We’ve all been there. You tell somebody you study English/History/Languages/American Studies etc., and you’re met with the ‘so you want to teach?’ response that we all love. No matter how hard you try to convince people, they just don’t believe that your degree will lead you to any other path and after a while you start believing it, too.
Although the prospect of graduating seems scary (and a long time away!), the reality is that the next year will fly by and soon enough I’m going to have to enter the real world. With this in mind, I’ve been looking up possibilities of what I can do with my English degree, and have come to the conclusion that there’s really not much I can’t do. Here are a few of my favourite options that you can do with your arts degree.
1. Journalism. Now, this seems like the obvious choice, but an arts degree can lead you into all forms of the media and journalism no matter what area you have studied. Throughout your degree you will have gained key researching, writing and communicating skills that will be greatly useful to prospective employers, whether they are in books, magazines, TV, radio etc. The possibilities are endless…
2. Law. Yes. This is a less obvious choice, but if you’ve always dreamt of being Elle Woods then your arts degree definitely doesn’t rule this out for you. A friend recently told me that law firms hiring graduates take roughly 50% from disciplines that are not law, so if your dream is to stand up in court then it’s a plausible option. The companies appreciate the other skills developed from your degree as well as the professional skills you will learn from a conversion course, so you definitely don’t have to worry about being at a disadvantage.
3. Retail Management (or any business management, for that matter…). The communication skills you have developed throughout your degree put you at a great advantage when it comes to Apprentice-style pitches and teamwork. Many big retailers and businesses run graduate schemes looking for strong candidates from arts backgrounds to help shape their business, and they will appreciate the skills you do have whether you have a business degree or not.
4. Marketing/Advertising/PR. Again, employers want graduates from a variety of backgrounds, and the type of work available in this sector is perfect for us arts students as it means that we can utilise the skills developed on our degrees.
So there we have it. 4 things you can do with an arts degree that won’t keep you in a school environment for the rest of your life. Of course, that doesn’t mean to say that you can’t be a politician, air hostess, banker, baker, singer or policewoman…
Edited by Caroline Chan