Angela Nixon: Speechwriter

Name: Angela Nixon    

Age: 39

College & Majors/Minors: Clemson University, Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in technical writing (1999); also earned a Master of Arts in Professional Communication from Clemson in 2001

Current Location: Live in Seneca, SC; work in Clemson, SC

Current Form of Employment: Speechwriter

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at Clemson University as the speechwriter for the university president. I also assist the president’s office with other communication needs, such as correspondence.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first “real” job out of graduate school was at Clemson in the Media Relations office. I was finishing up graduate school and had been applying for jobs for months, mostly looking at technical writing jobs (because that’s what I thought I wanted to do at the time). I was not having any luck at all with it and was getting really discouraged. I saw that the university’s media relations office was hiring someone to do media relations/PR work for the Division of Student Affairs. It wasn’t what I envisioned myself doing forever, and I really never planned to stay at Clemson after graduation, but I decided to apply. I got the job, mostly based on my knowledge and familiarity with the university and the fact that as an undergraduate, I had held two internships at a newspaper as a reporter. They were looking for someone who could write press releases in the style of news stories, so it was really the newspaper internships that got my foot in the door.

““They were looking for someone who could write press releases in the style of news stories, so it was really the newspaper internships that got my foot in the door.””

My current job as the president’s speechwriter happened fairly recently, in January 2015. Our president came to Clemson in 2014. The speechwriter for the previous president was retiring, so there was an opening to fill, and a need to get it filled quickly, as the president has a LOT of speaking engagements. I expressed an interest in the position and before I knew it, I had been promoted into the job. It was really important to have someone in this position who knows Clemson University backwards and forwards, especially since our president was relatively new. After being a student here and then an employee for nearly 14 years, my institutional knowledge, combined with my abilities as a writer, were what helped me get the job.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I mentioned it in my previous answer, but my internships at my local newspaper were definitely important in my career. I think it is safe to say that I never would have been hired to work in Clemson’s Media Relations office without that experience. The summer of my junior year in college I got an internship with my hometown newspaper, The Index-Journal, in Greenwood, SC. It is a daily paper, but it is a small daily, so the interns are treated like normal staff reporters. I was assigned a beat to cover and I was out there every day finding stories, interviewing people, writing stories, just like the full-time staff. It definitely was not an internship that involved making copies or getting people coffee. I was filing multiple stories a day, as well as taking photos for my stories, as the paper did not have a staff photographer at that time. (I also learned how to develop film, as this was in the dark ages of 1998, before digital photography was common.)

““Sometimes internships are valuable because they help you figure out what you don’t want to do with your career.””

The summer after I graduated, I interned at the same newspaper, but this time I was in the sports department, an experience that allowed me to add skills such as “keeping box scores for baseball” to my resume. Those two internships taught me so much about working under constant deadlines, how to interview people, how to find stories and pitch them to an editor, dealing with confrontational people (because not every news story is positive, of course, and not everyone wants to be interviewed), and lots of other great skills, in addition to developing my writing skills. Just as importantly, those internship experiences taught me that I did NOT want a career in journalism. Sometimes internships are valuable because they help you figure out what you don’t want to do with your career.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

This one is a little difficult for me, simply because I don’t remember doing anything special to prepare for life after college. I did the internships that I mentioned above, I worked hard in my classes, and I also was involved in one student organization at Clemson — Central Spirit, which is like Clemson’s version of a “pep club” to support athletics. I became president of Central Spirit my senior year, which gave me a taste of leadership experience, and it allowed me to interact with university staff members and administrators more than most students probably do. It was a valuable experience for me. But my “post-grad life” consisted of immediately going to graduate school, which was always my plan, so I didn’t feel like I needed to do much to really prepare for it.

I will say this — graduate school was a completely different experience than being an undergraduate. My master’s program is also housed in the English Department at Clemson, so I figured it would be something of an extension of my undergraduate experience. I was so wrong. The level of rigor and sheer amount of work involved in graduate school was so much higher than it was for me as an undergraduate, and that was something I was not prepared for at all. I had a very difficult time adjusting to the workload and having a graduate assistantship at the same time. It was very overwhelming for me. I also did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my master’s degree, so I felt a bit rudderless at times, which didn’t help. I was putting in all of this work, but I wasn’t sure what the end result would be. Looking back, I should have done more research on graduate degrees, both the requirements to earn a degree and which degree I really wanted. I don’t regret going to graduate school, I just wish I had been better prepared for it.

