To the anons who studied English Literature in college / university, how old are you now and what job do you have?

To the anons who studied English Literature in college / university, how old are you now and what job do you have?

I'm seriously thinking about training to be a teacher this year after several years working a basic office job requiring no real skills.

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I'm 24 and I'm starting teacher training this year. I worked a couple of years in mind numbing soul destroying retail before I decided I needed to get a career

after teaching for a couple of years for some money I want to do a masters in classics

Why would you do the masters? Just for "fun"?

Call center. I get bitched at 8 hours a day for 13.45 an hour. Half of my team hold degrees in various subjects.

I work night shifts at a motel (3 nights a week) and re-sell stuff through ebay. Can live off that very comfortably

Where do you live? How old?

I originally wanted to study classics as an undergraduate, but I can just study it at masters level with my english lit degree if I make sure I brush up on my ancient languages before hand. I would like to teach ancient languages at private schools. I also want to teach older kids and maybe even university students at some point so I'd like to earn the relevant qualifications, maybe even work towards a PHD. I enjoy studying in university and would like to be back in that environment, so yeah, also for fun.

I'm 27 and have a BA in English, as well as an MFA.

I'm a supervisor in the interlibrary loan department of a large research university library. I've been doing this for about 3 years now. I make about $45,000/yr after receiving a promotion/job reclassification earlier this year.

I tried adjuncting at a nearby community college last fall after a few years away from teaching, and it made me realize that it's definitely not for me. Most of the kids didn't give a shit (can't blame them, really - it was a night English Comp class), and it wasn't worth the money.

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How did you find work in a library with your degree?

I visited the central library in my city last week and asked if I needed an MA in library science to get a job, and two employees told me not to bother as they were cutting people all the time.

I'm thinking of visiting a university library tomorrow to get a second opinion.

Are you guys English native speakers? I'm currently studying English Literature in College, but I am not a native speaker. To be honest I'm a bit worried about my future.

23, Halifax NS.

OP here and yes I am.

Tbqh if you study English in a third world country you're more likely to find a job.

In undergrad, I worked in the ILL department of my university, doing most of the grunt work in Lending (retrieving, scanning articles, prepping books for the mailroom staff, filling out customs forms for books going abroad). I did that for about 3.5 years before I got into graduate school. I also have a little public library experience (summer reading, shelving, some volunteering from when I was 19).

However, I was unique in that I was one of two students who were trained with ILLiad (OCLC/Atlas-developed ILL software) due to staff shortages when we were initially hired. I was able to use that experience with ILLiad to obtain a job at my current institution. Most smaller libraries use a browser-based program called OCLC Worldshare or Tipasa these days, since ILLiad is pretty expensive to license and is really only needed for institutions with large workflows.

You don't need your MLIS to get a job in a library, but you do if you want to be a librarian (and want your career to be in libraries). Many of the more "production" oriented roles can be obtained by just having solid work experience and being in the right place at the right time.

Well I'm fucked since I have no such experience, but good job.

Do you think it might be worth asking if I could get an entry level job in a college library at the age of 26? Or will they just say no because I'm not a student and assume I'm retarded?

I work at a library with less than two years of college. I worked a retail job beforehand. I just made my resume look nice. I work as a library assistant.

Maybe I'm autistic but your post triggered some motherly feeling in me. The way you aimlessly list these facts makes me feel warm and optimistic

How old are you and what kind of library?

The guy I spoke to was maybe 30 and said he didn't have a masters and that you didn't need one, but said jobs were being cut so I shouldn't bother.

Sure, I don't think it hurts to try. Plenty of my co-workers in my department have transitioned into the library after doing other things for a while. One of our recent hires (mostly doing entry-level retrieval/scanning/delivery) is in her late 20s and bounced around in food service and dog walking out in San Francisco for a long time. She does great work for us.

I think the size of the college matters here, though. Our ILL department has 23 full-time staff (and then hires 4-5 students), for example. Smaller places may have a team of 3-5 FTEs, or maybe even one dude just doing it all by himself. You might be able to find a way in by doing really basic work (information desk, Circulation) part-time until something else opens up. I know a few people in our library that ended up working the third shift at the information desk for 6-8 months and then finally got better hours.

