Most students who make the decision to become an English major have dealt with the common - and dreaded - question of what they are going to do with their degree post-graduation.
Though spending four years of life swimming in poetry and literature may increase students' knowledge base, it will not necessarily give students much guidance for entering the "real world."
According to Boston College (BC) alumnus Tim Lemire, author of the new book "I'm an English Major - Now What?," liberal arts students, and specifically English majors, simply need to be provided with insight and advice in their career search.
"There's a lot out there if you know where to look, who to talk to and, most importantly, how to apply your own interests and your own skills to the foundation of your English major," Lemire said. "I wrote the book I wish I'd had when I was an English major."
According to Lemire, he came up with the idea for the book after volunteering at an annual BC event called 'Career Night and the Arts.'
"I kept getting the same questions year after year, and eventually I realized I should write a book," Lemire said. "I sat down and asked myself, if I could go back in time and meet myself as an undergraduate English major, what would I tell myself that I wish someone had told me?"
Lemire said it's important to focus on both personal interests and valuable skills when searching for a successful career.
"What you need to do is ask yourself what else you are interested in, and how you can use the foundational skills you're learning as an English major," Lemire said. "College is not going to tell you how to apply your English major. You need to do that yourself."
Jean Papalia, Director of Tufts Career Services, agreed. She emphasized that students should explore various fields in order to gain experience and discover their own personal interests.
"The advice I would give to English majors and all liberal arts majors is to start their career exploration as early as possible," Papalia said.
"Through internships, community service, jobs and extracurricular activities, students can gain valuable skills and the experience necessary to break into their career field of choice," she added. "They can also learn firsthand if a career field is the right fit for them while they gain valuable experience."
According to Papalia, an English degree teaches students "transferable skills," which are important to employers.
Lemire emphasized these same skills: "There aren't any jobs out there that ask you to write papers of literary analysis," he said. "You need to try your hand at different types of writing."
Jonathan Strong, a lecturer in the English Department, said English classes teach students a "unique" way of thinking and expressing themselves.
"What this major does best is to get people to think about complicated and enigmatic things - namely, literature," Strong said. "It can move you toward a field like law, where the subtle use of language is what it's all about, or toward something completely different, like business or teaching. Nowadays, the ability to write clearly is becoming rarer, and therefore more valuable."
According to Strong, it's important for students to build relationships with their professors, who can help them find jobs and explore career options.
"Get to know your advisors and professors, and talk to your advisors and professors," he said. "You need to establish a personal relationship because each case is different - there is no single path."
It was through personal relationships that Tufts alumnus and English major Elena DeBellis (LA '04) landed her current job in advertising sales for the Game Show Network (GSN). She said her biggest resource was networking through her college friends and professors.
"I was having difficulty getting interviews, so I went to my best resources: other recent graduates," she said. "And that's when things picked up for me interview-wise."
When she graduated, DeBellis instinctively began looking for editorial assistant jobs at publishing companies at the advice of her professors, but her initial difficulties led her to seek out other options.
But according to DeBellis, she wished she had been more proactive earlier in her college career.
"I loved being an English major, but as far as career guidance, I can't say that I was too prepared," she said. "Start looking well before you graduate - get internships in anything you might have interest in."
Elena said she only had one internship her senior year, which didn't give her enough basis for selecting a career.
Lemire also emphasized the importance of experience and said students should take advantage of the resources college offers.
Specifically, he said, students should take the opportunity to develop a portfolio of work to show future employers.
"Regardless of what you do with your English major, try to get published - in your student newspaper, in any other publications on campus or in publications that cater to a college audience," he said.
"College," he added, "is the smoothest path to publication you'll ever have."
For recent graduate Marissa Beck (LA '04), that path to publication also led her to realize her passion. She said it was writing a Daily column called "Eat This" her senior year that led her to discover her future ambitions.
"I was always into health and fitness, and realized my senior year that I couldn't abandon this passion, and so I decided I wanted to get my masters in nutrition," Beck said.
The only problem, she continued, was that "this entailed taking an incredible amount of hard science classes."
"Ironically, I was always trying to find easier science classes at Tufts to fulfill the requirements," Beck said.
Beck returned to Tufts to spend an extra year taking chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology and statistics. She'll be attending Columbia next fall to pursue her MS, RD.
But in spite of the switch, Beck said she still plans on utilizing the skills she learned as an English major.
"I know I will ultimately use the gift of the pen, as far as nutrition goes," she said.
Beck said she benefited from exploring different options with her English degree.
"What enabled me to realize that I did not want to go into magazine writing, for instance, was actually doing a magazine internship over a summer," Beck said. "I realized then that sitting in a cubicle was not in my nature."
Though she had to return for an extra year of study, Beck said she has no regrets about pursuing her English degree.
"I wouldn't have done anything differently, even though I had to take an extra year to satisfy all of these science requirements," she said. "I needed time at Tufts to figure out what my passions really were, and once I graduated, I knew which route I wanted to take, even if it meant going back for more schooling to get it."
Beck added that college should be "more about finding a passion" than finding a job.
"You do not need to do something with your major after you graduate, so don't think about jobs right now," she said. "Think about what major would make you the happiest while you are still in college, and whatever you are interested in right now, do."
According to Lemire, his book is precisely for students - like Beck and DeBellis - who are unsure of their future career paths while in college.
But the most important lesson students can take from his book is "don't panic," Lemire said.
"Where there are words, there are people who write the words, and there are people who edit the words," he said. "Where there are words, there are jobs for an English major."
