Some Suggested Minors for English Majors
As an English major you need to add to your strong English major skills other abilities which will enhance your opportunities for employment. One important way to do this is through a minor, or minors; a concentration in the English BA; or, if a returned missionary with foreign language skills, a second major in a foreign language. You should talk to your department advisor about the best options for you, given your ambitions and job interests. You should also go to the Humanities College Advisement Center (1175 JFSB), the Counseling and Career Center (2500 WSC), Career Placement (2410 WSC), and attend career fairs for career counseling. English majors have many employment opportunities after graduation, but they need to prepare for those opportunities with careful thinking about their future professional lives and the preparation necessary to achieve their goals. Described below are the English major concentration in professional writing and some suggested minors and their benefits. Check the Undergraduate Catalog (online), college advisement centers, and department web sites for further information.
English Major Concentration in Professional Writing-12 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
The ability to write reports, emails, letters, and proposals is required in today's professional world, something particularly true for administrators and executives. In professional writing students learn Power Point, document design, oral presentation skills, project management, and the computer use of graphs, illustrations, and document format, all of which help make a graduate employable. While English majors typically focus on learning to write well, majors interested in developing these additional workplace skills should consider a concentration in professional writing.
Humanities Computing (CHum)-15 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
Obviously computer skills are important in every profession, and future employers will expect English majors to have them. The College of Humanities through CHum offers computer classes that will add to students' computer skills. The sixteen courses include internet publishing, print publishing, publishing workshop, and text processing and analysis
Computer Science Minor-15 hours (Advisement Center N-179 ESC)
As computer programming skills become increasingly more important in virtually every academic and professional field, it is useful for interested English majors to have the basic competency a computer science minor provides. Students take nine hours (three courses) in beginning programming and six elective hours (two courses). The elective hours are meant to allow students to better shape the minor to their particular needs and interests.
Management-22 hours (Advisement Center 460 TNRB)
Because many English majors select business as a profession, the minor in management offered by the Marriott School of Management seems an obvious choice. The corporate and business worlds seek English majors with their skills in reading, writing, thinking, and their backgrounds in literature and cultural history, and they particularly seek majors who have also studied management. The minor is demanding, requiring prerequisite classes in economics, mathematics, statistics, and accounting, but there are obvious benefits of such a minor for the English major wanting a career in business.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL )-18 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
This minor is meant to prepare teachers for positions in teaching English as a foreign language. The minor does not require a secondary certificate, but prepares English majors for English teaching positions overseas and for certain domestic positions, including English instruction in adult or community education programs. Returned missionary English majors who speak the foreign language of the country where they wish to teach would obviously be somewhat more hireable than other candidates, but such language skill is typically not required. Given the wide international interest in learning English, the TESOL minor is very helpful for students interested in working in that field.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL K-12)-19 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
This TESOL minor is meant for English teaching majors who will become certified teachers teaching in the public schools. The Utah State Board of Education has approved the minor as leading to their ESL endorsement. Given the many public school children who do not speak English as a native tongue, and the great need for teachers in this area, the endorsement increases career opportunities for English teaching majors.
Editing-22 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
English majors who wish to develop editing skills might consider the editing minor in the Linguistics and English Language Department. In addition to book and magazine publishers, virtually all corporations, government agencies, major businesses, and educational institutions produce publications and have need for trained editors. With their backgrounds in literature and language, English majors make excellent editors and may count one ELang course as an elective credit toward their degree.
Preprofessional Minors and Classes (Advisement Center 3326 WSC)
English majors planning careers in dentistry, medicine, optometry, law, management, pharmacy, podiatry, or physical therapy should go to the advisement center listed above for advice on the most useful minors and/or classes in these areas. English majors do very well in the professions, but it is vital that they have the necessary specialized education to support their graduate or professional school applications and prepare them for advanced training.
Language Minors-18-24 hours (Advisement Center 1175 JFSB)
Skill in a foreign language can be a real advantage to an English major seeking employment. Growing international trade, the American military presence in the Middle East, China as an emerging superpower, the sway of the European Common Market, the vital importance of Central and South America, and our growing Hispanic population all suggest the need for bilingual skills. (For example, Arabic, which most students wouldn't ordinarily consider as a minor, is in great demand by the State Department and such federal agencies as FBIS, NSA, CIA, and DIA.) Students who minor in a second language can start with no previous language instruction or can build on high school, missionary, or study abroad backgrounds. English majors who served a foreign-speaking mission might consider a minor in that language, thus expanding their abilities far beyond missionary skill levels.
Preprofessional Minors and Classes (Advisement Center 3326 WSC)
English majors planning careers in dentistry, medicine, optometry, law, management, pharmacy, podiatry, or physical therapy should go to the advisement center listed above for advice on the most useful minors and/or classes in these areas. English majors do very well in the professions, but it is vital that they have the necessary specialized education to support their graduate or professional school applications and prepare them for advanced training.
Compiled by Professor Douglas Thayer,
English Department
