You may be wondering what career options are there for a student who takes English. It may seem that there are limited positions in the industry such as writers or teachers. However, the industry is diverse and there are so many career options you can explore with your English degree. Students should therefore not dismiss English as an unworthy subject because they are misinformed on the career paths. English may not seem to have a ready job market at first glance but there are so many skills that you will acquire that will help steer you in the right direction or career path that you are passionate about.
Below are some career options you can explore with an English degree.
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Writer
If you want to make good use of your English degree, you can choose to be an English writer. There are millions of people in the world who make a living from writing. From blogs to academic articles, you can choose which direction you want to contribute your writing towards. As a freelance writer, you not only get to choose your hours of work but also the assignments to work on. The average pay for a writer especially freelance is approximately 40,000 USD.
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Reporter
In order to become a reporter, your English diction needs to be excellent. Here, an English degree is well worth it. All media including television, newspapers and radio require gathering of information hence putting them together to make it newsworthy requires an English degree. The starting salary is approximately 40,000 USD, which increases over the years.
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High school teacher
There is no better career path than an English teacher. If you studied English at undergraduate level, you can be able to teach high school students the same subject. This sharpens your skills and also propels you to another level in the event you want to advance your studies. The average starting salary for a high school teacher is approximately 58,000 USD per year with a chance of getting promoted in the next three years.
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Librarian
The average salary for a librarian is approximately 57,000 USD. Librarians play a very important role in helping researcher on information technologies and organization of library materials. They are also tasked with the development and implementation of databases that assist students in carrying out their research studies. A degree in English complements so many careers.
Although you will need to be fluent in another language to be able to translate or interpret, a degree in English will come in handy, as it will help you to better understand the structure of the language and become an effective communicator. Converting from one language to another requires competency in English. In this profession, the average salary is 46,000 USD.
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Advertising manager
The advertising industry works with interplay of words and phrases. You will need to be a good communicator for the target audience to get the intended message. Putting together words and phrases that will resonate with the audience will require a good command of the English language. You will also require negotiation skills to help you bag some deals. The pay here is handsome and the average salary for an advertising manager is 127,000 USD.