Just graduated with a BA in English Lit, funnily enough I work in Accounting now keeping track of pass-through expenses and billing clients. Want to try writing on the side, though

Studying BA in English, work as an intern proofreader/editor. You wouldn't believe how many people who studied science make retarded mistakes, or can't even stick to a style manual, even if they're paid.

Easy enough job but I'm lazy.

Thanks for your replies. I'll try and go in tomorrow and ask, though I am a little embarrassed to be my age and doing what I should've been doing at 21.

How come that new co-worker had the job with only retail and dog-walking experience?

And yeah I don't mind about the wage or hours even. My primary ambition is to write, but I like having a routine and don't want to be financially helpless.

I'm 20 and work in a public library. You need a master's degree for librarian jobs. You can be a paraprofessional with a bachelor's. You don't need a degree for entry level jobs.

No problem, user -- and good luck. We all start in different places in life, so I wouldn't worry too much about feeling embarrassed. They'll likely direct you to their online job board or equivalent when you talk to them, though, so be prepared to submit something there if they have a position open. It might not hurt to quickly scan through that before you go, too.

I didn't make the decision regarding that person's hiring (wasn't on the search committee), but her cover letter, personality during the interview and prior references went a long way in this specific case. Being able to put a positive spin on past work performance and relate it to the job at hand is really important. You'd be surprised at how many resumes we get that are total garbage, combined with an entitled or flippant cover letter/initial phone interview.

You can definitely make writing happen in a library job. Larkin was pretty famous for that. My boss writes middle-grade (slightly younger than YA) novels, and I try to work for about an hour a day (2x 30min breaks) on my own stuff to meet my own goals. So long as you're getting your tasks done or attending to the desk/patrons as needed, I don't think you'll be bothered much.

what exactly do you learn in a master's program for library science?

What kind of job could you expect with a BA?

27 years old, small town attorney. It's incredible.

How so? And where?

What qualifications do you have?

At my library there is a position called a paraprofessional. They work underneath librarians. They put on their own events or work library events. Some work at the reference desk and some work at the children's desk. There is also administration, which entails everything from marketing to finance to drivers.

Many MLIS programs are starting to involve database coursework and even some programming as a part of their base degree, since a lot of information is digital these days. The phrase I hear constantly as a goal for new MLIS graduates is "becoming a good steward of information." I was never really Math/CS-oriented in college, though, so this is a bit of a limited description. Some programs have further specialization beyond that, like archiving/manuscript preservation, or combining their undergrad major to become a subject specialist or cataloger of new materials (ex. Music, Humanities, Law).

My understanding is that it's becoming less about "where is this book in the library" and more about showing patrons how to use the different types of resources within the library's environment. The library as a space is becoming an increasingly important issue for graduates these days, too, as User Experience is a pretty hot topic for both online resources and physically studying/walking through the library stacks.

wouldn't CS grads (even at the B.S. level) be better choices for hire than MLIS grads if a lot of it involves data science?

For some roles? Absolutely. There was a metadata role that was filled just recently here. I'm sure a CS major would have been able to do that work very capably, along with other hybrid-type roles that have a lot to do with cataloging and collection management.

However, many institutions are very focused on hiring someone with an "ALA-accredited" MLIS degree for the position. It's basically a requirement to advance, like I imagine how certifications play at some levels in IT/CS. I've been involved in the field for ~8 years or so, and feel like I could handle a Librarian-level role with my experience, but many places don't see it that way, since I don't have that type of Master's.

Because of this, I'm looking to get out of the field eventually and find something with better opportunities for advancement (technical writing, marketing/communications). I'm extremely fortunate not to have student loan debt and have no desire to go back to school (with no scholarship opportunities) for what would probably be a $10K raise.

Not that guy but STEM-students generally have a very dubious grasp of what makes the humanities important.

