What Careers are Available with a Master’s Degree in English?

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There is no set career path for today's English major, and for students who graduate with an English degree many different industries are appropriate for a future career. Many English majors head into the traditional area of teaching and will obtain an advanced degree in English so as to become a professor at an institution of higher learning. Others may attend school to obtain a teaching credential to become a teacher at the grammar school level.

Potential Careers for English Majors

One of the natural career paths for an English major is writing, and there are some interesting jobs available today that weren't around just a few decades ago. The internet has greatly expanded itself and the jobs associated with it. English majors can take advantage of the need for online writers in areas like search engine marketing, creative writing, blogging, and any other content creation.

Search engines like Google look favorably upon websites who provide interesting and readable content, and an English major may excel in this area. An English major may take existing content and rewrite it to make it appealing, or he may create new content for a completely new site.

Alternatively, there are offline options for English majors today like technical writing, which is a style of writing used for items like instruction manuals or other documents that require the writer to convey clear instructions and information. An English major may want to take classes in a subject area related to an industry that needs technical writers so as to gain the knowledge required. Every industry requires technical writers, from engineering to healthcare.

Great Paying Jobs for English Majors

Many students use an English degree as a source of preparation for further educational study. Many students will go on to law school after receiving a degree in English. One of the hallmarks of the legal profession is the research of case law and the clear presentation of those ideas through items like trial briefs, motions, and other communications to the court. An English major is well qualified to begin a career in law. Law school is a three-year program in which students enroll after having received a bachelor's degree.

Everyone knows that lawyers make a lot of money, but there are other positions, which may also offer a healthy salary and room for professional growth. An English major may want to consider employment as a proposal manager. There are certification programs that may assist with the training required to work with proposals and English majors will excel in this persuasive type of communication and writing. A proposal manager helps a business to land new work, get new contracts, and gain funding for future projects.

Although some journalists have tried to suggest that English majors are no longer a strong segment of the workforce, one of the best strengths of an English major is the ability to communicate clearly with others. English majors are infinitely suited to working as collaborators in just about any industry and may find work well beyond classic English positions like teaching or writing. However, becoming a teacher of English also will always be a worthy area in which to find employment.