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Life After an English Degree

English grads share their path to a successful career at the English at Work Panel.

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From left to right: Rebecca Cazanave, Taelin Bryan, Kylie Brooks, Benjamin Miller
Photo by David John Arnett

English degrees teach many valuable skills: reading, writing, analyzing, and critical thinking. But many students wonder how transferrable these skills are to the real world of careers.

A panel of four BYU English graduates sat down at the English at Work Alumni Panel to share their stories of how they use their English majors in their careers and to provide advice for students in the major.

Kylie Brooks – BYU Social Media Manager

Kylie Brooks (BA ’11) runs the official BYU Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. Her job consists of holding strategic counsels and training different colleges and organizations on how to most effectively use social media. Additionally, she utilizes her English skills of copywriting as the BYU social media manager and adjunct professor in the public relations program.

She advised English majors to take their classes seriously and network with professors. For Brooks, writing was a touchpoint that brought her to the English major, and she suggested that students foster their own interests, or touchpoints, within the major like reading, writing, and critical thinking.

Taelin Bryan – Analyst at KLAS Research

Taelin Bryan’s (BA ’20) English major helped her jump-start her career as a health care consulting analyst. Her English degree also led her to study English literature at Cambridge, work for the British Parliament, and work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bryan’s editing minor helped her become more marketable in the real world, and she recommended students pursue minors that will similarly serve them.

Benjamin Miller – Content Director, Charles Schwab

The finance world was never an area Benjamin Miller (BA ’12) saw himself pursuing, but he landed a job at Charles Schwab as a content developer. He planned and designed instructional YouTube videos that gave financial and investing advice to everyday Americans.

Miller recommended that English students make friends with their peers and coworkers and cast a wide net of interactions so that work opportunities can arrive later.

Rebecca Cazanave – Product Manager, The Lowdown

As the founder of The Lowdown, a housing review website for college students, Rebecca Cazanave (BA ’18, MFA ’21) uses her English writing skills every day. She hired a web team to help her build the website while she wrote the copy and focused on other aspects of the business. The writing skills she learned in the major helped her become clearer and more concise when designing her website. Additionally, she works as a creative writer and novelist on the side.

Cazanave advises that students optimize their talents, build a portfolio by gaining a wide range of experiences, and network with others.

With a degree as versatile as the English major, career opportunities are limitless. In the words of Cazanave, “English majors get to grow up to be whatever they want to be!” To hear more inspiring stories about English majors and their journeys, visit the English at Work website.