Casual Friday 10.19.18

ADVICE FROM AN ENGLISH MAJOR GRADUATE

I mentioned last week that I was invited to speak at a panel at my alma mater. It was an honor to be invited back and it made me feel very grateful for the career opportunities that I have had, even thought my career has been only over the last 4 years.

I prepped some talking points, but I mostly let the answers come in the moment, and played off the other panelists’ answers. I thought I would be way more nervous than I was, but when I actually got there, I just put myself into their shoes and tried to give them the information I wish I had when I was their age (which was not too long ago).

Now that I’ve had some time to reflect, I want to write up some of my thoughts and observations in a little letter to English majors. Feel free to send this note to any one you may know who is an English major, is considering an English degree, or has recently graduated. Maybe it will help?

DEAR ENGLISH MAJOR,

If you’re like me, you’ve heard these questions/remarks a few times:

“Are you going to teach?” “How will you make money?” 

And it’s true. Many people go on to become teachers or double major, and because of stupid and inefficient way our country values teachers, go on to have less lucrative careers than maybe other majors.

Because, let’s face it, most of us are English majors because:

1. we like to read A LOT of books
2. we like to write
3. we all had an amazing and inspiring high school English teacher who believed in us and was so cool and we wanted to be just like them.

I wanted to be a teacher. In fact I applied for graduate school to get a master’s in English so that I could one day teach community college or high school AP English like my favorite teacher, Mr. Brown did.

To Teach or Not To Teach

Right before I started grad school, I got cold feet. I realized that I didn’t actually want to teach. It wasn’t something I was actually passionate about, nor could I see myself actually doing it on a daily basis.

That might sound kind of harsh and cold. And honestly, I felt really guilty for not wanting to spend my career helping nurture students like I was nurtured. But it was true. And I’m so glad I realized it before I started grad school and spent a ton of money and time on a career I might not love.

So I guess my advice at this point would be: don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself.

Also think about the things you actually love doing. Make a list. It can be something like “Helping my brother edit his essays” or “writing a blog.” Think about the underlying skills that are necessary to accomplish that task. And then find jobs that fit those skills. Or better, do this before you graduate and then go to the career center and ask for help to find an internship or contact some alumni who are using the skills you love to use in their jobs.

I decided against grad school, so I threw myself into finding a job. It was really hard to do, actually. In fact, I had to do an internship first, even though I had done 3 internships in college already. I learned, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area, that

“Entry level” never actually means 0 years of work experience.

It was a hit to my ego to have to do another internship (though generously paid) after college. But it helped me gather my thoughts, helped me think about what I really wanted, and go after it.

HOW TO NETWORK WHEN YOU THINK YOU DON’T HAVE ONE

So I spent that time as an intern after college getting the lay of the land: Looking up all the companies I really wanted to work at, and scouring them for Westmont College Alumni on LinkedIn. I found one! I wanted my next move to be to book publishing, because who DOESN’T want to be part of making books, if you already love reading them?!

So I found a very nice Westmont alumna at Chronicle Books and asked if I could meet her and take her to lunch. She agreed and also even gave me a tour of the office!

As a new grad, you might not think you have much of a network. BUT YOU DO.

One thing that in retrospect, I think I did right. I spent time asking her questions without an ulterior motive. There were no open positions at that time at Chronicle Books that were suited to my interests and goals, so I wasn’t really hungry for her approval and a reference just yet. I got to learn more about the company without demanding that she endorse me.

Then, a couple months later, an opening DID happen. I reached back out, and she helped me get my foot in the door. And I GOT THE JOB!

WHEN YOUR DREAM JOB ISN’T YOUR FINAL JOB

Working in publishing was a dream come true. I got to work with other fellow book lovers, mostly English majors too, who swooned over new book smell, over beautiful illustration for children’s books, and over a gripping storyline in a novel. I got to go to conferences and collect ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of the coolest upcoming books BEFORE they were even published. It was incredible.

But it was tough. Publishing doesn’t really pay well, and I was living in an expensive city as a newlywed, while my husband was in school and also making very little money.

So I knew I needed to move on. And so I started my job search again.

Job searching is the worst.

If you don’t find something immediately, or especially if it takes months, you feel like something’s wrong with you. Like there’s nobody out there in the world that cares about your experience or that you’re a good worker or that you have done some pretty awesome stuff for being so young. It’s an awful feeling.

So sometimes, it’s true: you just get really lucky and blessed.

I got my current role by just applying cold on LinkedIn. Didn’t know anyone at the company. Didn’t have any clue how what I’d be doing related to my experience. But boy, has having been an English major, and a copy editor, and a writer, and a good communicator, really paid off.

#BLESSED, but really.

And so that’s where I am today!

I’ve learned so much in only 4 years out of college and have grown and continue to learn.

My parting thought I shared with the panel was my favorite advice from Sheryl Sandberg in her book Lean In, but also from her talk when she visited my office. To paraphrase: think about what you want to learn in the next 18 months. And also, think about what you eventually want to be at the end and what skills you want to be utilizing. But don’t plan the stuff in the middle. Otherwise you’ll be closed-off when amazing opportunities come your way.

As an English major, you have amazing unique skills fashioning arguments, telling compelling stories, writing, speaking, thinking critically. You pledge undying allegiance to the Oxford comma,  you know that a “sword” might not just be a sword, and yes, you do dare eat a peach. You can do so much with your skills that you might not even know about yet. Or that haven’t even been INVENTED yet.

I’m really thankful to my husband, to God, and to my family (even though a few of them WERE some of the English major-naysayers at first) for what I have and what I will do.

I hope some of my experience and what I’ve learned is helpful to others.

So Dear English Major, have hope and get excited!

Love, Megan

PS Here’s a motivational picture of Rocket the dog from his birthday this week (October 17th). He’s 2 years old and he’s the best.