““Don’t get discouraged. The communication and critical thinking skills you are honing right now are so important, and critical thinking is a topic that is sorely lacking in a lot of disciplines right now. That’s what you’re learning, and it is something that employers do value.””

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

My number one piece of advice for English majors or recent graduates is this: don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you cannot find a job with an English degree. Don’t get discouraged. The communication and critical thinking skills you are honing right now are so important, and critical thinking is a topic that is sorely lacking in a lot of disciplines right now. That’s what you’re learning, and it is something that employers do value.

My other piece of advice is to keep an open mind about your career path and be willing to try things that may not be exactly in line with what you think you want to do. My original goal when I changed my major to English (I started out as a biology major, if you can believe that) was to become a technical writer. Looking back, I’m not sure why I chose that career path, but that’s what I wanted at the time. I minored in it, and I thought I had chosen a graduate program that would lend itself to a career in technical writing. But when I had an opportunity to intern at the newspaper, I decided to do it, just to try something new and to have some kind of relevant work experience for my resume. It wasn’t my dream job by a long shot, but it gave me the experience I needed to get a job after graduate school. I never envisioned myself in a public relations kind of job, and I certainly NEVER thought I would be writing speeches for the president of a major university, but I have loved my career so far, and now I can’t imagine being happy as a technical writer. Had I not tried those internships in journalism, though, none of it ever would have happened, and who knows where I would have ended up? So my advice is to not limit yourself to one specific career path and to be open to new experiences … because you never know where those other paths might lead. 

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Sabrina Son: Content Marketer

Name: Sabrina Son

Age: 28

College & Majors/Minors: University of Washington, BA in Creative Writing / Minor in Law, Societies, and Justice

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: Content Marketer

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at a start-up where I do content marketing. Just like any other start-up, I wear many hats on the marketing team, but the bulk of my day goes towards managing my company's blog, from content strategy, writing articles, and overseeing freelance writers. I also work on email drip campaigns, writing ad copy, and basically anything else related to words.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

I got the chance to interview with Boeing for a technical writing position, but I didn't get the job because I didn't have enough experience. So I went back to school for a technical writing certificate, and from there, I discovered marketing writing, which I fell in love with. The classes I took helped build my writing portfolio, and I was able to use that to land a copywriting job for an e-commerce site.

I wanted to broaden my scope of skills, so I decided to escape copywriting and applied to my current company. I knew I was completely under-qualified for this job because I probably only met 10% of their requirements, but they took a leap of faith and hired me on!

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

For a while, I was a freelance associate editor at an ad agency that worked with magazines for Lexus, Holland America, etc. There, I learned how to do creative editing with articles from freelance writers and optimize copy for web, mobile, and print versions. It opened the door to the world of digital content for me.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

To be honest, I didn't do anything to prepare myself for the writing world because I was so set on going to law school. It's really all about how you can relate what you've learned or experienced to whatever job you're currently applying to — you're a writer after all, you know how to build sentences in your favor.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Don't just set your eyes on one dream job because you'll never know if you'll enjoy it until you get into the real world. Experiment with different styles of writing — copywriting, content marketing, social media — these all require more creativity than you'd think. Writing is such a unique talent that's difficult to pick up, and you'll find that it's also one of the most practical and rare skills out there.

Connect with Sabrina on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @sabrinason29! 

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Want to Apply to Grad School? Here’s What English Majors Need to Know ASAP

Ah, the life of an English major. The endless hours spent hunched over one of the twelve books you have to read by the end of the week, as well as the ten page papers all due at once… the sweet life. The smell of old books and the sound the leather bound covers make as you slowly open them to bask in their knowledge... it is the most delicious part.

But the one thing that I cannot stand, the constant question that I get from everyone:

What are you going to do with an English degree?

I have heard that specific question so many times it has driven me to start making up my major. Sometimes I pretend to be a psychology major, or a biology major, just to get people to stop asking that question, because it is always followed by: So what grade level are you going to teach?

““I just stare at them blankly and say, “I want to do research.” That astounds them, you can research literature?””

That really gets my goat. I just stare at them blankly and say, “I want to do research.” That astounds them, you can research literature? Yeah, you can. It’s called going forth and getting this thing called a Master’s degree, or even a PhD. Say what?! That’s right, graduate school. The scariest step you will ever take in your academic career.

