Debating on changing majors from IT Networking to English for various reasons before I transfer to a 4-year school. My old path was IT, minor in English.
Up to this point, I’m just not enjoying any IT classes I’ve had, and I wonder whether or not I’ll really be able to stand getting up every day and feeling like Peter Gibbons. The pay (with exceptions obviously) will be better in IT, but I wonder if I can justify the trade-off for my sanity. High-paying jobs are available in any market, though. My friend’s uncle, who’s an English major, was making 150k a year in a sales position before switching jobs. But, again, I’m not saying this is the norm, I’m just giving an example.
What I am wondering, is if anyone has any positions other than the “common” writer/editor, teacher, etc jobs. I would like to hear from those as well, as I am just trying to get a feeler for the job market. I’ve browsed Google and such, but real world information speaks more to me than statistics on a Web page. I’ve been looking through the weekend papers as well, just checking for various things that may fit the bill.
So, the basics would be great for anyone willing to share: what career, years in career, whether or not you enjoy it, salary, anything anyone is willing to share.
IT systems employees can chime in as well with any advice, and any of the same criteria above if you’d like.
I greatly appreciate any information given. If you’d rather not post, feel free to PM me.
MY girlfriend has a master degree in English from Gannon university. since she graduated all of her jobs been in managerial position in retail. currently now she is a store manager. she is also take classes in bushiness to help her find a new professional career.
she talks about being a English major and says its hard to find a good job. unless you get into teaching or journalism its one of the harder degrees to find a job
If you would like anymore information you can PM me and i can forward you her email ady
i i dual majored in college and received both english lit and history degrees. in addition to my studies, i worked as sr. editor for a scholarly journal and taught literacy classes. all of that looked swell on paper but screwed me.
i was told that i’m over qualified for startup postions, under for higher positions. pittsburgh area had no job market for my style of copy editing. it is all out by ny/nj/md. even then, startout for most jobs was 22-25 range, with a few higher up jobs at 24-32k. no way i could live alone for 22-25k in ny/nj/md area.
the pgh area papers look for writers who can take photos. so plan on dropping a grand for a camera, plus another 300 for a lense. take a class at school to get familiar or start shooting. problem w/ pgh area papers-- numbers are dropping. they are really not hiring fulltime-- you will be doign alot fo freelance work.
imo, best bet is to go into secondary english and teach school. granted, you take shit for english lit classes with majority education classes–but finding a job is alot easier.
since at one time you liked the IT stuff, and you like writing, you might be able to either get in as an IT trainer or someone writing documentation for a large company. Probably will mean a move somewhere outside of pittsburgh, but might be able to leverage both things that you like.
In my experience, minors don’t really mean sh1t. Maybe someone else has had a different experience. I know a lot of people that got jobs that were not at all related to their degrees, so I’m not sure what the minor would do for you.
To get a job as an electrical engineer, that had to be your major. Anything you can claim to know from your “minor” you could easily justify with experience, or 1 or 2 classes.
It has also been my experience that there are only 3 classes of colleges, and I’ll break them down.
Community college level, obvious
Mid-range, to include most state schools
High end/Ivy league (UPenn, CMU, etc)
The high end degrees are pimptastic, and can get you jobs to match, providing you can interview better than a rock, and you got above a 3.0.
The mid-grade stuff is a dime a dozen, 9/10 times, doesn’t really separate you from someone who went to CCAC. Sometimes it will.
That has been my experience thus far in life (age 25), and I am happy to share. Take my advice with a grain of salt, I majored in business management.
Minor will not get you a job but may help you succeed in a job depending what it is. English degree is probably not the best route to go since IT you can easily get a well paying job.
I have a liberal arts degree (US History)…I would advise you to NOT get a degree in liberal arts if you plan on trying to get a job right after college.
Stick with your IS path- I wish I would have done this.
Sailor I have told you for how long…Move out of this hell hole and teach somewhere. in MD we are talking about 30K a year for a teacher and all you need is a bach. no teaching certificate like this stupid state. that is why other states have better teachers cause by the time they get there they still like their job unlike most here