"My experience as an English major taught me to be curious and teachable, always ready to learn more and change my mind if given new data."
When did you graduate from BYU?
BA English 2015
What is your job/position? And how would you describe what you do in that job/position?
I'm a chat specialist at an online bank. I wrote the content for our chatbot and continue to write and edit the content of our FAQs, IVR system, and smart responses customer service uses while chatting with customers. I do a lot of testing, seeing how customers respond to different versions of content and under what circumstances.
Describe the path that you took from your BYU English degree to your current career, highlighting the important realizations and turning points that paved the path for you.
I started with an internship at a marketing firm but found that I needed something full time and appropriately paid. I joined a bank start-up in a customer service role and immediately started advocating for having a content team. I could see the need and quickly began filling that role in small ways myself until the team was created. I worked as a content manager for a while, writing procedures and other materials, before learning that our engineers were creating a chatbot. I asked to be included and was offered a new position centered around our live chat and chatbot materials. It has been a wonderful experience to stretch and grow my skills.
What are the specific skills that you cultivated as an English major that you now use in your professional life? And how do you use those skills in ways that set you apart from your colleagues?
Public speaking, the ability to make a coherent argument with multiple data points, compassion for everyone affected (both customers and reps), concision in my writing, and in general the soft skills of interpersonal communication that you can gain by reading and discussing wonderful pieces of literature. My experience as an English major taught me to be curious and teachable, always ready to learn more and change my mind if given new data. I find myself able to write quickly and well. I also interact with others gracefully because I understand that people and their motivations are complex.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your English degree helped you in your life?
I have been impressed by how well my major prepared me to interview for new positions, ask for competitive raises, and keep examples of my work so I can prove my value.
What do you wish you had known as an English major? Is there any advice you’d like to share with current students?
I wish I had been more intersectional. I recommend working in a content capacity with varied fields, such as learning to read and write business reports, scientific papers, legal briefs, and marketing pitches. You may end up somewhere unexpected, so try a little of everything.
Contact
sharrison8420@gmail.com