English grad has found a job in Atlanta - update Jan. 1

[drothgery]

I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times by now, and I'm sure you'll hear it again: The only thing an English Degree tells today's job market that you wasted four years of college time unless you get damn lucky or are willing to move, and I'm kinda surprised your college didn't tell you that.

I can sympathize. I got a BS in Psychology, and got a real shock when I started looking for a job. [Younger forum members, learn from this mistake. Start your job search the day you sign up for freshman classes. Really. If you wait until the last few months to start pounding the pavement and making contacts, it's at least a year too late].

I think you're being a little hard on humanities majors here; I'd think that a large percentage of the time someone's going after an English degree, they're planning on going to grad school and/or picking up a teaching certification. Besides, hard-science majors don't fare much better; an undergrad degree in Chemistry, Biology, or Physics qualifies you for a lab tech job, or teaching high school. Doing non-grunt science work takes an advanced degree.

Engineering and Computer Science fare a lot better, in that an undergrad degree is a major help in getting a job and that advanced degrees aren't essential (and in CS, there's a definite bias against them), but it still took me three months to find a job after graduating with a CS degree at the tail end of the .com boom -- and that job sucked, the pay was way low for a newly-minted CS grad, and lasted less than a year.

 

[barsoomcore]

I am a Software Project Manager. I've worked in software for seven years now.

I have a BA in English.

Your degree does not make your career. Certain degrees are essential for certain jobs, of course, and in some places if you don't have the right letters after your name you aren't getting an interview and that's that. But far more important than your education are your communication skills, your ability to learn and your attitude. Those are your real weapons in getting a job.

 

[WayneLigon]

True; contacts are much more important. Having someone that knows that you know your s**t is the most valuable job resource you can possess. If someone knows that RW knows Adobe and knows skill X and skill Y, they mention to Boss Z 'Hey, I know this guy that knows this stuff; give him a call'. I've frequently heard that the best jobs never get into the various 'systems' (unless it's a company or legal requirement that interviews be performed, etc)- they're filled before it gets to that point by people that know other people. It didn't sound like RW had a lot of those, though.

 

[RangerWickett]

Again, thanks for the advice and support. Today was taken up by ENWorld Gamer business, but tomorrow I should be completely free to foot it around the local area, going to the local shopping center and just walking down the line of stores, applying.

Of course, as has been said, if anyone knows somebody who knows somebody who might have a job for me, please let me know.

 

[The_Universe]

I know someone who might be able to hook you up with an editing job here in DC - but that's a bit of a jaunt, I realize...

 

[WayneLigon]

Time Warner's Job site has a good job search tool over all the TW properties. There's some webmaster jobs in Atlanta that sound like you might be qualified for, as well a few others. They also list positions in Alpharetta and Ft. Benning.

Another thing to look at: Local magazines, etc, as a fact checker.

 

[Krug]

This is in Atlanta: http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=68

 

[WayneLigon]

Not in Atlanta, but... From the Steve Jackson Games website, discussing the sudden departure of an editor...

There is as yet no job posting because Andrew and I were both consumed last week with getting GURPS Fantasy to press, and with preparing for our responsibilities for Linucon. Something should be posted soon. Actually, since we already had an empty slot in the editorial department, we'll probably be looking for two people. The first one will need to have at least two of the qualities "GURPS 4e god," "experienced editor with immaculate English skills," and "can work in the Austin office." The second posting, I expect, will call strongly for whichever of those we don't get with the first hire.

 

[Felon]

Ryan, where do you live in the Atlanta area? If you don't have a car, that really makes a big difference. Commuting to Stone Mountain, for instance, seems less than feasible.

I empathize with your situation. About 10 years ago I got my English degree in Techncal Writing and found no jobs were available that didn't require several years of experience. English degrees basically get you into grad school and little else.

My solution was to go teach English in Asia. Spent a couple years in South Korea and it paid very handsomely at the time. Not sure if the market TOEFL still exists, but it's a great post-college experience.

 

[Boojum]

Well, I'm an English major about to graduate this Spring, so I don't have any post-college experience, but I've worked with a couple of companies that focus on college-age employees.

Vector (www.vectormarketing.com) involves direct sales, which I was initially hesitant about, but decided to go with because I was familiar with and liked the product (Cutco knives). It's really good pay as long as you're able to motivate yourself to contact people and make appointments, but it might be hard to get started depending on how many people you know in Atlanta that you could do start-up appointments with.

I also just started working at Kaplan, teaching a class on the SAT. Probably not ideal for you since it takes a while before you would be able to get more than 6-8 hours per week, but I like it as a part-time job. It also requires a 90th percentile score in whatever test you want to teach.

Good luck.