Why to Major in English If You're Not Going to Teach

Every year, thousands of people enroll as English majors at colleges and universities all across America. They come to the discipline for many reasons, but typically they choose English because they love to read or because they had a life-changing experience in a high-school or junior-college English class. Students never tell faculty they are coming to English because they want to get a good paying job after they graduate.

English, as one of the traditional liberal-arts disciplines, has long been a successful means of preparation for a career in business, and it remains so today. Students will be much better served, however, if everyone involved in the English classroom understands that the most important objective of their shared work together is the development of a set of marketable skills.

Why to Major in English if You're Not Going to Teach is designed to prepare non-teaching English majors to make an easier and more successful transition from a degree in English to a satisfying and productive career after college.

Why to Major in English if You're Not Going to Teach:

• Helps English majors confidently approach employers and present themselves both in terms of their classroom education and in terms of the many ways that they used their English-major skills outside of the classroom.
• Examines in detail what English majors actually do for a living, what their skills are, and why those skills are important in the world of work. 
• Looks at what faculty do in the English classroom to help students develop the English skills set. 
• Closes with a series of chapters for prospective and current English majors to help them think about how they will apply for a job and move toward a long-term career path.