What I Did with an English Degree

My resume is full of experiences that would not have been possible without my undergraduate degree. Many people asked what I would do after graduation with a degree in English, and I had very few answers until my final year of college. I chose my major because I enjoyed literature and wanted to be a writer, but didn't know what career path I could choose other than teaching. However, in the last couple of years, it has become more difficult to make use of an English degree with the decline of the publishing industry. Had I known then what I know now, I would have at least taken a technical writing class.

Two weeks after I graduated from Penn State, I was offered an entry-level editorial position at a weekly legal newspaper. It wasn't just my degree that got the job-my coursework in The Editorial Process, my work as my fraternity's newsletter editor, and my computer skills made me a better candidate for the position. I was concerned that I had never used Quark Xpress, but the editor-in-chief was confident that I could learn the program because I had experience with other publishing and office software. The job provided me with an opportunity to learn about the newspaper industry. More importantly, it gave me confidence in my editing and proofreading abilities.

Although I enjoyed my time working at the weekly newspaper and appreciated the learning experience, I chose to move on to graduate school after a year and a half on the job. It wasn't that I didn't see a future in the career, but rather that I found that I wasn't writing enough creative work in my spare time.

After earning an MFA in creative writing, I sought similar jobs to the one I previously held. Unfortunately, the publishing industry was in a slow decline and there weren't many positions available. Because of my previous experience and degree, I was offered a three-year contract as a technical writer in northern New Jersey. I was offered the position because the two supervisors who interviewed me were a fellow Penn State alumnus and an aspiring fiction writer-each of my degrees appealed to both supervisors.

However, I turned down the technical writing position to pursue a more adventurous endeavor in teaching English in China. The first two jobs I had in China did not require an English or teaching degree-most EFL jobs only want a foreign face to entertain students. As my time in China progressed, I found a teaching position that was better suited to my qualifications-teaching academic writing in English at a top-tier graduate school. This was the first job in China that cared about my qualifications and ability to teach the subject effectively. Were it not for my background in editing and writing, I would not have been able to explain much of the curriculum to the students as the textbook was 10 years old and intended for native English speakers.

When I chose to move back to the U.S., I found it much more difficult to find work than in previous years. In the months leading up to my return, the news was filled with stories of lay-offs. One month before I returned, 30,000 editors and proofreaders were laid-off nationwide, and the editorial department bleeding didn't end there. Since then, I have had to subsist on freelance work and even a part-time retail job. Due to the struggling industry, I am seeking another degree in an distantly-related field.