OP I am an English major too. I'm 40 now and make less than $20 per hour (although I work part time and am a part time SAHM). Not a day goes by that I don't regret my choice of major and the career path I took. I wish I could be 18 again and make all different career choices. I would have had a much better life. I got an MSW in social work. When working full time I never made more than 40K. I never really had a career either, just a bunch of different jobs.

If I could turn back the clock I would have majored in biology and business. And then taken a year off to work in the allied health care field and then gotten a grad degree in occupational or speech therapy, or physical therapy. Worked for a few years learning and then open a private practice. How I wish I would have done that! But now it feels too late to start over.

Anonymous wrote:I second the suggestion to go into teaching. You can easily make double of what you're making now. You can supplement that income with private tutoring. In Montgomery County, people pay $50/hour for tutoring.

Huh? First OP would need to get a Master's degree in teaching or education which costs $$ and time. If she goes full time she won't be earning any income during that time. Then her salary won't be much different than it is now. I'm on year 11 with a Master's plus 30 credits and just cracked the 70K mark this year.

PP I was a woman's studies major. But I work at a bank and clear six figures at 30 bc of the hustle. Harness your hustle, forget about if your degree choice seven years ago matters. What matters now is your work experience and understanding how to make shit happen for yourself.

My sister was an English major and then went to one of those dev boot camps and now codes. She lives in a cool city and makes $75k w options at a startup. The two sides of her training make her a hot commodity.

policy analyst

I think that OP believes that things will come to her, rather than needing to be sought out. A "passion" won't suddenly come to you (it doesn't come to most of us), a raise or promotion won't just come your way, a new job won't just fall into your lap. These things take effort and work. You feel like you don't know what to do with your life--this is common for many humanities majors--and therefore, you don't know what your next step should be because no one is telling you what to do. The truth of the matter is that most of us have careers that we are sometimes satisfied with, and sometimes not. It's not rainbows and butterflies every time I step into my office. I have better days and worse days. Better YEARS and worse years. But, by sticking to it, I just got better and better and now I have a career that is enviable. This is 90% of life. So, my advice to you is to choose something that you like (not necessarily LOVE), whether it is a career path or an organization or a place, and commit to it for a few years.

OP, have you posted about this before?

If not, there are a lot of under-employed English majors.

I'm an English major, and I use my skills daily in my work at a non-profit, which requires writing, communicating, thinking logically, analysis, etc.

Things to consider:

-Therapy / meds (been there)
-dig around into Myers-Briggs, which can give you some career ideas based on your personality strengths
-join some young professionals groups or industry groups for networking
-seek out a mentor

Last ditch:

-grad. school or certifications

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you are "blaming" this on being an English major. You don't seem to have much hustle. It's more about how you hustle than what your major was.

I have to agree, being a paralegal can make up to 6 figures! Just have to find a new job so being aggressive helps!

English major here. I am a teacher. Other English majors I know went into law, editing/publishing, journalism, writing.

Anonymous wrote:Teaching. Become a teacher.

please do not suggest this. People should become teachers because they have a calling and a gift to teach. There are already so many crappy teachers protected by strong unions who are teachers because they can't do anything else.

As long as you have a degree you can get any job. A lot of people get degrees then hate the field. Most probably change a few times over their work lives. OP are you married or planning to someday? Want kids?

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry -- this won't add to the discussion -- but how in the world did PP come up with that pear image so quickly?!?!

She ain't an English major!

Anonymous wrote:What do you do with a B.A. in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.
I can't pay the bills yet,
'Cause I have no skills yet,
The world is a big scary place.
But somehow I can't shake,
The feeling I might make,
A difference,
To the human race.

A+

What do you do with a B.A. in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.
I can't pay the bills yet,
'Cause I have no skills yet,
The world is a big scary place.
But somehow I can't shake,
The feeling I might make,
A difference,
To the human race.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry social media jobs are such bullshit. I predict they won't exist like they do right now several years from now.

Yeah, but they do exist now. And no one predicted 10 years ago that companies would hire people to manage their social media. Twitter isn't going anywhere for at least the next 4 years.