The Linguistics Major

Resources, Strengths, Career Paths, Skills

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

• Analytical and Critical abilities
• Rhetorical Skill
• Intermediate Knowledge of a Foreign Language
• Extensive Technical and Analytical Writing Experience
• Didactic Skill
• The Ability to Decipher and Solve Problems

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

• Journalism, Publishing, and Technical Writing
• Law
• Education (Elementary, Secondary, and Higher ed.)
• Foreign Service
• Library Science
• Business / Industry
• Research

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!

• American Association for Applied Linguistics
• American Psychological Association
• Chronicle of Higher Education , Inside Higher Education - great sites for academics
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Law School Admission Council - a necessary hit for all law school applicants
• International Phonetic Association

Sample Job Titles:The following are some sample job titles that would be appropriate for a student who has majored in Linguistics. 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 Linguistics gains skills that can be used in almost any industry!