m interested in politics, I liked it in school, but I don´t want to pursue a career in it (NGOs, government etc.). However, I think I will have better job prospects (I want to go into PR and work internationally. I´d like to have a job which allows me to travel to different countries) and the global aspect about it would open more doors for me as a non-native speaker. Maybe I could find a job in the UK. Living there has always been my dream, but I doubt I will find a job there with an English Lit degree.

I´m really torn between these paths. I´m gratefol for having the opportunity to choose, and it´s my decision, but maybe some advice will help me. :smile:

Reply 1

Rabbit2

Original post by ninjacaty

Hey

I thought a lot about this and it really stressed me out. Maybe someone can give me some advice. :smile:

IMHO, neither of those career 'paths' offer much in the way of prospects at earning a living. I hold a master's degree in electrical engineering. Over the course of my career, i have lived in 14 countries, nearly all the US states, and much of Canada. Writers are 'a dime a dozen'. So are politicians. Most of the money that is to be made is in engineering, medicine, law, computer science. British people obsess over: "oh i wouldn't like that, oh i couldn't do that....." When they make these statements, they are 14 to 19 years old, have probably never left the Uk (or perhaps their own county), and have done no research on any of the 'things' that they insist they 'wouldn't like'. There are so many thousands of different jobs in things like computer science or engineering, that one lifetime is not nearly enough to investigate even most of them. Every teen ager in town is starting a 'garage band' - expecting to become one of the 'next Beatles'. Or, in your case, becoming the next Shakespeare. If you are interested in PR, fine - but i have known some people working that field, and their story was that it didn't pay very well, the hours were long, and nearly all of the customers were tw*ts.

My criteria for career selection is not to consider only things you would "like". At the point you are at now, you don't have enough experience to come up with a reasonable number of career selections. Consider: a> how much money you can make at that career, at your age - i can assure you that you'll need a LOT more than you think, b> what sort of job security would you have, c> will the career outlive you - i.e. will you be able to get a job doing whatever it is as long as you want one, or will it be over when you're 30?

Consider what experience you DO have, and what area of 'high paying' careers you are capable of doing. Consult professional societies [IEEE for engineers, AMA for physicians, etc] to find some professionals who are already engaged in that career, and who would be willing to talk to you about what it is like to have a career such as theirs.

BTW: i think your english skills are quite good [i ignore occasional typing errors - as i make them too. Best of luck!!!