What kind of job can I get with an MA in English...?

[thestage]

So you'll agree that the crux of the question is whether you are in fact correct when you claim that there are not a lot of jobs that require a generic MA or a specific MA in the humanities?

Most certainly.

But for the record I would look at this as a very depressing trend

Edited March 1, 2012 by thestage

[ComeBackZinc]

Oh, I'm not at all convinced that rise I'm describing, and that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts, is a good thing. I find it very troubling.

[thestage]

I think it is critically important to interrogate an elitist approach internal to the field and the implications that has for widespread acceptance. Look: Lit theory texts used to be widespread. C.S. Lewis's Allegory of Love was not as popular but pretty popular in comparison to the Narnia texts. Robertson in the 60s was widely read. A few scholars today still are. I speak for my field so I cite people like Greenblatt, but there is an integral connection between dismissive elitism and alienation from wider readership (or even appreciable readership in the field). The moment you dismiss popular appeal is the moment you have limited your potential reach and, I would say, applicability.

I think I should quote this so that people don't hate me, because I don't know what it has to do with any of what I've said. "Elitist" was your term, not mine, and I only assented to it in a very strict sense; namely, only a small section of the populace are MA holders (cursory research: somewhere between 5 and 10%). I also said that not everyone has the aptitude to earn an MA, which I guess might be the point of contention here? Look, I too lament the disappearance of, say, literary criticism and theory for the masses, or at least literary criticism and theory that is discussed by people and sources that are for the masses--but I also won't say that this is entirely the fault of the producers of literary criticism, and I also won't apologize for, say, academic language in academic texts or the like. I'm not sure where you think I "dismiss popular appeal," but I guess it either comes down to my claims regarding the ability of people to earn an MA, or to where I said the MA comes with "the(popular) stain of academia." As far as the first claim is concerned, I'm not saying that people without MAs aren't as smart as people with MAs, I'm saying that people with them are smarter than those without them--the difference is merely one of numbers: you can very obviously be smarter than your statistically average person and not have an MA (you can be the smartest person in the world, whatever that means, and not have an MA), whereas it is very unlikely that you will have an MA and possess less intelligence than your statistically average person. By my later statement I only mean that possessing an MA leads one to be placed in a cognitive category that is very different from possessing a BA, and that category comes with a lot of assumptions that are negative or antagonistic for a lot of people.

[LivePoetry123]

princess125: I have an MA in English and I'm currently teaching ESL at a university in Korea. The MA is what allowed me to get this job. Unfortunately I'm not crazy about the work itself but I work about 20 hours a week and have 18 weeks of paid vacation a year. I just got back from a 2-month trip around Thailand and Bali. Like I said, I pretty much hate teaching ESL (which is why I applied for PhD programs this year...) but the hours and vacation time are amazing, its an adventure and a good kind of "gap year" (or 2) in which to think about whether a PhD is right for you, and its something that will look good on your CV if you ever decide to do anything teaching-related. My friends in Korea who only have BAs work far longer hours in worse conditions, and get maybe 5 weeks of vacation if they are lucky. So the MA can definitely be an advantage in some ways.

[TripWillis]

I didn't read this thread, but to answer your question:

(kidding! Don't kill me)

[anxious_aspirant]

I didn't read this thread, but to answer your question:

(kidding! Don't kill me)

Ahhh! This is one of my favorite videos! Partially because deep down, I think I just like the song "Hot Drinks." Thinking of putting it on my iPod for when I'm in my car and no one else can hear my tragically tone-deaf Wendy's singalong.

[TripWillis]

Ahhh! This is one of my favorite videos! Partially because deep down, I think I just like the song "Hot Drinks." Thinking of putting it on my iPod for when I'm in my car and no one else can hear my tragically tone-deaf Wendy's singalong.

Likewise! "Cold Drinks" and "Chili Can Be Served /w Cheese" are also amazing classics.