You might think you are insane, but after a nice long ponder with a warm cup of tea, you come to realize, that is exactly what you want to do. It is not some lackadaisical decision made on some sunny afternoon on a whim, and it is not a last resort. It is something that you have seriously thought about, like I have. You have come to love what you have been doing for the past four years so much, that you want to get down to the nitty gritty.

You have become passionate about what you want to do, and there is no shame in that. You might think that you have lost your marbles, as you start filling out the applications and you realize how long you are going to have to wait before you get the results, and you will go crazy. From the time you apply in December/January, to the time you hear back in mid-March, you will have gone through so many different levels of freaking out, you’ll feel like Jack Torrance.

But I warn you, think about this decision. I deliberated this decision for almost two years before finally sticking to my gut and going for it. I am here to help with this heart wrenching process. If you are considering applying to grad school, there is a list of things you should do long before the application due date:

1. Stop and think.

Is grad school really what you want to do for the next x amount of years? Do you want to be going to seminars and writing papers, where the length requirement will terrify the freshman in you? Are you willing to set yourself down for hours on end each night and roll up your sleeves to really dig down into the topic of your dreams?

If so, great! If your heart is in the right place and you know that you can do it, than by all means go for it—but start as soon as possible. Once you have made the decision, do whatever extra work you can and prepare for the most emotional, exacerbating, exhausting trip of your lifetime.

2. Consult your professors.

After all of that hard and long decision making on whether or not you should go, if any uncertainties still lie within that big juicy brain of yours, ask a professor. Your professors are there to help and guide you—they are such a valuable source of information. They have been through the same process as you, and know what you should be doing to get into the best graduate school, but most importantly, the right graduate school for you.

They will tell you what you need to hear to get on the right track, and they will give you fantastic advice. I absolutely adore my professors. They were phenomenal when I asked them what I should start with and where to go. Their advice is golden. Do not be afraid to ask for help.

““Get all of the scholarships done as soon as possible. I waited too long and most of the scholarships I qualified for were already closed for submissions.””

3. Begin researching scholarships immediately.

Once the decision has been made, the planning begins. Get all of the scholarships done as soon as possible. I waited too long and most of the scholarships I qualified for were already closed for submissions. The Fulbright Scholarship, for example, has a deadline in October. I was looking for scholarships in November. Do not wait for them!

4. Start studying for the GREs sooner than later.

Those bad boys will kick you where the sun does not shine if you do not study. Their website is helpful and you can get a lot of good material off of it for free. There are also the subject tests, and many colleges want the English subject test taken to help further separate you from the others. I recommend taking the GREs and the subject tests more than once. They are meant to screw with you! They are difficult, do not be fooled. The summer of your junior year going into your senior year is the best time to take them, but taking them earlier would be better. That way you have a chance to get the results by October, and they are the results that you want to send out, not the ones you have to send out.

5. Make sure you have the necessary academic experience (this includes writing samples!).

While you are scholarship hunting and studying for the GREs, you are also going to want to start doing any extra work that you can. If you have great grades and can do any sort of Honors work, do it. Your school has an Honors Thesis program, so write one. Get involved with academia as much as you can.

Also, get started on what you will be using as your writing sample. The average length that graduate schools want for English/Comparative Literature majors is 20 pages. Some may want more, others may want less, but if you have a good enough sample there is nothing to worry about, especially if you have been doing well with your academics. You can even use your Honors Thesis that you worked so hard on for the writing sample.

Graduate schools want to see your best work to see how far you have come and if you have what it takes to go even further. All aspects of the application process are there to help you to stand out from other applicants. Your resume will help and you want to beef up your resume in your remaining years in undergrad.

6. Get your recommendation letters ASAP.

This is also something you do not want to wait to get done. Your professors, as great and as valuable as they are to you, also have jobs to do. They do not sleep in their offices like vampires and wait for your shining face to enter through their door. They have papers to grade and classes to prepare. They have meetings and who knows what else on their plate. They are not at your beck and call.

If you want a letter of recommendation, ask them early and give them a due date, before the semester even begins. The longer you take to ask, the longer you will be waiting to get them. If they do not have it done by the time an application is due… well, it is not good. The school you are applying to will try to work with you, but only so far.

