What You CAN Do with a B.A. in English

May 12, 2008 Posted in Reality

What can you do with a B.A. in English? What is my life going to be?

By K

Four years of college, and plenty of knowledge

Have earned me this useless degree

I can’t pay the bills yet, ’cause I have no skills yet

The world is a big scary place,

But somehow I can’t shake the feeling I might make

A difference to the human race…

–Princeton, Avenue Q

Like so many wide-eyed college students, I decided that the ‘practical’ degree was not for me. I had no intentions of going to med school, which is to the benefit of the general public, and I certainly wasn’t about to take any more math than absolutely necessary. No engineering for me, Mom and Dad, even if you do get set up with interviews through the university. I was majoring in English.

I often lament this rebellion when I look at my checking account. Unfortunately, my other rebellious idea was to move to New York, so being young and broke has taken on an entirely new meaning altogether.

As jaded as the most expensive place in the country has made me of late, I like to pause and reflect on what I can do when I feel like my degree is nothing more than a large receipt with a FINAL SALE stamp on it.

1) Write a book. Everyone with a lit degree is urged by their non-bookish friends to write the next great American novel. This is one of few opportunities to boost your ego by using your liberal arts diploma as a foundation, so please, take advantage and modestly say, “Oh, I’m okay” when you’re introduced as a writer at parties. (Said writing does not guarantee getting published, but hey. It’s a start.)

2) Live the life of a human thesaurus. I probably get four emails/phone calls a week asking for a better word than what a friend of mine is using. See? Maybe you know nothing about actuarial math, but at least you can articulate your ignorance beautifully.

3) Join the Grammar Police force, which justifies your anger when you see typos in an email. Or my personal favorite, the emails where you are addressed by your first name, misspelled, when your email address is actually just your name at an address. Are people really not able to read it??

4) Roll your eyes after a movie and sigh, explaining to whoever accompanied you that “the book was so much better.”

5) Bust out your stellar vocabulary in conversation and remind everyone that while you may not make the big bucks, you’re a walking wealth of knowledge.

6) Become a starving artist… by working in media. You have to pay your dues with a salary that’s almost laughable to start, but eventually, in 3-5 years, you may be able to support yourself. Part of the starving artist mentality is taking a second job, like, say, freelancing. Take a breath and remember you’ll survive, at least your work sounds interesting.

7) Get thee to a graduate program. No one wants to crush your hopes and dreams in undergrad, but you’ll realize a year or so after you graduate that passion can’t always pay the bills. You can join all the frat boys you graduated with in taking the LSATs, try and re-learn basic math for the GRE, or throw yourself completely out of your element and go for the GMAT so you can go pursue an MBA and go on to wearing a suit for your 9-to-5.

Any other ideas? Please share with us!

885724 CommentsWhat+You+CAN+Do+with+a+B.A.+in+English2008-05-12+13%3A30%3A50K+-+NYU on "What You CAN Do with a B.A. in English"

Janers says:
Mon, 12th May 20087:10 am

This is B.S.

A Major in English is great if you want to write for a magazine/website, be a book writer, be an editor, playwriter, writing reports for many businesses, teach english, etc…

I think it is very "practical," and to say otherwise is rather insulting.

leebee says:
Mon, 12th May 20087:13 am

Work for a publication company or work for a company who needs help writing manuals…

valid jobs and they pay.

K-NYU says:
Mon, 12th May 20087:25 am

Hi, just drawing attention back to my point in creating the list, of things you CAN do. I think it's fair to say that no matter what your first job is after college, you're going to have doubts and wonder if you went for something useless, because there's no real way to know what you want to be when you 'grow up' until you've, you know, grown up. So this list, it's a bit of self-depricating humor, and just a warning that you're not going to be making bank when you start out in your first job. So offense was not intentional, it's an opinion piece. That's all.

J - NYU says:
Mon, 12th May 20087:28 am

An English major IS great.

