Career Opportunities

Some people might say an English degree doesn’t train you for a specific vocation. They’re right. Studying English doesn’t train you for one career—it trains you for many. English will give you a wide range of career opportunities because it provides a long list of skills valuable in many different types of professions.

Communication skills are highly valued in whatever profession you will ultimately choose. The ability to communicate in both written and spoken form will serve you well not only in your career, but also in many areas of life.

All that reading and discussion in your classes will also help hone your ability to analyze complex information with the help of a range of critical approaches. The ability to read, analyze, and respond is valuable in many different kinds of work. You will, for example, also have opportunities to construct and defend an argument, tailor your writing to a specific audience and purpose, and communicate with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures--all valuable job skills, among many others.

Studies in English at Andrews University will also likely expand your: flexibility, creativity, logic, synthesis and debate skills, self-confidence, independence, originality, desire to serve, and ability to turn theory into practical applications.

When it comes to your specific career choice, the sky is the limit! To give you some ideas, here are some careers other English majors have chosen:

Creative writing
Journalism
Technical writing
Editing, publishing
Teaching in high school
Advertising and public relations
Business administration or management
Working for charitable organizations
Law
Medicine
Business, including entrepreneurial ventures
Screenwriting
Play righting
Writing poetry
Broadcasting—radio or television
Library science
Politics
Consulting

Here's a partial list of some of our graduates and what they are doing now:

Andrea Luxton served as the sixth President of Andrews University from 2016-2023.
Holly (Nordvick) Jessen edits a three-county weekly newspaper in Minnesota.
Erica Lehmann is doing doctoral studies at Oxford University.
Kim Dixon has written countless letters, procedures, and promotional
and information pieces for a city parking department.
Terry Chilson lives in Pennsylvania where he is a physician specializing in family practice.
Jon Olson directs a writing center at a university in Pennsylvania.
Sarah Kelnhoffer is a free-lance writer.
Emily Shortslef is pursuing doctoral studies in English at Columbia University in New York City.
Beth Harris has graduated from Harvard's School of Law.
Judy Cutler has worked as a lawyer for the state of Vermont.
Judy Laue teaches literature at a university in Texas.
Julie Hill works as a librarian in South Bend in a department called "Sights and Sounds."
Cecile Bruso is an editor for an academic press in Boston.
Adrienne Redding obtained her PhD in English at Western Michigan University.
John Gagnon is a lawyer working for Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.