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Welcome to the Department of English careers page.

“What are you going to do with an English major?”  Unless you’re planning to be a teacher, you’ve probably heard that question many times.

In fact, English majors can do just about anything with their major.  Our alums work in teaching, human resources, writing/editing/publishing, web/social media content, public relations/marketing, librarianship, arts management, and the law.  One of our alums even went to medical school and became a doctor.   TCNJ’s English graduates work for a range of businesses, for non-profits, and in government, and they enjoy productive, profitable, and satisfying careers.

And that’s not surprising, because majoring in the humanities is a good choice.  In a 2015 survey, more than 80% of employers said that they want the skills that studying the humanities cultivates.  According to a 2018 report, the unemployment rate for young humanities majors (ages 22 to 27) is 4.3% – similar to the rate for majors in chemical engineering (3.8%), communications studies (3.9%), and biology (5%).  In 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that, over the course of their career, students who earn a bachelor’s degree in the humanities do as well as – or better than – majors in other fields, including business management and accounting.  As of 2018, nearly 60% of humanities majors have jobs that involve managing or supervising other people.  (Data provided by the National Humanities Alliance at https://www.studythehumanities.org/.)

If you’re concerned about how to answer the question of what you’re going to do with your English major, just explore the alumni career profiles here and consider taking the career planning course that the TCNJ English Department offers annually.  You’ll learn that you don’t have to fear the future – or work in fast food – as an English major.  In fact, your future is bright.