In about a week and a half, I will have a college degree with honors and a decent number of academic accolades. Of course, this greatly saddens me, as it appears that this development will greatly proclude the likelihood of me getting a job. The problem, of course, is that I will have a degree in English.
Taken from my department's mission statement, the goal of an English degree is more or less the following: "By studying how individuals in specific historical, cultural, and rhetorical circumstances present their ideas to others through the medium of language, our students learn how to present their own ideas persuasively. They learn to raise key questions, gather relevant information, reach well-reasoned conclusions, weigh alternative systems of thought, and communicate effectively with others."
Notice there's nothing in there about "preparing our students to be high school English teachers," as is the common pigeon-holing misconception. To me, an English education is the single most important education a person can receive, for reasons both idealistic and yes, even practical. In a survey of various employers from a few years back, effective communication skills were cited as being the single most important attribute for employees to possess. In fact, I don't want this to come out wrong, but I'm pretty confident that most of my fellow English majors are even more qualified to run a business than most business majors I've met. Of course, this begs the question:
Why can't I find a job?
My friend Will, also a next-week English graduate with honors, works at a furniture warehouse, where he is forced to handle a bunch of the store's official correspondence and other items that elude the competence of those around him. He doesn't get paid for this, though. He gets paid for selling furniture, which job he is ironically more qualified for even than his superiors. Perhaps the problem is that the skills we've learned are valuable for all fields, but not one specifically. After all, who wants an employee that could veritably excel at jobs other than their own?
I feel like I have learned a great deal throughout the course of my college education, and I remain extremely proud of my English degree. It will indeed prove immeasurably useful in my life, and I don't, nor will I ever regret it for a second. I've loved it.
They say "you can do anything with an English degree," but they don't offer a single specific suggestion. I now have one year before grad school, and I am in desperate need of suggestions. Or just jobs. Would anyone be willing to part with either?
The Power of a Mother’s Story
11 months ago
5 responses:
I feel your pain.
I agree with this completely. In fact, at both of the very successful restaurants I work at right now (I drive to Bountiful to do so — and only on the weekends for 12-14 hours each day, because I make enough to justify it — $560 yesterday and Friday), the owners rely on me to deal with difficult PR tasks. One of them says "You can say anything to anyone without pissing them off."
At that place, the customer base is pretty much a clientele of rich housewives and successful businessmen. It's pricey (for a quick lunch) and it's very good food. When you're dealing with the likes of the Ken Garff family and the owners of other salt lake city restaurants, spas, salons, etc, it's difficult to tell them they need to wait for a table for lunch (because we get slammed every day-it's just insanely busy), or that we can't allow their kid to bring in his McDonald's kid's meal or whatever. So I get sent on all these little PR missions, even though the two owners are young (25-30), attractive, and hugely popular with the customers (and they're there every single day).
The other restaurant has been ridiculed for the last three years by Mary Brown Malouf, food editor of Salt Lake City magazine and at-least-one-time contributor to the Trib (for a devastating review of my place of business). A week ago I got an email from the owner/manager of said restaurant, asking if I'd be interested in writing to Ms. Brown Malouf, with intent to entice her back into the restaurant she hasn't visited for three years but still continues to write negatively about based on back-to-back bad experiences in 06. This from the management of a restaurant that has been featured in USA Today, that has been established 30 years, and that I personally sold $1700 of food in Friday night (as one of 8 servers). The management and ownership is fantastic, but they don't know how to begin approaching this.
I said I'd love to do it, and I'll probably have fun doing it. There's not another person there who could pull it off, but I bet I can. I'd be surprised if I can't get her back, and soon.
Anyway, I couldn't have done this stuff my freshman year of college.
I read a book titled "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future" or something like that, and it talked about the MFA being the new MBA for major businesses — in other words, just a new understanding that the skills needed in that field came more from creative people than those dumb kids in business school (: but it was published in 06, and I have no doubt that the numbers it was talking about have changed. When businesses tighten their belts, they undoubtedly fire their MFAs before their MBAs, because it's a bit harder to measure what the MFAs are contributing, I would bet.
John, (am I allowed to say your name?) I appreciate your additions, and the well-put post on your own blog. Also, nice charms. There may be a problem with your new template though, because it's not letting me comment. Hope you see this.
only reason I leave my name off mine is because I don't want in-laws stalking my blog.
pultigu.
word verification word of the day.
My father has a degree in English and worked at the Writer's Guild of America for 27 years as the salaried and benefitted manager of their mail room and got laid off but uses his pension to pay off his mortgage while we live off his hourly wages from the mail department of the credit union of a world-renowned aerospace corporation and well yeah he's struggling but is 56 and going to grad school to get a Master's of Fine Arts in Theatre...to hopefully get a respectable job in the industry even though I think he just needs to network, because his only recent theatre experience was unpaid and he was a dramaturge, and because it will allow him to die happy.
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