The English Major

Resources, Strengths, Career Paths, Skills

Transferable Skills:Students of English end their education with superior communication skills, a rare and highly valued commodity in today's job market. English Majors also possess:

• Analytical and Critical abilities
• Rhetorical Skill
• Intermediate Knowledge of a Foreign Language
• Extensive Technical and Creative Writing Experience
• Didactic Skill

Career Paths:The Major in English provides students with an optimal platform for entering a variety of fields. Students with a strong background in the humanities are viewed favorably by varying fields such as medicine and law. Here are some fields an English major may pursue:

• Journalism, Publishing, and Technical Writing
• Law
• Education (Elementary, Secondary, and Higher ed.)
• Advertising
• Public Relations
• Business / Industry

Resources & Professional Associations of Interest: Check out the following websites and consider joining at least one of the professional associations in your field of interest to boost your career and give you a competitive edge on the job market. These are just a few so don' t hesitate to do some research on your own!

• mediabistro - a great site for media minded professionals
• Ed2010 - get your foot in the door of the editing world
• Chronicle of Higher Education , Inside Higher Education - great sites for academics
• National Council for Teachers of English - a must for serious English teachers
• Law School Admission Council - a necessary hit for all law school applicants

Employers: The following companies and institutions have hired/accepted Stony Brook students of English:

• Stony Brook University
• "The Improper Hamptonian"
• Harvard Law / CUNY
• Newsday
• Simon and Schuster
• Wells Fargo

Sample Job Titles:The following are some sample job titles that would be appropriate for a student who has majored in English. This is in no way a complete list. If you're surprised at some of these titles, you shouldn't forget that a student who majors in English gains skills that can be used in almost any industry!

Editor
Literary Agent
Actor/Actress

Lobbyist
Novelist
Paralegal

Lawyer
Media Planner
Public Relations Specialist

Teacher
Poet / Playwright
Scientific Writer

Human Resource Specialist
Copywriter
Financial Advisor

Speech Writer
Technical Writer
ESL Teacher

Journalist
Critic
Professor

Famous English Majors
Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny, NY Governor Mario Cuomo, Walt Disney's CEO Michael Eisner, Yale President A Bartlett Giamatti, Novelist: Stephen King, Astronaut Sally Ride, Broadcast Journalist Diane Sawyer, Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Journalist Barbara Walters, Nobel Laureate in Medicine Harold Varmus, Songwriter/Singer Paul Simon