Anonymous wrote:Define underemployed.
English major here but I graduated before the publishing industry was decimated which helped me. Always worked in tech-related writing, initially for technology trade publications and later in competitive intelligence for the tech industry.
Great field but not easy.
I would not recommend the major today unless the student wants to write or teach. Or pick a second major (e.g. something business-related).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Has she researched the parents of the kids she is tutoring? I wouldn't be surprised if some work in fields that may be of interest to her and hire English majors. If they think she is doing a good/great job with her kids, I don't see any reason she couldn't try to reach out to parents letting them know that tutoring is not her "career". Probably easiest if she is tutoring HS kids where there is a natural end to her tutoring of the kid.

That said, don't waste their time. She needs to have some vision of her future vs. having zero direction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Reading comprehension fail. OP's wife and mom were strangers when they met. OP's wife got her job through networking!

Sorry not OP, PP. But you know what I meant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most top colleges have really strong career centers, for every major, but you have to go to them, they're not coming to find you

Nah, when I was in grad school the jobs put posters with interview slots on the wall. I went downstairs and scheduled 4 back to back interviews. I got 4 solid job offers paying over 80k each, in 2005.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in government, and I was surprised to see people with humanities degrees from T30 universities taking positions in my division that I would have thought were "beneath" them, for lack of a better term. Or maybe "underemployed," to use yours.

A year later and they've moved into analyst and research positions.

Because humanities majors with just an undergrad degree aren't as marketable.

But with a few years work experience, they can prove themselves and ability to write and problem solve and move into better positions. They have to market themselves

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Reading comprehension fail. OP's wife and mom were strangers when they met. OP's wife got her job through networking!

Sorry not OP, PP. But you know what I meant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in government, and I was surprised to see people with humanities degrees from T30 universities taking positions in my division that I would have thought were "beneath" them, for lack of a better term. Or maybe "underemployed," to use yours.

A year later and they've moved into analyst and research positions.

Because humanities majors with just an undergrad degree aren't as marketable.