I live in the Midwest. I'm only in the office from 930 to 330 on an average day, and the work makes the time fly. I'm active enough to stay healthy (just by walking to and from the courthouse), and I have plenty of energy for my family when I get home.

I take criminal and child in need of care in the 3 counties in my district to keep a steady paycheck ($70 to $85 per hour, usually I bill 25ish hours per week on that stuff), and I also do real estate transactions and estate planning (usually just setting up trusts). After expenses my income was just over 150k last year, and I'm well on track to top it this year.

I live 50 minutes from a large city. My wife and I go to the symphony every other week, plus whatever else we feel like.

Same guy here, qualifications are BA in Literature & Philosophy, MA in Philosophy, JD. Forgot to answer that.

sounds like you made it man, salary to office time is above the roof
top quality life you got here, mirin hard

Yeah I'm jelly. Not sure if you're aim is to write fiction, but I feel like shit being 26 and on the verge of unemployment.

Anybody who wants to do this totally can. It just sounds bad to go into rural practice, so people don't do it

It sounds like a long path, but it only takes 3 years for the JD. I can't recommend rural practice enough

30yo buxneet

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Oh boy, you're my dream poster user. Can you tell me everything about your decision to practice law, why you decided to go where you went, and what your circumstances were in finding your way there? I go to a top uni in the US right now and the law school at my school is really competitive and I know most people in it go into biglaw in NY, and that's it. Strongly considering going into law.

24 here too and trying to get out of retail. Anyone have any career suggestions? Teaching wouldn't be the right path for me but i'd take practically anything just to get out of retail.

absolutely trash salary mate that’s depressing for 27 years old

>23
>Substitute teacher

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Not really. The UK equivalent is £32,000, which is pretty huge. But even in the US (where housing etc is generally cheaper) he can easily live a cosy life on that salary.

And if he's trying to write then it's ideal. You think Borges was paid a lot at this library job? You think Georges Perec was paid a lot in his library job? Or Musil?

How hard was it to become an attorney? I'm thinking of doing something crazy like architecture then going to law school.

You're like the first lawyer I've seen on Veeky Forums who doesn't talk about how doom and gloom it is and how miserable you are.

>tfw web developer and read half the day at work

graduated from a "top" school with a 3.8 GPA and degrees in Comparative Literature and Philosophy and now I work driving vans and trucks after I got my commercial driver's license. I make about 60k a year and write and read when I get home, not to mention all the time I have to think while I'm driving. My parents and peers expected more from me but I can't really say I'm upset or anything.

Anybody work in public relations or marketing? I'm applying to jobs in those fields but I don't really know if I'd like it or not.

Ok guys, I've long ago committed to attaining a PhD in English Lit and teaching at the college level. My most formidable obstacle to surmount is my 3.5 GPA bachelor's in English, which is the result of a failed foray into Geoscience that consumed my first three semesters. I would have achieved a 3.9 at the very least if it weren't for unnecessary Calculus and Chem courses. Will prospective grad schools strongly consider my exceptional grades directly associated with my major over the irrelevant ones?

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sounds about right from a web dev, you’re the drooling niggers of STEM like most biologists

It wasn't that difficult because I went to a 2nd tier law school and graduated in the middle of my class.

I knew I wanted to go rural, so I didn't spend any time on stuff that's only for resume building. So no law journal, pro bono stuff, club president positions, student bar association, etc. I did two externships over the summers in the practice areas that I was interested in, and then spent 3l doing clinic and riving to all of the county seats that were under 10k people. I found a few idyllic towns (gentrified, lots of younger people, situated in valleys) and met with attorneys that were over 70 years old who wanted to turn the practice over.

I rented an office where the retiring attorney referred me more and more work until he retired completely. That's pretty much it. The work/life balance is everything, it's just a job.

Interesting. How much debt did you go into for law school?

I am 19, still studying. I work at a dog kennel because I love animals

are you fat?

How the fuck do you get a job with an English degree.

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No lmao I'm really healthy actually

Apply to generic jobs that just want a degree, get some marketable skills, networking