The career opportunities for English majors who hold a B.S. degree from Troy University are more expansive than most people might realize. Practically every type of business values good communication skills in their employees, and as graduates of Troy University's College of Communication and Fine Arts, students are prepared for careers that require excellent language and communication skills. Upon graduation, students may wish to enter careers in publishing, writing, editing, law, theology, finance, entertainment, health care, instructional design, government service, the arts, and teaching.
Graduates who hold a B.S. degree in English Language Arts from Troy University are well prepared for a career in teaching, and most of Troy's ELA majors enter the teaching field. Feedback from these alumni indicates that they enjoy this profession, which generates community respect, a feeling of service, and a sense of accomplishment and civic pride. Teaching has long been a respectable profession, and since its foundation as a "teacher's college," Troy University has educated and will continue to educate the next generation of teachers.
The written form of English (long neglected in a society that communicated principally through the oral medium of the telephone) has assumed a professional importance in the digital age. At one time, a business office needed only one expert in written English (often a secretary who corrected all written communication to avoid embarrassing the company), but the digital era demands that everyone must possess good communication skills to succeed in today's global economy. An English major or minor can help graduates succeed in the computer age, where many professions such as online journalist, speech writer, video scripter, technical and manual writer, and creative or freelance writer demand that applicants possess "Excellent Written and Oral Communication Skills," to borrow a phrase that has become almost a standard requisite among employers. Public relations, advertising firms, government agencies, consumer groups, TV news organizations, and market research companies – in fact, all groups dealing with corporate communications – are interested in English majors and minors because these graduates are well-trained in the essential skills of written and oral communication.
Finally, some English majors continue their studies in graduate programs around the country to prepare for a career in teaching at the community college or university level. Teaching, however, is not the only graduate school option for English majors; some English majors enroll in law school or medical school. Law students with a major in English have honed their written and verbal communication skills, which serve them well throughout their legal career, and some medical schools look favorably on applicants with a background in English because the schools believe that a grounding in the liberal arts helps future doctors maintain their professional perspective on humanity.
The career prospects for English majors and minors are not strictly limited to teaching, as once thought, but instead extend into many other aspects of society, including corporate America. The Department of English, therefore, invites you to study with us and consider a major or minor in English.