[transcendental]

To throw my two cents in here about finding jobs with an English MA, from personal experience in the pharma industry, while you may get people who literally will say to you, "why do you want to study English? Don't you know how to speak it?", I think that corporations do value people who know how to speak and write well. It's a matter of marketing yourself as having advanced skillsets, and even if it is a humanities degree, I think that just having an advanced degree at all will get your resume a second look and pique employers' interest. I've been looking into editorial positions at educational publishers, as well as even editorial assistant positions, and a lot of them prefer candidates to have master's degrees. Good luck!

[anxious_aspirant]

To throw my two cents in here about finding jobs with an English MA, from personal experience in the pharma industry, while you may get people who literally will say to you, "why do you want to study English? Don't you know how to speak it?", I think that corporations do value people who know how to speak and write well. It's a matter of marketing yourself as having advanced skillsets, and even if it is a humanities degree, I think that just having an advanced degree at all will get your resume a second look and pique employers' interest. I've been looking into editorial positions at educational publishers, as well as even editorial assistant positions, and a lot of them prefer candidates to have master's degrees. Good luck!

I've always been interested in editorial positions and/or publishing, but have never been affiliated with the industry. How/where does one come across such opportunities? I know all the websites and postings for teaching jobs, as it's my current field - is there something similar for editorial jobs?

[transcendental]

I've always been interested in editorial positions and/or publishing, but have never been affiliated with the industry. How/where does one come across such opportunities? I know all the websites and postings for teaching jobs, as it's my current field - is there something similar for editorial jobs?

Hi. I had applied for a bunch of editorial positions but unfortunately haven't been too lucky in getting a position, but I was happy to see that they do exist! These were all full-time positions and I'm really only looking for something temporary at this point, but it's helpful to know if there are publishers in the area of where you live. I'm in the Chicago area, and there actually are a few big publishers that have more specific publishing houses like Houghton Mifflin and Pearson (I think the local side of them are Scott Foresman and Riverside Publishing). I know that NYC or Boston would be the primary places to look, too. A good way to start is to do some basic web searches and ask people if they know of publishers in the area (I found out about some from a co-worker who had been in publishing). Or just go to publishers' websites and see what job listings they have - a lot of times they have multiple locations listed. I think I had also searched for editing/writing jobs on indeed.com and saw that U of Chicago had editorial assistant positions open for their different academic journals, so also looking at universities with journals or presses would be helpful. I'm beginning to ramble now, but I hope what I've said has been somewhat helpful!

[rainy_day]

I've always been interested in editorial positions and/or publishing, but have never been affiliated with the industry. How/where does one come across such opportunities? I know all the websites and postings for teaching jobs, as it's my current field - is there something similar for editorial jobs?

try www.mediabistro.com

not sure where you're located, but: http://bbboston.org/ (Boston is the main location for textbook publishing.)

Also, be sure check out the websites of individual publishing companies! That's probably the best bet.

[anxious_aspirant]

try www.mediabistro.com

not sure where you're located, but: http://bbboston.org/ (Boston is the main location for textbook publishing.)

Also, be sure check out the websites of individual publishing companies! That's probably the best bet.

Woo! I live in the Boston area. What luck.

[transcendental]

try www.mediabistro.com

not sure where you're located, but: http://bbboston.org/ (Boston is the main location for textbook publishing.)

Also, be sure check out the websites of individual publishing companies! That's probably the best bet.

Oh sweet. Wish I had known about mediabistro before. Thanks!

[lyonessrampant]

This website focuses on marketing oneself for nonacademic jobs after the Ph.D., but a lot of the same skills and advice still apply.

http://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/tipsheets/non-academic-career-options-phds-and-mas

Here are the career fields it focuses on in case you're interested in checking it out.

Career Fields Discussed Below

Secondary School Teaching

Cultural and Historical Organizations

Academic Publishing

U.S. Federal Government

Non-Academic Publishing

Professional Research

Consulting

Higher Education Administration

Nonprofit Organizations

International Development

Financial Services

Independent Wo

[rainy_day]

Well, in that case, PM me! I worked in publishing, in Boston, for 3 years between undergrad and grad!