You also want to make sure you are asking the right professors for those letters. You want to go to the office hours as much as possible; hang out with your professors, see them outside of the classroom and try to play nice. Once you get to know them, they are pretty cool people. I mean, you will still have that one professor who will not stop quoting Shakespeare every five minutes, but it is endearing and amazing that they can pull out a quote from one of his many plays and put it in context with the conversation.

They have stories from their times in school as well, and they love to tell them. Your professors will not bite! They love to talk about their research, you get them going on that, nothing will stop them. I mean nothing. Befriend your professors, stop by to say “hi.” They are amazing people and are there to help. I cannot stress that enough!

7. Carefully write your statement of purpose.

Your statement of purpose is the most important part of your application. They may give you a maximum word count, so you have to say as much as you can, as briefly as you can. Let the graduate school know why you want to research your topic, the topic you want to research, and the people you want to work with within the departments. It shows that you have dedicated yourself to the application.

And for the love of all that is vocabulary, do not reuse your statement of purpose. Do not take the names and change them around. You are not getting away with anything, because if you mess up and forget to switch a name, there goes that school. So please, please, please, rewrite the statement of purpose for each program you are applying to. Each program is unique and is looking for students who want to work hard, there is no cheating on applications. You will only be cheating yourself of a great opportunity.

8. Consider early submissions.

If you can, submit your applications early—the earlier the better! Submitting applications early means that you have been planning for this and spending valuable time working on the recommendation letters, the statement of purpose, your resume/CV, and all of the other odds and ends like TA applications. You want to get them done, and get them done right.

9. Breathe.

That’s right. Your head is going to be swimming as you apply to schools. You are going to be working on all of this while school is going on.

Your senior year is going to be stressful. I graduated a semester early and I am sweating bullets waiting to hear back from graduate schools. You are going to go through twelve stages of stress and then back again with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s on your lap. You will try to read and take your mind off of it, or maybe class work will make it go by faster… it will not. It is going to be absolute torture.

Then, when you hear back, you may even get a letter of rejection, and it is okay; repeat that to yourself about seven times and breathe while doing so. That school, that one school out of the six or so you applied to, found other candidates. Trust me, you will survive. Have a backup plan just in case—you may not ever need it, but it is there. This is something you want, and you have worked hard for it. It may be something that you have been dreaming about for the past few months, and you may get kicked in the shins once or twice, but you have to let your work speak for itself.

Do not be afraid of your writing sample, if you did the smart thing and started early and have worked on it diligently, then it will show. You have to have faith in your abilities!

* * *

So, my fellow English majors, this process may take you through some interesting times in your life. Don’t be afraid of taking that leap. You may think you are going insane, wondering why you wanted to do this from the beginning, but just reread the papers you loved writing the most. I do all the time. It brings back the passion that I have for this great literary world. It reminds me of the classes I wrote them for, and the professors I got to know and befriend.

English majors, Mr. Darcy was turned down by Elizabeth on his first try—we all know why. The second go, he received the acceptance he had wanted, and we all should learn from that. If at first you do not succeed, try again. Keep working hard and it will pay off—maybe not at first, but you will see a light at the end of that long tunnel. I wish you luck in your endeavors and hope that you remember to simply breathe, and that everything will work out as it should.

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About the Author

Brittany Eldridge has a BA in English (Albright College) and is currently waiting to hear back from a few graduate schools, biting her nails every waking moment she can. It’s a stressful time, but she still keeps on writing and reading as much as she can. She even continues her research in her spare time. Brittany is an easily spotted bibliophile, as she always has her nose in a book. She wants others to know that they are not alone in such a crucial time in their life and to keep following their passions.

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Chris Stephenson: Information Architect

Name: Chris Stephenson

Age: 42

College & Majors/Minors: McMaster University, B.A. in English Literature, interests in Philosophy, Art History & Politics (1997); University of British Columbia, Master of Library & Information Studies (2016)

Current Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Current Form of Employment: Information Professional, Carpenter, Writer

Where do you work and what is your current position?

As per usual, I currently have many "irons in the fire..." Presently I work in the capacity of Information Architect for a non-profit society started by a former mayor of my city. Here I do records management, historical transcription, advise on best practices for showcasing digital documents, and I participate as a media spokesperson to promote the program and (hopefully!) contribute to raising funds to keep our projects going. We have nearly completed a community transcription project to put the first five years of our historical City Council Minutes online for historians, researchers, students, and the public to use in digital form.

