If you’re a recent English graduate and looking to take the next steps in your career then you’re probably thinking of all the different roles within the industry that you may be interested in pursuing. Whilst some may immediately think of a teacher or an author there are an abundance of jobs for those with a degree in English or any other literary based course. The world of literature is an extremely competitive one so its important to know your options and focus on what may suit your skills best.
Let’s start with one of the most common routes for an English graduate or anyone looking for a career in the field. Teaching is popular for a reason, it provides security in a business that can sometimes be temperamental as well as a regular pay check. Of course if you’re considering going into teaching you must be in it for the right reasons, you’re there to help students gain an understanding of literature whilst supporting them in their studies. Being a teacher is highly demanding but is also immensely rewarding so if you feel this would suit your skill set and personality then this could be the career for you.
If you’re looking into a career in publishing then an editorial assistant could be a great choice, although competitive this position can give you a huge insight into the industry and offer amazing opportunities. Normally based within a particular publishing house or agency the role involves communicating with authors, editing written work as well as looking over pitches and manuscripts. If you have always had a passion for books but didn’t want to take the route of an author then this is a great way to get involved in the process from another point of view.
A similar choice could be a publishing assistant, this entry level job is a particularly popular one if you’re looking to get your foot in the door. This position is also a great one for those interested in the process of publishing books. Most people start within this role with the hope they will progress onto an editorial position. Tasks include managing admin duties along with the companies emails and communicating with distributors and writers.
If you want to combine your love for marketing with literature then a social media manager would be perfect. Whether within a publishing company, magazine or website a social media manager will take care of the brands visibility online. The role tends to involve engaging with audiences through sites such as instagram and twitter as well as handling campaigns and communicating with readers. Having skills within analytics is very important as you will be using these tools to understand how well your audience are consuming your work.
Perhaps you’re looking for a role that is much more flexible in-order to work with your day to day life. Freelance writing is another popular one, although it can be less reliable in the beginning, if you can accumulate enough regular work it can be a great career path. Once your work has picked up then being a freelancer also gives you the ability to choose the projects you wish to complete. Freelance work tends to include writing articles for website and magazine as well as written work for social media and branding.
A similar role is Journalism, writing for newspapers and tv amongst other media. A great thing about both of these positions is the wide range of avenues, whether you’re into editing, writing or promoting journalism can give you the ability to work within so many different areas. Of course as with all of these careers it is a competitive field and takes a massive amount of dedication and hard work in order to succeed and extra experience within your desired position is always beneficial.