[lucasjoanne5]

Hi all, this is my first posting.  I accidently stumbled upon this forum this afternoon.  

 

My undergrad is in interior design (another fun career to try and find a job during the recession).  I decided to pursue a Master's in English and Creative Writing as an alternative to getting an MFA in painting or a MA in interior design.  I had heard that companies are looking for employees who have a more "well rounded" education and if you can write well, that is a benefit.  I would love a job in editing, writing for a magazine, or writing proposals and other marketing materials for interior design or architecture.  My problem is the age thing.  I don't look anything like my age, but they see when I graduated and are poo pooing it.  I have continuous working experience (meaning I have never been fired from a job.  Though I am on the brink with a current position) but I have been getting rejects here and there.  Very frustrating.  

[holdsteady]

In addition to all the stuff discussed here, there's lots of freelance writing and editing work online.

 

The writing opportunities are quite diverse. I only have a BA (starting my MA this fall), but since I finished undergrad a year ago, I've written for a 'content farm' and for a PR company requiring biographical and topical articles for their clients (to improve online reputation/gain more web presence).

 

The 'content farm' gig didn't pay as well as the latter, but was really interesting. They had thousands of keywords and you'd write the article based on the keywords, taking the overall subtopic into account. I wrote on lit, philosophy, eastern religions, travel, education, and a bunch of other topics.

 

The other one is easier and better paid, though less fun. You're given a business' website and what they want you to write about and you go about writing a bunch of articles the PR company will publish online.

 

I've quite easily found this work, with a BA. The reason I'm posting in this thread is that there are several more interesting and higher paid opportunities I missed out on because they went to people with MAs in English. The editing gigs especially.

 

The money's alright as long as you can do this kind of work quickly. At, say, $10 per 400 words, you'll be making $40 an hour if you write four articles in an hour. If it takes you a whole hour to write one article, you should probably avoid looking for this kind of work. You can work from home or from a coffee shop or wherever.

 

The lack of benefits and it being freelance work might turn people off, but overall it's fairly interesting work that goes primarily to English graduates.

 

I've also seen a lot of fiction ghostwriting gigs posted on these sites. The most popular genres are romance and erotica, but I've also seen a bunch of mystery and detective stories/novels up for grabs, with pretty decent pay.

Edited March 24, 2014 by holdsteady

[ArthChauc]

HoldSteady, this is super interesting as I'm looking for summer work. Could you post the resources you use to find these jobs? I'm totally unfamiliar with freelancing but have an English MA and will be getting my Ph.D in the next five years (I'll be a first year student in August). 

[holdsteady]

HoldSteady, this is super interesting as I'm looking for summer work. Could you post the resources you use to find these jobs? I'm totally unfamiliar with freelancing but have an English MA and will be getting my Ph.D in the next five years (I'll be a first year student in August). 

 

oDesk, elance, and freelancer. You might also want to look up specific content farms as they might have open opportunities that they haven't yet posted through the freelancing websites.

 

I'm most familiar with oDesk. You just have to create your online profile (which doubles as a resume/CV), get some writing samples together, and (this is very important) take ALL the relevant Writing & Translation tests. This is the easiest way for clients to get an idea of how skilled you are. You'll attract attention if you score in the top 10% in all or most of these and it'll make up for the lack of experience/star ratings you have on the site.

 

Heads up, though. It'll be a pain in the ass, trying to find the right jobs. A lot of stuff on there is meant for Filipino writers who will work for a lot less. That they're actually good at what they do makes things worse for us. Still, a lot of jobs, which are generally higher paid, are looking for native writers (by which they mean people from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada). If you know some foreign languages, there's a bunch of translation work on there that widens the range of opportunities further. Still, there are thousands of jobs on there within the Writing & Translation category and something will come up that you're suited for.

