Why You Should Stay An English Major

By Lev Novak

If you’re an English Major, chances are you’ve faced some doubt. Either from your friends, your parents, or even you have questions about where that’s going to lead.

“What jobs are there for an English Major?”

“Are you just going to work at Starbucks?”

“Is anyone going to pay to read an essay on sexuality in Django Unchained?”

The answer, to all these questions is: shut up. As a recent English major myself, (and one with a salary) I’m here to explain to you, in one simple argument, why you should stick with what you’re doing.

You know why?

You Would Be A Terrible Engineer

This is the biggest point of all, and the one you should remember for yourself and show your parents. People are unique, with their own strengths and weaknesses, and if you’re an English major, chances are that’s your passion. That passion is what makes you talented and ultimately employable, and it isn’t something you can just sub out of.

Listen: if you love poetry and software design, you should go for a career in software. Even if you love poetry a little more, be realistic- save it for the weekend. But chances are you don’t love software. You probably don’t even like math. If you’re worrying about other majors, you’d just want them for the money, but come on- it’s just not that simple.

Think about it this way: let’s say you’re an English major and your parents want you to be a engineer. You sigh, and say: time to be realistic. I’ll become a engineer. You hate it, but you grit your teeth and power through: you’re up late, working hard, hating every moment of your life just to get that job. And you know what?

You won’t get it.

That’s because engineering is hard: so is computer science. All those employable majors are employable because people with talent and interest in them are rare. You could bust your butt, hating everything, and get a C- in all your courses. I worked my tail off- did all the work, met with the teacher, and even got a private tutor- and I still got a D in Calculus.

So what’s more realistic: that you should follow your passion and skill-set and work your way up for a job like that, or that you should do a terrible impression of an engineer? The employers are going to see through that. Don’t make yourself miserable. Follow your passion and, just as importantly, your skills, and keep your head up. hate everything, get a C-, and not get a job because the company wants actual engineers and not, for example, panicked English majors who did a terrible impression of one.

Similarly, English majors get jobs. Yes, not as easily as some Math kids, but we aren’t Math kids. Let’s make peace with that. English major kids represent tons of people, so just be you: work hard, find jobs you’d be good at, and do them well. It’s crazy to me that sort of advice might seem controversial, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? Companies need people who can write, who can talk, who can create and think and sell. And if that’s what you’re good at, what a great match!

What the world doesn’t need is some English major doing a terrible job as a web designer.

Stay with it. And remember: even if you have trouble finding a job, a different major isn’t a guarantee either. Political Science kids and even engineers are having trouble finding work these days- if you’re going to have trouble too, don’t you think it you might as well be looking for the work you’re actually good at?

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