Pre-graduate employment

[mityak]

I'm just wondering what kind of jobs you guys are doing if you've graduated and haven't yet matriculated into a grad program. I went 0/8 on PhD apps this year, so I will be working in IT for the summer. Who knows where I'll be come September? There's no real point to this thread except to divert myself from the tedium of my job that increasingly resembles Office Space.

[diehtc0ke]

I worked part time at a Staples while I was applying and promptly quit after I got my first acceptance lol. A friend of mine will be applying for PhD programs this fall and she's finishing up an MFA and working at our school's writing center.

Edited May 17, 2010 by diehtc0ke

[Medievalmaniac]

I worked part time at a Staples while I was applying and promptly quit after I got my first acceptance lol. A friend of mine will be applying for PhD programs this fall and she's finishing up an MFA and working at our school's writing center.

I'm teaching at a private school.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Since I graduated from undergrad in 2001 (and haven't been accepted in a program this year - applying again for 2011), I currently have a real "grown-up" job as a technical writer. I also tutor English as a second language, advise people about applying to colleges and grad school in the US and Europe, and teach SAT and GRE prep courses. I'll be working all three jobs until the day I move back to the US for grad school, most likely. At least I'll be able to save up a little nest egg for the lean stipend years! (meanwhile, I'm also taking grad classes online and starting up on Latin, and possibly French in the fall).

Just reading this, made me realize how busy I actually am. My poor dog is neglected beyond belief.

[Gingermick]

Since I graduated from undergrad in 2001 (and haven't been accepted in a program this year - applying again for 2011), I currently have a real "grown-up" job as a technical writer. I also tutor English as a second language, advise people about applying to colleges and grad school in the US and Europe, and teach SAT and GRE prep courses. I'll be working all three jobs until the day I move back to the US for grad school, most likely. At least I'll be able to save up a little nest egg for the lean stipend years! (meanwhile, I'm also taking grad classes online and starting up on Latin, and possibly French in the fall).

Just reading this, made me realize how busy I actually am. My poor dog is neglected beyond belief.

Branwen, are you taking Latin with UMass Online? If you are, I might join you in the upcoming class.

To the OP, I worked at a law office for a year, and now I live in Japan tutoring English. I'm also taking online classes, because I graduated a few years ago and I want my application to reflect my recent work.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Branwen, are you taking Latin with UMass Online? If you are, I might join you in the upcoming class.

To the OP, I worked at a law office for a year, and now I live in Japan tutoring English. I'm also taking online classes, because I graduated a few years ago and I want my application to reflect my recent work.

yup - i'm registering for Latin in the fall, and if I can afford it, French as well (I think I may be able to start with second semester French - I have studied it before, albeit a while ago. It's a shame they don't offer an online intensive). This summer I'm taking a grad seminar in medieval lit with UMass online as well.

[btheblueox]

yup - i'm registering for Latin in the fall, and if I can afford it, French as well (I think I may be able to start with second semester French - I have studied it before, albeit a while ago. It's a shame they don't offer an online intensive). This summer I'm taking a grad seminar in medieval lit with UMass online as well.

I'm thinking of taking that Latin class, too!

As for work: I'm in publishing, and I do freelance editorial stuff and tutor.

Edited to say: hi, guys. I was here last year under a different screen name (felt like time for a change), and I'm reapplying to PhD programs for Fall 2011 after a season in which I spectacularly tanked!

Edited again to say: that I typed "chance" instead of "change" above. Freudian slip? Scatterbrained? Both, probably. Oi.

Edited May 18, 2010 by pinkbadger

[bigdgp]

I've been teaching high school English in NYC for the past five years. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be delivered from that job!

[wordslinger]

I've been teaching high school English as well, although I don't hate it. I am on the verge of burning out, though; it's hardcore.

I've been teaching high school English in NYC for the past five years. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be delivered from that job!

[JackieW]

I've been working at a local Titanic Exhibition. Yeah, it really is THAT random.

[Enzian]

I'm in the Peace Corps with my wife. Granted, it's not exactly a job (no monetary salary, per se, though there are benefits) and it has a pre-determined commitment of 27 months (but at any time you can just be like "I kind of miss my dog" and leave), I honestly couldn't be happier with the decision. I teach secondary school (English to mostly 9th, 10th, and 11th graders) in a developing country where I've met a lot of fantastic people, learned a ton about their culture, and now, in my second year, am getting comfortable enough in the language to try some serious reading. I won't go into the personal growth aspect in detail but I'm a pretty different person than I was two years ago.

I don't mean to sound like a recruiter or to romanticize the Peace Corps (which has its fair share of problems, for sure), I only bring it up because I think temporary jobs, even those (or maybe especially those) that seem completely unrelated and random (like, um, a Titanic exhibition - awesome) can be really helpful in developing perspective. Before I started PC, I was pretty sure I eventually wanted to head to grad school for Comp Lit; now I'm positive. I've learned that I really love teaching but not in certain capacities (e.g. I loathe trying to explain the subtleties of article usage to speakers of a language completely devoid of articles and if I encounter that circumstance as a future professor, something has gone tragically awry) and I really miss the classroom atmosphere, the brainy, manic thrill of research, and I've learned my tolerance for the political nonsense that, I've been told, comes with a job in academia (the political nonsense of the school systems in a lot of the developing world makes it seem kind of quaint and goofy, actually). I've learned a lot that informs my decision to try for grad school and a lot that, hopefully, will help me get there.

On the other hand, my sense of the English language has kind of come unglued listening to beginning speakers 24-7 and I find myself saying things like "Give me, please, bread and knife" or "We are going to the nature" so help yourself to those salt grains.

[stringgenius]

I worked as a bank teller for a year between undergrad and grad school. It was pretty mind-numbing, but there's nothing like a bland 9-5 job to reassure you that grad school is the right choice.

[hopefulwoolfian]

I'm currently a proposal writer for a construction firm. It can be pretty mind-numbing, but it's stable and fairly low-stress. Also, I make decent money for an English BA, which is nice (and means I don't have to move back to my hometown, whoo!).

[HappyCat]

I started working at my college's Writing Center while in undergrad and continue to work there through my MA.

Oddly enough, I work with diehtc0ke's MFA friend

[wreckofthehope]

Hello!

I'm getting ready to apply this Autumn - for a mixture of English Lit' and Comp' Lit' PhD programmes.

I'm currently in the thesis-writing stage of my MA, and I work 4 days a week for the British National Health Service in Quality Assurance.