Bachelor's degree, what now.

Hello all. I am graduating this may with a Bachelor's in English with a concentration in writing. I don't really want to be a teacher. I don't really want to wrok that hard unless I really like what I'm doing. Any suggestions? A decent amount of money wouldn't hurt.

 

pf, english? working at mcd's or if youre lucky, working at a book store
go for your masters. a bachelors in english is nearly useless, tbh. do lots of writing on the side, apply for book publishing companies if nothing else (editing, etc)... but a bachelors in english wont get you all that far or give you a large income

 

Au contraire... You're sadly misinformed. And very negative taboot. Please don't post again.

 

Good luck making much money with that degree.

Don’t believe every thing your schools admissions tells you they are try to sell education.

Seriously what job do you expect with that degree? Besides a low paid schoolteacher, you could volunteer as an English teacher in a 3rd world country.

 

Admissions didn't tell me anything... Listen if your not gonna be constructive FUCK OFF.

 

I say go to grad school and hang in there as long as you can. If you can live within your means, you should be able to get a free ride through grad school till you get your PhD, then you can do a post doc or get a teaching gig at a University or a community college. School sucks, but it beats working.

English isn't useless, in fact it's pretty versatile, but long term you gotta think about what's in demand if you plan to enter the "real world" (which is over-rated). Find something that inspires you and go with it.

Good luck.

 

firstly, you cant tell someone whether or not they have the right to post. you can, however, put someone on ignore if you want

if you dont want to teach, youre pretty much SOL for jobs unless you go to grad school like i said. there are some awesome experiences you can get teaching ESL overseas, but you dont want to teach sooooooooo... more school or writing pt while working somewhere else. unless you want to be stuck writing technician manuals and crap that no one likes

 

What do you want to hear?
Yeah, dude the Playboy Mansion is always looking for Bachelor's in English..

You said you got a Bachelor's in English and don’t want to work hard….
Look around how many laid back jobs do you see for a Bachelor's in English? The only one I can think of is teaching English in another country, which usually is volunteer or low pay.

Sorry reality sucks… stay in school as long as you can.

 

Teaching English abroad really isn't that bad of a gig. It might not pay that much when you convert the pay to USD, but you can make a reasonable living doing that in Korea or Japan or a place like that. BAs in English aren't as useless as a few people above make them seem.

You could go to law school.

 

Hey, thanks for the helpful posts. Been thinking about Grad School... I'll post more later.

 

Take some time off in between though, explore the world, leave the US in whatever capacity you can, be it the Peace Corps or whatever. I'm sure lotsa non-profits need folks like yourself to teach English, and it's not all about the money. You'll end up with a broader perception of the world, and you may not get that opportunity again, once you start taking on life's responsibilities with a job and family.

It's unfortunate that the state of our culture is such that a bachelor's in English seems to mean so little. It used to be that a bachelor's in just about anything ensured a job that would afford a decent living, not anymore.

'Course you could always go back for an MBA or a finance degree, become a capitalist, sell out 'n cash in, and shaft others for a living, there's good money in that

 

Mellow - good advice. I have been doing a little travelling to get a broader world view. I'd say the most mind expanding trip to date was down to San Miguel, Mexico. I do know some people that make a good living with the same degree as me so I'm not too discouraged. Ultimately I'd like to own my own organic farm in the adirondacks, but I need to save some money first. And if that doesn't work out I'll take your advice and shaft others for a living. Then it's on your shoulders, man!

 

Hey now, don't shoot the messenger, lol.

Seriously though, it sounds like you're on the right track, and money ain't shit if you don't approve of what you see when you look in the mirror.

I love the 'dacks BTW.

 

Oh yeah. That's the right attitude. When people try to tell you the truth, you tell them to fuck off or tell them that they're misinformed. If you want us to tell you that The New Yorker or Sports Illustrated or the Washington Post are just waiting to jump on you, then we'll lie to you.

EARTH TO DECRIMINLIZE: YOU HAVE A DEGREE IN ENGLISH. Unless you're going into teaching, there isn't much you can do with it. But don't worry. Most grads don't end up in the work field of their major. But you have to keep an open mind and realize that your degree in English isn't going to open doors the way a degree in electrical engineering would. I don't know what else to say to someone who spent 4 years getting an English degree and not taking a few minutes to think of job opportunities who tells people they're misinformed.

Start building a resume of your writing for potential employers. I have no idea what type of writing you do though.

 

: )

 

LOL, wow sometimes I love the idea of HipForums until I see some of the posts is sucha possibly rich topic. I am finishing up my B.A. in Psych too. Truthfully I feel very dead-end about the whole thing. Parents (and Gparents) pushing me into Grad school or Military. FUck that. I just spent most of my life without a clue as to what I am doing and folowing everyone elses ideas. I don't know what I want to do but whatever it is IT will be MINE. Of course then there is money and trust me a Psych degree gets above min. wage around here (less silly work with more interesting stuff but still). I am quite dissapointed in where things are or at least much more dissapointed than I thought I would be 4 years ago. Oh well lol... anyone else in the same situation or see things from a better perspective I would love to hear ya out.

 

Do yourself a favor, teach English somewhere else in the world, for a year in a third world country, making squat for cash, but plenty for spiritual advancement. You won't regret it, and when you get back, you'll know it wasn't a waste of time, and you'll be thanking me for the advice.
Take it easy,

 

I know so many people who get jobs that aren't in their field at all. My friend back in Michigan has a European history degree and she's a successful corporate trader.

I have my degree in environmental studies and I'm buying a dance studio.

You can do whatever you want...a lot of times businesses are just looking for someone with a degree...doesn't always matter if it's in your field or not. *shrugs* Do what you WANT to do...not necessarily what you have your degree in.

 

I'm kind of in the same boat as you (did a BA in Communication) and am having trouble deciding what to do. It's my first year out of uni and it's been hard, so know that you aren't alone. I'd agree with some of the people here, going travelling is good advice, but ultimately you're going to have to come back home and find a career or become self-employed eventually. For me, finding proper work has been hard. I'm going back to technical college next year to do a qualification in architecture/building design; so I'm saying going back to do more study is always an option.

 

Like somebody else said, it probably matters more that you have a bachelors degree than that you have a degree in English. A lot of employers don't really value anything specific to any certain degree unless you are trying to be an engineer or something. Going to college has its drawbacks (e.g. debt) but you'll probably have more opportunities in life than somebody who didn't and education itself is valuable.

Some people have already suggested teaching English abroad, and the pay in some countries is probably more than teachers starting out in the US get. A friend of mine taught in Korea after he graduated and started out at $30k/year, and they provided him with an apartment and paid his airfare. You don't necessarily have to teach kids, either. I'm going to try to teach in Japan or Taiwan after I graduate in August unless something better comes up.

Before I had an idea of what I wanted to do, I also thought about taking my state's civil service exam. I'm not sure if it works the same way in other states, but PA had a fair amount of openings that only required a Bachelors degree and a certain score on the civil service test. There were a few with the public housing department and the welfare department that looked interesting but most of them seemed like boring office jobs. Also, a lot of people I know have gotten jobs through internships and volunteering.