But "writing for a magazine/website, be[ing] a book writer, be[ing] an editor, playwriter [sic], writing reports for many businesses, teach english…"

all of those things? Rewarding, but hardly money makers.

I should know. I do them all. And my apartment is kind of the size of a bathroom.

dan says:
Fri, 16th May 20081:33 pm

A friend of mine who has a masters degree in English has been working at Ace Hardware for 7 years now. I have a BA in Psych…I worked there for 5 years.

Both of us have searched for jobs with our degrees. We can't/won't do those jobs because they pay squat.(Ace pays pretty good..)

Just do what you can to make the living you are comfy with. Don't let degrees limit your job possibilities. Be OPEN to anything!

N-LA says:
Fri, 13th Jun 20089:18 am

This made me laugh! I graduated in 2007 with a B.A. in English literature and I felt the same way as you K-NYU! Some of my friends graduated with me in the same major and they also feel stuck. It seems like the only thing you can do is be a writer or a teacher. We were all going to be English teachers but then some of us decided that we didn't want to do that anymore. So…now we are stuck with a degree that we can't do much with. None of us want to be writers either. The pay is something to cringe at unless you have a ton of experience already (which we don't). Anyway, just wanted to say that I felt the same way (and I'm sure thousands of others do too). Thanks for posting this!

Jay says:
Thu, 24th Jul 20085:29 am

I really think that you may have chosen the wrong degree for yourself. Everyone that I know in English loves to write or teach and some are furthering there education in Library science. English degree is the study of the world and sometimes they are hired because they think more critical than others and are analytical. If you put that with your present skills someone will hire you.

Stuck in the Dirt says:
Tue, 5th Aug 200812:26 pm

Boy, do I feel ya! I live in a town where the "next big thing" is the Bed Bath & Beyond being built in the next city over. There's no real jobs that would give experience to an English major.

Conor says:
Thu, 15th Jan 20092:14 pm

"to whomever accompanied you"

but yah, i completely agree — i'm graduating in may with my english degree, and I truly have no job prospects.

but hey, at least we're the one's who enjoyed ourselves in college. i can honestly say i never once pulled an all nighter, i hardly ever studied, i partied my ass off, and i still pulled a 3.4.

Eva says:
Thu, 12th Feb 20095:43 pm

Great article.

I've now been pretty well unemployed for about two years. I had to go and get a trucking license. I've never been so depressed in my life.

My stupid cousin who can hardly read has a B.B.A. and she got a $60,000 a year job out of college.

I think I'll go kill myself now.

Mic says:
Tue, 24th Mar 20093:09 pm

I agree,

Mic says:
Tue, 24th Mar 20093:16 pm

I agree,

I am struggling with student teaching and am told to just take the B.A. in English. I am strapped for cash as is, so how can I support my family? I left the theatrical and staging world just because my hands hurt. Now I am contemplating just ending my placement if I don’t do well next week and taking up the degree. I said to my professor, “What can I do with a B.A. in English if I don’t teach?” Her response was, “I think the degree is something for itself!” I am frightened and scared that I cannot support my family. So, I should of went to ITT Tech, because now I am 26 turning 27 and feel like I have a useless degree. I don’t think I have the assets to achieve a degree in much. Maybe I’ll be a copywriter, but all I really want to do is write, such as poetry, short stories, novels, screenplays, and probably journalism. I might get into this video journalism that has taken wave, but I’ll starve my family doing it.

terry says:
Thu, 16th Apr 20092:59 pm

At one point I was so excited about my dual major (English & Psych)and I've already started looking for a masters program. Now I'm frightened. But the thought of working at my current job forever, which is like Ace Hardware with an expensive wardrobe, is much more so.

erin says:
Fri, 12th Jun 20095:21 pm

I have a BA in English and Allied Language Arts. I never could find a job that utilized my particular knowledge and now I'm trying to get an AAS just to further myself in the job that I do have in a steel manufacturing company. While it's not what I dreamed I'd be doing while in school I keep telling myself, "This is going to be a great story to write down in later in my life."