 

For all the fiction stuff, they'll want to see writing samples. I learned the hard way that the more "literary" your creative writing samples are, the less frequently you'll be considered for fiction ghostwriting gigs.

Edited March 25, 2014 by holdsteady

[ArthChauc]

Ahh Hold I meant to upvote! I'm so sorry! Thank you so much for thr info!

[couch123]

I was referred to this website by my literature professor, whom I respect very much.  I have been applying for positions and have gotten absolutely no where even with the mention that I am graduating with an MA this August.  My problem is that it doesn't matter what degree I get, my background has been in retail and that is all that potential employers see AND how long I have been working (in other words, MY AGE).  So as a mature student, where will this degree get me...hopefully somewhere other than retail!!!

[zabka]

Most jobs do not hire this far in advance. Focus now on finishing your degree, having career services look over your resume, and doing research into what kind of work you are interested in. 6 weeks MAX before you are ready to begin work is the time to start applying. Most jobs are looking to hire someone that can start within two weeks so it is simply too early to get discouraged. Exceptions are things like recruiting and certain teaching jobs. 

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I'm not sure if this has been addressed or not, and maybe it's just my perspective, but in my experience there aren't many jobs you can get with this degree. I think a lot of people are making it sound better than it really is. Sure, you can get a job editing, but what I've found is that there are few editing positions out there and they tend to be mind-numbingly awful (as in editing direction manuals for how to use a vacuum for some random company). And, sure you can get hired at some places to teach--but it's usually as an adjunct where you get paid next to nothing and you have no job stability. I was always told that an MA in English was a stepping stone to other degrees, not something that would really get you a great job. So, I kept that in mind and knew that I was going to go on to the PhD (though, yes, I know the job market sucks there too). So many of my fellow friends who got MAs were shocked that it didn't get them some great job afterwards. They have no plans on getting a PhD and are now upset that they wasted their time getting MAs. 

 

Maybe this is just the case where I live (which is the midwest), but I have a feeling it's not. I wouldn't advise anyone to get an MA if they weren't planning on getting a PhD. 

 

(my apologies if this has already been addressed in this forum. I didn't read the whole thing). 

[Grendel's Mother]

I graduated a couple years ago with an M.A. from a weirdly specific humanities "studies" program, but I think the job prospects between the studies program and English are basically the same. Roughly half of the students who graduated from my program in the years I was there have gone on to pursue a Ph.D. in English, history, or women's studies. Of those who decided not to go on, a couple have gotten a second master's degree in things like library science and speech-language pathology. This leaves about 2/5ths of us who started working 9-5 type jobs. I work in an academic library (as a staff librarian, not faculty librarian--aka: I get paid less, but I don't have to have an M.L.S). Some other jobs my friends have gotten:

 

Teaching online/tutoring/adjuncting (though for most, this was temporary and led to better positions)

Administrative and/or secretarial work at humanities foundations

Online specialty book dealer

Super PAC manager

Academic support (department secretaries, coordinators, directors, etc.)

Editorial work for academic presses

Software development

Graphic design

Video game development

Finance (arguably, these two were a outliers since they were studying the history of business and business practices and had other relevant degrees for financial work)

 

For some the transition was a little difficult--many spent time living with parents for a while (myself included) and worked temporary positions until something better came along. Basically, the humanities M.A. did not immediately lead to awesome jobs. I think we all had to be a little more thoughtful with our job searches and creative in the ways that we sold the skills our education brought us. That said, two years out, I don't know of anyone from my program who is stuck doing the barista/waitress/bartender thing as so many stereotypes would lead one to believe. In fact, everybody seems to be really happy with where they've landed, even if it's not what they envisioned doing when they started the M.A. program.

 

Bunny's advice is good too, though. The humanities M.A. is certainly not the key to a six-figure salary. It's something to pursue if you want to test the waters of advanced study with the understanding that it might not pay for itself (which is why you should not go into a significant amount of debt for the degree).