Careers for English Majors

With a degree in English, you're equipped for success in a number of rewarding careers.

Some of our English majors earn licensure to teach in middle school and high school.

Others bring their liberal arts training and ability to write, interpret, and present information to such fields as management, sales, public relations, advertising, technical writing, publishing, media and communication, and government service.

Are you thinking of graduate school? English is a recommended major for those planning to attend professional graduate schools in Business (MBA), English (PhD, college teaching), Journalism, Law, Library Science, Medicine, and Theology.

What can I do with an English degree?

Here are some of our successful graduates:

Rachel Rayner ('16), Event Coordinator, Weller Book Works, Salt Lake City, UT
Joshua Dreiling ('11), Production Editor, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, Kansas City, MO
Michelle Webb ('11, '12), Editor and Writer at National Literacy Coalition
Justin Brown ('09, '11), Teacher in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Kindra Degenhardt ('10), Director of Human Resources, LK Architecture, Wichita, KS
Katie Edwards ('09), Executive irector, Nonprofit Centers Network, Denver, CO
Megan Tucker Carafano ('08), Library Associate, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C.
Krystal Baugher ('06), Freelance Writer based in Denver, CO
Kayci Strickland Scott ('05, '08), USD 428 and Teacher of the Year, Great Bend, KS
Kim Bieker ('04), Attorney, Coffman & Campbell, LLC, Lyndon, KS
Eric Norris ('04), State Librarian of Kansas

Information about:

Fort Hays State University Career Resources
FHSU Academic Advising and Career Exploration Center
Career Services Online Job Resources
What Can I Do With a Major in English? (PDF)

Career Exploration Resources
America's Career InfoNet
CityTownInfo.com Career Search
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
Federal Jobs and Employment Information
MyFuture.com
My Next Move
Occupational Outlook Handbook
O*NET
U.S. Department of Labor

What Are You Going to Do with a Liberal Arts Degree?
The question is a common one, and it tends to ignore a trend in education: interdisciplinarity. A liberal arts degree prepares you to master other disciplines and think across boundaries. That has lasting value. The workplace of today and tomorrow requires not only education, but adaptability. It requires creative thinking and innovation. It needs talent with a liberal arts background.

Apple founder Steve Jobs put it this way: "It is in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough-it's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing."

"Young business students and aspiring entrepreneurs often seek my advice on the best way to navigate the complex and daunting world of business," says Edgar Bronfman, former CEO of the Seagram Corporation. "My advice is simple, but well-considered: Get a liberal arts degree. In my experience, [it] is the most important factor in forming individuals into interesting and interested people who can determine their own paths through the future." -- Edgar M. Bronfman

"Too many students (and their parents) think of college as the place that will grant them the degree they need to work at X job. The problem is, X job might not exist 10 or 20 years from now. Or X job might be transformed into something else, something that requires critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills." -- Michael Bérubé

"The liberal arts always situate graduates on the road for success. More Fortune 500 CEOs have had liberal arts B.A.s than professional degrees. The same is true of doctors and lawyers." -- Richard A. Greenwald