What the hell am I going to do with an English degree? Britt: "forreal dough"

[Sarah]

My friend who is a grant writer says she expects to earn the agency twice her salary in grants every year.

[Kate]

Sarah Pi wrote: "My friend who is a grant writer says she expects to earn the agency twice her salary in grants every year."

Good info. Thanks.

[Sarah]

Kate wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "My friend who is a grant writer says she expects to earn the agency twice her salary in grants every year."

Good info. Thanks."

I think that would probably be a good line to use in an interview. It implies that you will be worth your while, and that there is a measurable rubric for success. Of course, then you have to meet that mark.

[Orion]

I have an English degree, Britt.

Turns out, it's basically fancy toilet paper. Perhaps it's just my propensity for underachieving, but I didn't quite land my dream job of working in publishing.
My parents advocated my getting a degree, I think just because of the connotations of having one more than anything else. So I got my loans and toughed through it and finished.
But I was so lost when I graduated. It was like being given a key and finding a million doors. I had the vaguest ideas of what to do.
So in the end it was a $30k book club (my concentration was in literature). I think I can still put it to good use, but the lesson I learned--and I think you can benefit from this--is to have a GAMEPLAN.
You don't spin a cocoon on the night of graduation and emerge a career professional.

[Brittomart]

That makes me want to cry.

[Michele]

britt, imagine your dream job. then sit down and make a 5 yr. plan of how to get from where you are to where you want to be: internships, business experience,volunteer experience (leadership skill there). go for it. That's what I did and got the career I wanted. planning, planning, more planning.

[Phil]

There are apparently office politics even in such refined places as libraries.

Management Shake-Up at SLC Library

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

I think you'd be an awesome librarian, Britt. Keep in mind it's not just working with books. Public librarians interact with, well, the PUBLIC a lot. It makes the job very interesting.

Sadly, I do NOT get paid to read on the job. You'd think I would, but no. :\

[Brittomart]

Oh, I know that. I worked in a library for a semester. Even though I was just shelving books and microfilm, I observed what my boss and coworkers did. I liked it.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Woo! Then you've already got some experience! The cool thing about becoming a librarian is there are no prerequisites for grad school. The broader your studies and interests, the better.

Unless you want to go into special libraries, which are a whole other world. That's like working for corporations or the government in their libraries, and involves more research and archival stuff. In that case, you might want to specialize in whatever area you want to be a librarian in. Those jobs pay better. Imagine being a librarian for Microsoft, say. But then you have to know more about computers.

[Jonathan]

What kind of grad school programs would Britt need to look into in order to become a librarian, Jackie? How many years are they? Are there any particularly good ones you know of near where Britt lives?

[Brittomart]

So I wouldn't have to like, major or minor information and library studies in order to go to grad school for that?

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Nope, any bachelor's degree will do, Britt.

There are lots of MLS programs in California. Lots of my coworkers are doing the distance program with UC San Jose.

UCLA has one, too, and it's really good. There's a School of Information program at Berkeley (I HATE that particular change of name, what, I ask, is wrong with the term Library Science, other than it's quaint conceit that it's a science), and I would have LOVED to go there, but it made more sense for me to go to the University of Washington in Seattle, since my mom worked there and I could live for free at home.

[Carol]

Southern Fried Britt wrote: "So I wouldn't have to like, major or minor information and library studies in order to go to grad school for that?"

Britt, I work in an academic library (I am not a librarian) I have heard _many_ times that a bachelor's in anything but library/information science is preferred. Whatever you major in as an undergrad could become your specialty in an academic library - if it's English, you would be the liaison to the English faculty, teach some research classes, and order books to support new/existing courses.

[Angel]

My college roommate and I both graduated with English degrees. I went on to a misspent life of ill-conceived notions and she went on to get her MLS.

She now is the librarian at a prestigious boys' school in MA, which combined her love of books and of teaching.

[Kate]

oh, I'm so bad. I thought it was going to say "...her love of books and of boys."

[Cynthia]

I thought the same thing. Those darling peach-cheeked boys, wearing blazers and natty shorts.

[Angel]

Ach! Dreadful. I should have parsed that better.

[Pat]

Britt - Do not confuse what you study in college with real life.
My husband has a BA in English, and is a grad school dropout. He studied art in grad school.

He spent his career as a shipping manager. It's not a prestigious or high paying job, but he doesn't care. He doesn't live to work, he works to live. Its a job where he still has time and energy in the evenings on weekends to do what he wants to do.

On the other hand, I have a business degree and worked for 14 years in IT, and basically can't get a minimum wage job these days. Go figure.

Plans are okay, but life has a way of making them all a big cosmic joke.

Study what you want to study. There are no majors or degrees that guaranty success or failure.

[[deleted user]]

I love Daria.

If I had my dream job, I'd be a librarian. But, I'm not sure if that is a good field to go into when they're cutting hours and closing branches so much these days. I guess it depends on where you live and the state of the libraries there.