““I’ve digitized nearly forty books so far this year, including some really neat ones from the 1770s.””

On the other hand, I also work for a major Westcoast digitization centre (Canadian spelling from here on in!) on a project called the British Columbia Historical Books Project. We are systematically digitizing rare materials that tell the narrative of the earliest years of this province. I've digitized nearly forty books so far this year, including some really neat ones from the 1770s. My interest in Pacific northwest history is constantly sparked by handling these amazing accounts of first-hand explorers, Chinook jargon dictionaries, maps, and other rare texts.

In the meantime, I'm honing my job application and interviewing skills as I search for the perfect job in my particular field of librarianship: I'm trained as a legal and legislative research librarian. This is my second career, so I have reserved the right to be a little choosey for the moment.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first career job was actually in 'Hollywood North,' another name for Vancouver's thriving film industry. After I finished my English degree my Dad handed me a hammer and said, "If you want to pay off your student loans in a hurry, you should learn to use this." That moment kicked off an informal apprenticeship in carpentry that eventually led me out here to the Westcoast for a ten year career in building the sets for feature films, television and commercials. After while though, I was getting pretty burned out by the long hours, and I started paying attention to a nagging voice that said I should return to my area(s) of interest: writing, teaching, and helping people solve information issues. I took a year off to motorcycle around India and learn yoga and think about how I could make my career dreams possible.

After hanging out at my public library, I started dating this cute local librarian. I asked hundreds of questions about the program she'd recently graduated from, and before I knew it she was helping me with my application for library school. Fast forward to now - we're no longer together, but I have a trusty MLIS under my belt, and I'm as enthusiastic as ever about librarianship. My non-profit job came about after I did a professional experience course and initially approached the society to volunteer, and my digitizing work fell into place as a part time job just as I wrapped up my final semester.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

No matter what job I'm doing at any given time, I always attempt to publish something.  It's a great way to articulate to myself and others my passion for what I'm doing.  In my last reference librarian role I wrote an article for the Canadian Parliamentary Review and a few articles for the local government's website.  Next month I'm contributing a piece to the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries for their online review.  

I've also been writing a lot of reference letters for people lately, and most exciting of all, I'm learning how to effectively do grant writing.  I'm helping to organize a Children's Literature conference this spring and as the "Logistics & Finance" guy, I've been scrambling to find us some money.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

As an undergraduate pursuing a liberal arts degree I was pretty angsty and had a great many interests and little focused direction. I read broadly, travelled often, had adventures such as living in my van for my final year of school, and really took the time to get to know myself. I also documented my life by writing human interest stories for the newspaper, and challenged myself in other ways: playing music, trying tough new jobs like treeplanting, and hiking everywhere I could. Little did I know until much later, but these extra-curricular events played a large role in forging the guy I am today: an intensely curious and only slightly curmudgeonly fellow. ;)

But to answer the question, I worked in my campus library. I loved that job and I never forgot the feeling of being behind the desk and sending people away with the help and resources they came seeking. Throughout my life I've often worked in libraries - first running the children's programs in my hometown library, and then later as a circulation desk and systems development employee.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Find a writer that speaks to you, and read their books at least twice—especially if you're at a time of life when making life decisions. It was Robert Persig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that got me on a motorcycle heading west after my undergrad degree. Matthew B. Crawford showed me in Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work that I could be a carpenter and a writer, and constantly reinvent myself. And good old Joyce Cary reminded me to keep my humour and artistic passions in check in his amazing book, The Horse's Mouth.

It was looking into the lives of people doing work that they love that has helped me the most. I'm a firm believer in the value of "Information Interviews." Call up someone in a professional field that interests you and take them to coffee. You'll find that people like to talk about what they do and are thrilled to answer your questions. These people often become crucial later on in ways that you couldn't possibly have predicted. As my Mom says, "If you don't ask, you don't get!" so I always make sure to ask. Turns out it's a great remedy to this persistent curiosity of mine, too!

You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn, and see the Transcribimus website he helped to create!