srvn says:
Sun, 2nd Aug 20091:48 am

hi friends,

i m indian and already doing job as a branch manager in a transport company in india.i am also doing BA in english major. after completion of BA i want to do law degree. i think ba english is not bad for me.

takharsharwan@yahoo.co.in

jo says:
Mon, 15th Feb 201010:09 am

I have an english degree, and worked two "normal" jobs, at a school district & retail for a year, and then I moved to los angeles and am currently just doing acting. Doing well too- don't need to get another job. See?? There's something you can do with it! ha, ha.

Angieofoz says:
Sun, 7th Mar 20109:38 am

Yes, I agree my English degree is a joke. I remember my mom explaining it would be a waste. It is $344 a month to replay my student loans. Now I am a stay at home mom with a very bright child. I am great at teaching. I am not sure I will ever actually use my degree. College is a load of …….

cherry says:
Wed, 5th May 20107:05 am

what can i do after B.A. I have one year Doeacc O level diploma and shortage of money.

jdjdjdjd says:
Mon, 13th Sep 20106:26 pm

BA in English Literature is not just a BA in English Literature on a resume. You are forgetting to say which school you received the BA in English Literature from…which can make a huge difference in networking after a job, as well as skills learned during the program. Different universities definitely have different academic standards and rigor. There is a reason you needed a specific SAT/GPA to get in there in the first place. Guess what? Employers know this, and they know when they hire somebody from a top tier school like Stanford, it is going to be a big difference from the hire from Podunk U.

Just something to think about… All these "unemployed" lit and communications majors I see in general went to crappy "just get my degree" schools. Of course the economy is in the tank right now, and this could happen to anybody. But it isn't generally about the degree, it is about the school…unless it is something extremely specific. You should definitely be able to get something professional with the degree besides working retail.

J says:
Wed, 15th Sep 20107:20 pm

I was hurt when my friend referred me to a YouTube music video lamenting the plight of BA-degree holders…but I have to believe there's hope.

I got my BA, English Spec. degree at University of Ottawa.

Jumped right into teaching ESL in Japan afterward, and it's alright pay but simple work.

I have friends that jumped into the magazine and editorial jobs, and some of the seem to be enjoying the challenge, as a small step into those fields.

Some went into Technical Writing. Although it is a job right out of the BA, and not necessarily the most exciting one, it's still a field in high-demand, which could open doors to writing about things you actually ARE interested in.

Freelance writing could pay off, as long as you know who your target audience is, who the buyers are, and you stick to it. It takes discipline to write, consistency is important if you want to put food on the table.

I think there's a whole world of companies that want/need documents read/edited, and that there's a database of this online somewhere. Can't remember where I heard this…

Pablo says:
Thu, 13th Jan 201110:22 pm

I have a BA in English (Linguistics and Communication, no literature for me, thanks), and yes, sometimes I think it's useless. My first language is Spanish, so at least I can go for translation/interpretation, teaching, writing, etc. But we don't actually have a specific "field" with this degree, and that's what drives me insane sometimes: too many options. I think I'll stick with teaching. It's sure good to know I'm not the only one going through this.

chitra says:
Tue, 10th May 20115:12 pm

its true. it is useless

Em says:
Wed, 1st Jun 201110:54 pm

I have an English BA and a couple of credential classes under my belt, but with the crisis on funding education I don’t want to spend the money nor effort to continue. I have been teaching at an educational center for 11 years and barely make $16.00 per hour. My experience and BA and have equal to nothing. I know kids without a college education making $75,000 per year. IT workers with proper connections making over $80,000. I should have gone to law school.

Evelyn says:
Thu, 27th Oct 20116:43 am

I had a BA in English form (UNIPORT) actually, their is nothing wrong with this degree. One can get a sexy job, If u konw ur stand. Thank

Tell us what you're thinking...

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.