An English Major Doesn't Mean You Have to Teach

Talking with a new friend this week, she expressed some angst over being asked, "Oh, you're an English major...so are you going to teach?" and it reminded me how much that used to bug me too. Not that it's their fault for asking, but it is a little frustrating to hear time after time.

But make sure this sinks in: an English major creates a LOT of potential career paths. It's up to you to decide which one to choose.

My friend didn't quite know what she wants to do yet, but she knows she doesn't want to teach. I was pretty much the same--I liked a lot of the ideas of teaching, and respect teachers a great deal. But as a career path, it wasn't for me. I was in my early 30s, and wanted something more. I wanted to write, and not really limit it to any one thing--I wanted to tackle lots of different types of writing. So I looked into commercial writing, and soon started to land copywriting gigs. Over time, I got into web work, and soon my career path found me, not the other way around.

I didn't think, "I want to be an SEO writer." Google was just starting out when I was getting out of college, and since it was in the late 90s, the Internet boom was imploding all around me. So web work was kind of sketchy as far as a future was concerned, and I didn't really go that route at first. It was intriguing, but so much money was lost that the market was a little shaky for a while there.

But within a year or 2 right around the year 2000, I started seeing what the Internet boom and bust had done to a lot of people's sites. There were a lot of things out there that needed some attention, and I started to look at the web in a different way. I saw the potential for its greatness, and tried to help people make the sites better. It's proven to be a great thing because now I have been doing this for over 6 years, and I still like working every day. In fact, it is hard to think of a job I could like much more than this--it feels perfect. I consider this to be pretty lucky.

The point is, for a time there I didn't know what I really wanted to apply my English Degree toward. Lots of people around me were trying to get me to look into teaching, but it just didn't feel right for me. Not to say that I won't look in that direction at some point, but not for a while anyway. I knew that an English degree could be worth more to me than that if only I could find the right way to market myself and my talents.

I learned that many businesses need good writers, but don't necessarily want them on payroll. They may not need them all the time, but they need them. This led me into freelancing, and the rest, as they say, is history, or maybe my-story.

So I told my friend, like I am telling you, don't let someone convince you that to use your English degree, you need to teach. You need to teach if this is what makes you happy, and what excites you. For me, this wasn't a path I wanted to travel on...yet.

I love that fact that I am a word nerd. I love being a writer. I don't mind that I write sales stuff and what some might think is boring--I find it challenging to be creative and effective--it is a true art form if done correctly. I don't even mind trying to explain what I do...because believe me, not very many people out there really know what an SEO writer does. But if this is the price I have to pay to do what I want to do for a living, so be it. There are much worse fates.

My English degree doesn't come up any more unless I am talking to students, or those looking to break into the business. And when they hear that I too, was peppered with this question repeatedly, they find solace in the fact that I have an answer. And my answer was (and still is) "No, I am not looking for a teaching career...I am looking to creatively help businesses with my utilitarian corporate communications."

That usually says enough--or, it is enough to make me feel better anyway. And with all those big words shoved together, it usually makes the questions stop too.