Joanne Percy: Academic Librarian

Name: Joanne Percy

Age: 42

College & Majors/Minors: University of Hertfordshire, Aldenham United Kingdom: BA Literature (Major) Philosophy (Minor) / University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA: MLIS - Library & Information Science

Current Location: Spokane, WA

Current Form of Employment: Academic Librarian

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at a Catholic/Jesuit university as a Reference Librarian. This involves spending most of my time on the desk answering research questions but I also teach a few classes including a Copyright Basics class as well as some general research and database skills classes. We always encourage faculty to help us team teach with them.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

When I first graduated in 1996 with my Bachelor's in Literature, I knew I wanted to teach English abroad in some capacity. So I took a 12 week English as a Second Language (ESL) certificate course in London that allowed me to teach ESL anywhere in the world. I taught very briefly in Prague but then moved to the US and taught a summer class at Georgetown University as well as tutoring on the side. My first library job was administrative but led me to realizing that the library field was where my interests lay. I’ve been working in libraries (both academic and corporate,) since 1998.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I’m actually taking a 2nd Master’s degree right now in Public History and my BA in Literature is really helping. I have to write blog posts as well as regular papers and book reviews and that former degree has been a life-saver! I’m actually working with a local Urban Planning professor as well as city council members to write up the history of a local neighborhood.

George R.R. Martin and Joanne Percy. 

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I spent a lot of time towards the end of my undergrad course looking at ways in which I could travel with my degree. I knew I wanted to travel and I knew teaching would be the easiest way to accomplish both but I was also looking at volunteer work with the Peace Corps.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

My advice would be to think big. Don’t assume you’ll land the perfect academic or writing position as soon as you graduate. Think of building up your experience and resume by traveling. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities that will pay your expenses and a small stipend as you help communities in other countries. This all brings new experiences and stories to share.

Connect with Joanne on LinkedIn, check out her blog, and view her work on the Gonzaga website. 

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Marianne M. Chrisos: Content Developer

Name: Marianne M. Chrisos

Age: 29

College & Majors/Minors: BA in English with a Minor in Psychology, MA in Writing and Publishing

Current Location: outside of Chicago, IL

Current Form of Employment: Content Developer

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I work on a phenomenal content team at a promotional products company (the people who put your logo on cool stuff like pens, stress balls, and bags) called Quality Logo Products. I write blog posts, articles, product descriptions, web copy, email marketing copy, and other various tidbits. I also help manage and monitor our corporate social media channels; Tumblr in particular is my social domain and I take great pride in sharing marketing, branding, and design news with the millennial masses.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first job out of college was working in the customer service and sales departments of a publishing house.  I thought that might eventually lead to an editorial or acquisition position, but nothing ever opened up. I did, however, get to work on the editing of the sales team fact sheets and processes manual, and also worked to help set up conferences and worked on author orders and other fun book things. I was there for over five years, met a ton of rad people, and learned an insane amount about publishing, bookstores, and production.

In my current job, it’s all writing, all the time. I don’t interact much with our end user like I did in prior positions, but I do work with other departments to figure out what resources we can create to help serve those users better, be it resources on marketing, entrepreneurship, or how promo products can help grow a small business.  

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

Between my publishing job and current content gig, I worked as a freelance writer and editor and also as a marketing specialist for a real estate brokerage. Both of those opportunities helped me incorporate more research into my writing and cultivate different voices across different mediums. Web copy is different from academic writing, which is different from marketing emails and as someone building a career in writing, it was good to have experience in different areas.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I think the best thing I did in college was find like-minded English majors to bond over books, literature, words, and writing. This not only helped me survive the stress of school, but having a group of people with similar interests and goals helped me stay focused and productive when finding a job was difficult or when I was struggling creatively. 

Sometimes it feels like the English major job and accomplishment pool is very competitive; a lot of talented people fighting for a lot of the same positions, gigs, internships, publishing opportunities, etc. Having a good group of go-to peers can be encouraging. It keeps you linked to what you love and you can offer and receive support and insight. 

Need a writing group or book club? Those are your people. Need a recommendation or someone to proof your grad school application? Got that too. Need someone to geek about indie bookstores and movie adaptations with? English nerds to the rescue. Writing can be lonely; find your people.

“The skills you develop as an English major can translate to a lot of different jobs and opportunities, so don’t limit yourself.”

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Be patient. Everyone wants to get out there, make a name for themselves in editing, teaching, writing, and publishing, and validate the choice to major in English. But it’s important to remember that there’s room for everyone and to stay open to all the possibilities. The skills you develop as an English major can translate to a lot of different jobs and opportunities, so don’t limit yourself. 

