Turning an English Degree into a Job

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a student in possession of an English degree must be in want of a job. Or at least, that tends to be the fear for English students wondering if they will be able to get a good job after graduation. On Thursday October 20, four BYU alumni came back to BYU to share how they use their English degrees in professional work settings and what their journey to a job looked like.

Jennifer Egan has what many would consider a dream job: writing stories for video games. Her latest project includes designing the narrative for side quests with a Slytherin character inside a Harry Potter video game. Jennifer described her journey finding this amazing job as “wandering.” She participated in many clubs at BYU, such as the Video Game Club and BYU Singers, and received internship opportunities at IM Flash and Startup Marketing Agency. These experiences helped her become well rounded, but she was still unsure about what she wanted to do after college. Jennifer thought about the things she loved doing and decided, “I love video games, and somebody’s got to make them, so why not me?”

She credits her humanities knowledge with giving her a great base for understanding the many disciplines involved with video game design. “A video game is a huge visual essay, and I had to keep thinking ‘How can I keep my audience reading?’” she said. Her biggest piece of advice for students is to “be intentional about your education” and “build on what you already know,” because you never know how those skills might fit into what you do later in life.

Michael Walton writes anything and everything that a business could want. His team manages all the promotional writing (or copy) for Pluralsight, including designing infographics, discovering the most likeable wording for a billboard, and writing the script for hilarious ads. Michael says that his English degree is invaluable in his job as it has given him the vocabulary to explain what is happening in a piece of copy and to justify the decisions he makes when editing that copy.

Michael took a straightforward path to landing his current job, saying “I knew I wanted to write, I wanted to edit, and I found a job for that.” He studied English with a minor in editing and did freelance work on the side to build his portfolio. He took on extra opportunities to build his portfolio by editing for professors, interning at a marketing agency, and working as a writing fellow. His biggest piece of advice for students is to constantly build your portfolio and become more comfortable sharing your writing regularly.

McKelle George is the author of Speak Easy Speak Love, The Heart Hunter, and the Enola Holmes graphic novel, and has ghostwritten a number of other books. Her path to becoming a published author required dedication and a lot of hustling. McKelle knew as a student she wanted to write creatively, but she acknowledges that this took longer to become her full-time job than other options available to a writer. “It takes time to both publish and get royalties,” she said.

For the first six years after grad school, she had to hustle at small jobs to be able to write what she loved. She said, “I turned down more secure options to have more time for my creative writing.” Despite the effort it took to get where she is now, McKelle reaffirmed that she loves writing and believes in the power it has. “Humanity is hugely dependent on stories.” She also spoke about the benefit of her English degree, saying, “Being an English major teaches you not what to think but how to think.”

Kristen Evans helps authors get books from a manuscript to a polished product. She helps authors edit their books and works on big-picture elements of book production, such as cover design, back-of-book blurbs, and marketing. Her path to her current job involved jumping on the opportunities around her. She worked in various positions around campus, participated in the Wordsworth Trust one summer, worked part time at A+B Works Literary Agency, attended writing conferences put on at BYU, and submitted her work to various short story contests. She advised students to cultivate their own luck by putting themselves in a position to be invited to do things. Most importantly, she reminded students to take a breath.

The idea of looking for a job after college can strike terror into students’ hearts, but wasting time worrying about post-graduation life detracts from the amazing experience that college provides. Kristen said, “Remember, you’re going to be okay.” Michael confirmed that “every company needs writers,” so students should focus on studying what they love and know that there will be opportunities for them when they graduate.