What You Can Actually Do With an English Degree

What Employers See in an English Degree

An English degree signals strong writing, editing, and critical reading skills, all of which employers outside publishing want just as much as those inside it. The challenge is that English major is not a job title, so you need to translate the degree into specific, marketable skills when you apply.

Writing and Editing Careers

Writers and authors, who produce content across books, media, and marketing, earn a median of $72,270 a year . Editors, who review and refine other people's writing at publishers, media companies, and corporate communications teams, earn a median of $75,260 a year .

Technical writers, who turn complex technical or scientific information into manuals, documentation, and how-to guides, earn a median of $91,670 a year , the highest of these three writing-focused roles. Software companies, engineering firms, and healthcare organizations hire technical writers regularly, and an English degree paired with a portfolio of clear, structured writing samples qualifies you directly.

Beyond Publishing

Marketing and content teams hire English majors for copywriting, content strategy, and brand messaging roles, valuing the same close-reading and audience-awareness skills built in literature coursework. Public relations teams look for similar skills when drafting press releases and media pitches.

Law schools accept students from any undergraduate major, and English is a common pre-law choice because of the reading, argument construction, and writing demands of both the major and the Law School Admission Test. Teaching English at the K-12 level requires a state teaching certification on top of the degree, which most programs let you start while still an undergraduate through an education minor or a post-graduate certification program.

How to Translate the Major on a Resume

NACE , which surveys employers on what they look for in new graduates, consistently finds written communication among the top skills employers rate as important yet underdeveloped in new hires. That gap works in your favor if you can show it directly.

List specific writing samples, publications, or edited work instead of just naming your major and GPA. A portfolio link, whether it holds journalism clips, a blog, or writing samples from an internship, does more for an English major's job search than the transcript alone. Target job postings that mention strong writing skills required even when the title has nothing to do with English, since these postings signal exactly the gap your degree fills.

Where English Grads Actually Get Hired

Publishers, newspapers, and digital media companies hire English majors into editorial assistant, copy editor, and staff writer roles, though many entry points pay closer to the lower end of the writer and editor pay ranges above. Corporate marketing departments, software companies, and healthcare organizations hire the same grads into content and technical writing roles that often pay more than traditional publishing jobs.

Nonprofits and government agencies hire English majors for grant writing and public communications roles, which reward the same close reading and precise writing skills as literary analysis. Law firms and legal publishers also hire English grads as paralegals or legal writers while they decide whether to apply to law school.

Pairing the Major With a Minor or Second Skill

A business, marketing, or data analytics minor alongside an English degree signals to employers that you can pair strong writing with a specific business function, which widens your job search beyond editorial and publishing roles. A journalism or digital media minor does the same for content-heavy marketing and media roles.

Foreign language study alongside English opens translation, localization, and international communications roles that English-only majors often overlook. Check whether your school lets you double count courses between an English major and a relevant minor, since this adds a second credential without extending your time to graduation.

Graduate School Options

An MFA in creative writing, a master's in library science, or a publishing certificate program extend the degree for students who want to specialize further, though none of the roles above require a master's to get started. Treat graduate school as a way to deepen a specific direction you already tested through internships, not as a default next step after a broad major.

Timing Your Job Search

Start applying for internships by sophomore or junior year rather than waiting for senior spring, since publishing, marketing, and media internships often fill their cohorts months ahead of the start date. Many technical writing and content roles hire year round, so a strong portfolio can land you an offer outside the traditional fall recruiting cycle that business majors follow.

Building Relevant Experience

• Write for your campus paper, literary magazine, or a local publication to build a public portfolio before graduation

• Take on a marketing, communications, or publishing internship, since these convert to job offers more often than a general English department path

• Learn basic content management or editing software, since many writing and editing jobs list this as a requirement

• Apply to roles titled content writer, copywriter, or communications coordinator, not just editor or writer, to widen your search