Also, it can be discouraging to have spent years of your life studying English and literature, writing papers, performing Shakespeare, and dreaming English-y dreams only to have to get a job doing something that doesn’t fulfill you or pertain to your passion. Remember that there is plenty outside of a 9 to 5 that can bring you creative joy and justify your English endeavors.

Respect the Oxford comma. 

Oh, and read as much as you can. Read everything. Don’t limit yourself to textbooks and syllabi suggestions (but don’t shun those either). Make time to read what you know you love and stretch yourself to reading things you don’t. Some of my favorites (things have grown me as a writer and a person) are Anne Lamott’s nonfiction and Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed. 

The marketing blog I write for is here and I can also be reached on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram!

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Rick Wiedeman: Instructional Designer

Name: Rick Wiedeman

Age: 49

College & Majors/Minors: Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges), BA English

Current Location: Dallas, Texas

Current Form of Employment: Instructional Designer

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I’m an instructional designer for Hitachi Consulting, the IT and business consulting division of Hitachi, which is one of the largest companies in the world (330,000 employees), based in Tokyo. Our division is in Dallas, with offices worldwide. I’m basically a teacher in a company, instead of a teacher at a school—I write curricula, teach classes in person and over the web, and create elearning on a variety of topics. It’s a lot of fun.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first job was as a subrights and special sales assistant at Viking-Penguin Books in New York. I fell in love with creative writing in college, and wanted to be involved in the publishing industry. On my first day there, we got a death threat for publishing Salmon Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and had to evacuate the building. That was a fun welcome to New York.

Being in publishing was one of those experiences that looked neat on paper, but in reality was rather boring, and had little to do with my skills or interests. I did light typing and filing, and answered phones. My salary was $15,000 a year, and as you can imagine, you can’t live in New York on that—even in the late 1980s. It’s one thing to pay your dues, but it’s another to be miserable all the time. After a few months there, I took a job as an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster—$17,000 a year—and the work atmosphere was even worse. The woman who worked next to me jumped off the George Washington Bridge just before Christmas, and my boss mostly went to long lunches and schmoozed with people. I stuck it out for a year, got to be editor for one book, and left. 

After this experience, I felt lost. I returned to my college town, Claremont, California, and got into the PhD program for English literature, but this wasn’t what I expected, either. Grad studies are nothing like undergrad—it was applying obscure philosophical principles to books nobody reads outside of academia. I didn’t see the point in going into debt for this, especially with the poor prospects for recent grads (at this time, fewer than 5% of PhDs in humanities were finding fulltime work). 

““The computer skills I’d developed, combined with my English degree, made me attractive for tech writing jobs.””

I don’t blame publishing or grad school for either of these experiences—I didn’t know who I was, or what I wanted. I was still searching. For me, I learn by doing, and two years out of college I’d learned two things I didn’t want to do: publishing and grad school.

I went back to my hometown of Dallas, Texas, mostly to see old friends. I hadn’t lived at home since I was 18, and didn’t want to be one of those people who got a liberal arts degree and went back to live with their parents, so I slept on a friend’s couch and got temp work. The computer skills I’d developed, combined with my English degree, made me attractive for tech writing jobs. I think my first gig paid $10/hour, or about $20,000 a year, which was livable in Dallas back then. I worked for the technical training division of American Airlines, creating course catalogues and instructor guides. This was mostly layout in Quark and Adobe Pagemaker, which I’d learned working on the college newspaper, but also involved interviewing subject matter experts to build lessons, which I found interesting. 

The neat thing about corporate training is, you learn about a lot of different things -- technology, law, project management, organizational psychology. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys random documentaries, likes people, and who’s good at trivia, it can be a natural fit for a busy mind. Equally important, it paid a living wage, and I didn’t have to share a one bedroom apartment with two other guys on the Upper West Side and eat bologna sandwiches. I could be happy doing this in Dallas, and I was.

