For those who have recently finished post-secondary education

[The Ozzman]

You need some relevant experience to transition into a career. Try landing an internship somewhere. Go to career services.

If you don't heed my words on anything else, do it here. Seriously.

Though, aren't you a janitor or something for a church? Even getting a manual labor job would set you up for something higher. Regardless, see what the career services office can do for you.

This goes for everyone btw.

 

[AchrisK]

I do mechanical drafting and design. I like it!

 

[George]

You need some relevant experience to transition into a career. Try landing an internship somewhere. Go to career services.

If you don't heed my words on anything else, do it here. Seriously.

He speaks the truth.

 

[King Richard]

I'll probably fall into publishing as well, I really can't imagine what else I could conceivably do with an English degree aside from teach, which is out of the question given that I hate people, or writing, which is also out of the question given that I don't write.

Why are you an english major again?

 

[Einherjar86]

English literature major with a history minor. I'm in the same boat as lots of people here.

I'm planning on doing a year of grad school in Florida, but eventually I want to transfer up north and finish off my Master's and PhD at the University of Buffalo.

 

[skeptik]

Why are you an english major again?

Because I'm not a loathesome jew that strives to be materially successful.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

I'm an English major, too, and I just became a teacher. No idea how that happened, though...

 

[Thoth-Amon]

You're screwed. Go to graduate school.

that's what I figured out after I got my degree in music.
so that's why i'm going into healthcare... people are always going to be sick and dying.

 

[King Richard]

Because I'm not a loathesome jew that strives to be materially successful.

I assume you just enjoy the intellectually stimulating aspect of becoming an english major then yes? Reason I ask is, regardless of whether or not you sought out to be materially successful (I believe being humble and happy is all that really matters as well), you're a smart guy and it kind of puzzled me to hear you say you didn't enjoy doing some of the major aspects of that particular major. But what the hell do I know? I still haven't decided what I want to major in.

 

[Zephyrus]

I'm an English major, too, and I just became a teacher. No idea how that happened, though...

Getting an English degree in a non-anglophonic nation is more useful than in the US or UK, I would assume. English is a requirement in Norwegian schools, right?

 

[skeptik]

I assume you just enjoy the intellectually stimulating aspect of becoming an english major then yes? Reason I ask is, regardless of whether or not you sought out to be materially successful (I believe being humble and happy is all that really matters as well), you're a smart guy and it kind of puzzled me to hear you say you didn't enjoy doing some of the major aspects of that particular major. But what the hell do I know? I still haven't decided what I want to major in.

I see. Did you mean the fact that I said that I don't write, or are you talking about something that I might have said elsewhere? I wouldn't say that I don't enjoy writing (by this I meant creative writing), but it's just something I've never done, except for school. I may take it up in the future, but it would never be my career. I can potentially see myself contributing short stories for some publication on the side some day though.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

Getting an English degree in a non-anglophonic nation is more useful than in the US or UK, I would assume. English is a requirement in Norwegian schools, right?

Correct on both counts, I would guess.

 

[Death Aflame]

Getting an English degree in a non-anglophonic nation is more useful than in the US or UK, I would assume. English is a requirement in Norwegian schools, right?

It's a requirement in NA schools as well so I don't see where you are going with this.

 

[Zephyrus]

Teaching English to non-angolphones is a whole other ballgame than the typical "English class" of an American or non-Quebecois Canadian school.

 

[Death Aflame]

Teaching English to non-angolphones is a whole other ballgame than the typical "English class" of an American or non-Quebecois Canadian school.

But how is it more useful to have an English degree outside anglophone provinces/states? Even if the teaching job is a 'whole other ballgame' it is still a related job that is also required within the NA educational context.

 

[Zephyrus]

Depends on whether you use that degree for education.

 

[Death Aflame]

Depends on whether you use that degree for education.

Now I see. Your question regarding English in non-anglo schools must have been what threw me off what you were getting at.

 

[Death Aflame]

Figured I would bump this thread since I recently graduated in June and reading through some of these old posts, some others like Dodens also seemed due to graduate. Feel free to update as to your status/direction.

Before I finished school, I went to the University of Notre Dame to present a paper in film studies, which was an interesting experience, to say the least. Although I must say, the panel organization seemed fairly poor, as I was grouped in with people presenting on American Psycho (great film though) and Juno, while I was discussing the Brechtian politics (or lack thereof) in Bergman's Persona and Merendino's SLC Punk! I also have been contacted to get some papers published. Two different professors want me to submit papers I wrote for their classes to get published (hopefully), one is in the field of Video Game Studies, the other Film Studies. I am certainly going to look into it though, so wish me luck.

At this point I am still not sure of what direction to head in, though I have narrowed my possibilities down at least. Publishing sounds the most intriguing field to me now and it fits my current set of skills (academic excellence, working as a writing tutor) extremely well, though I am still at least slightly interested in Journalism and Teaching (for teaching I would not consider anything below the High School level, though my preference is the University level). In the meantime I plan to take at least a year off to work, save some money, travel and to pay off some debt incurred in undergrad. I haven't had much luck with the old job hunt so far though, hopefully that turns around.

How are you guys making out?

 

[MasterOLightning]

I got a job with Social Security about three months ago. I'm in the middle of nine months of training. It's a very technical job that involves maintaining beneficiary records and doing everything that can't be automated. I didn't think there was a good short- or long-term future in journalism for me, and the government was hiring. I'm pretty overqualified for the job, which means I should move up the ranks quickly. I'm already making about as much money as my parents made while I was growing up, which is strange, because they had to pay for me and my brother. I have few expenses aside from booze and music, so I was able to move out to a large studio in a nicer part of town.

Yeah, working for the government may be soulless and all, but I much prefer it to helping the people above me get even richer, which is what a large majority of jobs entail. I think helping people get the money they are entitled to and helping the government run more efficiently is slightly noble. While the earnings potential certainly has some limits, I'm pretty set to do very nicely for as long as I can stomach the job. I even find my co-workers pretty tolerable for now. Things are a lot less stressful than they were about a year ago.

 

[A1a23]

I got a job with Social Security about three months ago. I'm in the middle of nine months of training. It's a very technical job that involves maintaining beneficiary records and doing everything that can't be automated. I didn't think there was a good short- or long-term future in journalism for me, and the government was hiring. I'm pretty overqualified for the job, which means I should move up the ranks quickly. I'm already making about as much money as my parents made while I was growing up, which is strange, because they had to pay for me and my brother. I have few expenses aside from booze and music, so I was able to move out to a large studio in a nicer part of town.

Yeah, working for the government may be soulless and all, but I much prefer it to helping the people above me get even richer, which is what a large majority of jobs entail. I think helping people get the money they are entitled to and helping the government run more efficiently is slightly noble. While the earnings potential certainly has some limits, I'm pretty set to do very nicely for as long as I can stomach the job. I even find my co-workers pretty tolerable for now. Things are a lot less stressful than they were about a year ago.

Sounds like you made out quite well, congrats.