English degree careers

I am going to be taking an English degree in the upcoming academic year and I am unsure what careers that I can follow which are not directly English related. I was also wondering what kind of possible work experience I could be doing to reach the level I need to get a grad job post uni.

Reply 1

Liverpool Hope Academic

Official Rep

3

Original post by beapbloop23

I am going to be taking an English degree in the upcoming academic year and I am unsure what careers that I can follow which are not directly English related. I was also wondering what kind of possible work experience I could be doing to reach the level I need to get a grad job post uni.

Hi there!

I'm glad to hear you are due to start your English degree this coming year; I have just finished my own English Literature degree!

There are a variety of career prospects that follow an English degree. These include:

•

Marketing

•

Copywriting

•

Teacher (this is the obvious one!)

•

Teaching English as a foreign language

•

Librarian

•

Many more!

If your university has a careers team, then they could help you in doing a placement year during your studies (if your course offers this) and this can help you obtain relevant experience. This all depends on what career you would like to go into, so this is a good time to get thinking!

I hope this helps :smile:

Estelle
Graduate Advocate

Reply 2

beapbloop23

OP

2

Original post by Liverpool Hope Academic

Hi there!

I'm glad to hear you are due to start your English degree this coming year; I have just finished my own English Literature degree!

There are a variety of career prospects that follow an English degree. These include:

•

Marketing

•

Copywriting

•

Teacher (this is the obvious one!)

•

Teaching English as a foreign language

•

Librarian

•

Many more!

If your university has a careers team, then they could help you in doing a placement year during your studies (if your course offers this) and this can help you obtain relevant experience. This all depends on what career you would like to go into, so this is a good time to get thinking!

I hope this helps :smile:

Estelle
Graduate Advocate

thank you so much, this was actually really helpful!

Original post by beapbloop23

I am going to be taking an English degree in the upcoming academic year and I am unsure what careers that I can follow which are not directly English related. I was also wondering what kind of possible work experience I could be doing to reach the level I need to get a grad job post uni.

Hello!

It's so exciting you're pursuing an English degree! I'm currently doing a master's in Creative Writing which falls under the English department.

I think this degree will open all kinds of opportunities to you in all sorts of fields related or unrelated to English.
You could potentially work in the arts, museums and heritage, teaching, marketing, journalism, copyediting, and media and public relations. And I would say definitely see if there are placements offered by your Careers team so that you can gain first hand knowledge about these things.

Good luck with the degree and enjoy it!
Milena 🙂

Reply 4

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

14

Original post by beapbloop23

I am going to be taking an English degree in the upcoming academic year and I am unsure what careers that I can follow which are not directly English related. I was also wondering what kind of possible work experience I could be doing to reach the level I need to get a grad job post uni.

Hi!

I am currently in my 3rd year studying English Language and Linguistics, and I have secured a place next year as a Secondary English Teacher. I know this is the stereotype for people studying English at degree level, however there is a HUGE variety of career opportunities that are available to graduates of an English/English related degree:

•

Editorial Assistant

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Interpreter

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Paralegal

•

Technical Writer

•

Publisher

•

Public Relations Manager

•

Archivist

•

Marketing assistant/manager

•

Accent Coach

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Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language

•

Lexicographer

•

Speech and Language Therapist (if you have a particular interest in language acquisition, phonetics, phonology...the list goes on!)

I have tried to include some examples that aren't necessarily 'obvious', so I hope that this helps! An interesting and unique example of a graduate career (angled more towards language/linguistics) that I have heard of in the past involved creating new languages for film/TV! For example, the creation of Valyrian in the TV show Game of Thrones.

The transferable skills you obtain from completing an English degree will open doors to many career pathways, and if you get into contact with the careers team at the University you choose they will be able to support and guide you in the right direction. The main piece of advice I can give is to try things out; you may not know what it is that you enjoy doing until you try it out!

I hope you find this useful! What specific area of English are you most interested in?

Ellie (3rd year English Language and Linguistics student) :smile:

English degree careers

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