Due to my natural interest in technology, I’ve ended up working in corporate training for Microsoft, Siemens, McAfee, and now Hitachi, where I’ve been for six years -- the longest I’ve ever been at the same place. Maybe in middle age, I’m finally settling down. They give me great freedom to approach projects as I see fit, and it’s satisfying work.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

Everything I’ve done (teaching, ad copy, tech writing, corporate training) has been shaped and supported by my writing skills. To me, good writing is the result of clear thinking. What I really learned in college was how to think clearly. I’d argue that if you can’t write well, you’re not thinking well. Writing is the evidence. People who approach it as a separate skill are missing the point.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I was on a work-study program at Pitzer College—my financial aid was tied to keeping a job on campus that worked around my schedule. The first two years of college, I was a security escort. I mostly accompanied young women to the library, which was across three other campuses (Claremont has five colleges, a grad school, and a school of theology). That was a good gig.

““So, it was really the combination of writing skill and technical skill that shaped my career, though at the time I didn’t think of it in such formal terms. I just enjoyed writing, and needed a college job for gas money.””

My second job, junior and senior years, was running the computer lab. This was in the days before everyone had a personal computer. Pitzer is a liberal arts college, and most students went to the lab to type their papers. I was given the key to the lab. That was my entire training experience. Basically, I was guarding the equipment. As students complained about losing papers or not being able to print -- these were the days where the operating system and the word processing program were on the same 5 1/4 inch floppy disk—I slowly figured out how these damn machines worked, and found I liked helping people. It turned out to be two valuable career skills that I’ve maintained throughout my life.

So, it was really the combination of writing skill and technical skill that shaped my career, though at the time I didn’t think of it in such formal terms. I just enjoyed writing, and needed a college job for gas money.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Don’t leap into grad programs expecting you’ll find work afterward. I’ve had several English MAs and PhDs work for me on various projects over the years. Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and pay attention to job projections. It’s fine to have a passion -- mine is creative writing, and I do it every week, if not every day—but I don’t try to pay the bills with it. You need to live. And you probably don’t need a Masters or PhD to do that. 

I think a lot of people go into grad school to feel good about themselves—grad degrees are like grown up merit badges. There are more fulfilling, and less expensive, ways to expand your mind and use your talents. For me, that’s writing. All I need is a library and the internet, both of which are practically free.

““Getting that first royalty check the month after publishing the first book made me feel like a real writer. (That’s my definition of “real.” If you got paid, you’re a pro.)””

The great thing about writing and publishing today is, you don’t need to be in New York to do it, and frankly, you don’t need an agent and a publisher taking 87.5% of your royalties to get your stories out there. Though at first I resisted self-publishing, since diving into it four years ago, it’s been one of the best experiences of my life. The first thing I wrote -- a short novel about a father and daughter trying to get from Dallas to Galveston after an apocalypse—did surprisingly well. I made two thousand dollars. The follow up novels did OK, but were a bit indulgent, and got mixed reviews; that’s OK, too. I’ve learned from that. I wrote a supernatural horror novella, which did poorly, and am now at work on a psychological suspense novel. The only investment has been my time and effort, and it’s been a great satisfaction to me. Getting that first royalty check the month after publishing the first book made me feel like a real writer. (That’s my definition of “real.” If you got paid, you’re a pro.)

If I were going the traditional route, I’d have to spend at least a year getting an agent. She’d spend at least a year marketing my book. If it sold, the publisher would spend a year doing covers and editing and scheduling production... and all that assumes perfect success each step of the way, which seldom happens. You’re about as likely to succeed in traditional publishing as you are to be a movie star. 

I’m not anti-traditional publishing. I may try that route it someday. But I know enough about the industry to have realistic expectations, and I love the full control self-publishing offers.

My personal website is rickwiedeman.com and I’m on Twitter @rickwiedeman. I’m happy to talk to any of my fellow writers about my self-publishing experience, and share what little I know about traditional publishing. My ebooks on Amazon are here.

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e-Book Giveaway + Happy Birthday Dear English Major!

DearEnglishMajor.com is two years old! Happy birthday to us!

We are so thrilled about the wonderful community that has grown around our website. 112 interviews with English majors, dozens of articles, TENS of thousands of social media followers... whoa. English majors are awesome, and the support we have received has been amazing! 

To celebrate, we're giving away five copies of From Graduation to Career Ready in 21 Days: A Guide for English Majors to five lucky winners.

Entering is easy:

• You must enter by March 9th, 2016 at midnight PST. 
• Each winner will receive one e-book copy of From Graduation to Career Ready in 21 Days: A Guide for English Majors via email.
• All entrants agree that by entering the contest, they are giving permission to have their email address added to the Dear English Major mailing list.

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