Careers for English Majors

Liberal arts education: Waste of money or practical investment? Study’s conclusions might surprise you. -- Washington Post, January 13, 2020

 

The world’s top economists just made the case for why we still need English majors -- Washington Post, October 19, 2019

Why 'worthless' humanites degrees may set you up for life -- BBC, April 2, 2019

Why liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineering -- Washington Post, June 12, 2018

Liberal Arts in the Data Age -- Harvard Business Review, July-August 2017

The surprising thing Google learned about its employees -- The Washington Post, December 20, 2017

When English Majors Earn More Than Engineers -- Vault.com, November 17, 2017

Six Myths About Choosing a College Major -- The New York Times, November 3, 2017

Training Good Doctors Starts with the Liberal Arts -- New Republic, August 15, 2016

How Humanities Degrees Cultivate Marketable Business Skills -- Entrepeneur.com, July 11, 2016

That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket -- Forbes Magazine, August 17, 2015

See below for more articles on career prospects for English majors!

Class of 2017 English Majors, Employment by Industry

Data provided by Northwestern Career Advancement

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Classes of 2014, 2015, 2016 English Majors, Employment by Industry

Data provided by Northwestern Career Advancement

 English Alumni Careers

 


Classes of 2005 & 2010 Employment by Industry

Data gathered from LinkedIn by Northwestern Career Advancement

Class of 2010 English Majors, Employment by Industry

 

2010 English Major Alumni career destinations by industry

Class of 2005 English Majors, Employment by Industry

2005 English Major Alumni career destinations by industry

Classes of 2005 and 2010, List of Employers

Data gathered from LinkedIn by Northwestern Career Advancement. Some employers fall within more than one industry classification.

Communication, Marketing, Media

Google
NBCUniversal, Inc.
Optimized Marketing
ESPN
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wrigley
COTY Inc.
Intouch Solutions
Meredith Corporation
West Corporation
SourceMedia
Virtua Health
Christianity Today
Trib Total Media
Bloomberg LP
Razorfish
Aspect Software
Weber Shandwick
The Onion
HIMSS
Imagination Publishing
Scranton Gillette Communications, Inc.
Schafer Condon Carter (SCC)

Education & Teaching

Chicago Public Schools
Harvard University
NYC Department of Education
Michigan State University
Marquette University
Boise State University
Cuyahoga Community College
City Colleges of Chicago
Menlo College
Gannon University
Stevenson School
Huntington Learning Center
Simon Fraser University
Evanston Township High School

Business Services, Financial Services, Investment Banking

ExxonMobil
Wrigley
Uber
L.L.Bean
Kempinski Hotels
English (Alumni) 8
Philips
Cargill
8th Light
Puppet Labs, Inc.
Strategic Account Management Association
PeopleFoundry
HERE, a Nokia company
Rappaport Reiches Capital Management
Macy's
State Farm
Kellogg School of Management
Stryker
Discover Financial Services
U.S. Cellular
Advocate Health Care
Rent-A-Center

Visual & Performing Arts

POPSUGAR
Foodbuzz
ODC/DanceIn
Independent entertainment professional
RoCo Dance and Fitness
Freelance Creative Director/Brand Architect
Freelance Animation Artist
Theatre Communications Group
Goodman Theatre
Designworks: A BMW Group Company
International Academy of Design and Technology
Co.lective at Lective.co
Game It Forward

Consulting

Deloitte
Astek Consulting
Decurion Corporation

Nonprofit & Government

UNICEF
Smithsonian Institution
Alzheimer’s Association
American Hospital Association
United Way
United Nations Foundation
Kaiser Family Foundation
National Board of Medical Examiners
Trace Foundation
Rising Sun Energy Center
LegalShield Official
Operation Lifesaver Inc
Rotary International

More Recent Articles on Career Prospects for English Majors

Want a Job with that English Degree? -- Corrigan Literary Review, March 11, 2017

A Good Job for Humanists -- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, February 6, 2017

Why Are Salaries for English Majors Rising? -- Vault.com, October 26, 2016

Meet the Parents Who Won't Let Their Children Study Literature -- The Washington Post, September 2, 2016

How to Think Like Shakespeare -- The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 29, 2016

Goldman Sachs Replaces Campus Interviews with Video -- BBC News, June 24, 2016

Why I was Wrong about Liberal-Arts Majors -- The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2016

To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf -- The New York Times, May 21, 2016

Turning to the Humanities in Times of Crisis -- The Baltimore Sun, September 23, 2015

A Top Medical School Revamps Requirements to Lure English Majors -- NPR, May 27, 2015

We don't need more STEM majors. We need more STEM majors with liberal arts training -- The Washington Post, February 18, 2015

Surprise: Humanities Degrees Provide Great Return on Investment -- Forbes Magazine, November 20, 2014

In Defense Of The 'Impractical' English Major -- The Huffington Post, March 14, 2014

This Week in Small Business: Hire an English Major -- The New York Times, July 15, 2013

Why English Majors are the Hot New Hires -- American Express Open Forum, July 11, 2013

The Decline and Fall of the English Major -- The New York Times, June 23, 2013

Triumph of the English Major -- The New York Times, December 22, 2013

You Actually Learn Some Valuable Skills As An English Major -- Business Insider, October 29, 2013

Healthcare and the Humanities

In a recent panel discussion, Weinberg alumni in the healthcare field discussed the unique professional advantages their liberal arts educations have afforded them.  Paul Checchia, 1989 English graduate from Weinberg and medical director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, argued, “the problems in medicine now are so huge that we need broad-based thinkers to attack problems with different approaches. And that’s where the liberal arts education comes in and proves to be of immense value.”

Christine Todd, a participant in the Weinberg panel, wrote a follow-up piece on the blog MedHumDoc extolling the virtues of a liberal arts education in a medical career. “Medical knowledge without true connection with a patient or a community is worthless.  You can’t just take science and paste it onto people because it’s for their own good.  I mean – you can, but it won’t work.  Knowing the diagnosis means nothing at all if you can’t partner with your patient to find a treatment that fits them."

The growth of medical humanities programs offers further recognition of the importance of a broad-based humanities education for medical practitioners. Mt. Sinai School of Medicine has introduced a program called HuMed, guarantees medical school admission to undergraduate students majoring in the humanities. Dr. David Muller, dean for medical education at Mt. Sinai, explained that the program's founder, Dr. Nathan Kase, "really had a firm belief that you couldn't be a good doctor and a well-rounded doctor — relate to patients and communicate with them — unless you really had a good grounding in the liberal arts."