Studying literature is not easy, contrary to the expectations of many. It is mentally challenging and rigorous. It gives one a broad grounding in history, psychology, philosophy, religion and cultural anthropology. Yet, on graduation and frequently during my rigorous academic years, I wondered… what next? Was I destined to work for minimum wage as a struggling ‘art’ student? Thankfully, the answer is no, but others are not so lucky. The same question plagues many graduates. Some go into pure academia or become critics, editors and writers, while others go for fields as diverse as corporate communication to early childhood education.
After her BA in English Literature, Maria Coelho faced this career dilemma. She says, “I had this moment after graduation where I asked myself, ‘Now what?’ Studying English literature opens up your mind, gives you a broader perspective of the world. For instance, when you learn that Shakespeare could have written his sonnets for a man and that all of Donne’s poetry has a sexual innuendo, it changes your perspectives and expands your worldview. But this knowledge does not translate directly as ‘skills’ on your CV.”
After graduation, Coelho jumped from job to job She worked as an intern at an advertising agency; at Jet Airways as an in-flight attendant; in the UAE for a short stint as an advertising executive; with Prahlad Kakkar at Lacadives, a scuba diving company, in marketing and bookings; and for an online travel website, Smart Travel Asia, in sales. She says, “Currently I am still in sales and I am completing a degree in Early Childhood Education. I went into a variety of fields because you can use and apply your degree in English literature in ways that you don’t think of when you are studying. You need to be articulate and persuasive in sales, understand human behaviour and think out of the box in advertising and develop your communication skills as an in-flight attendant. My degree has helped in each of these jobs.”
Other graduates like Shalini Sen find a niche in the job market and work towards getting the right training for that job. After her BA in English Literature, Sen did her master’s in mass communication and took up an internship for CNN on the entertainment desk, helping in the production process. She then joined Reuters as an equity correspondent for the US; she stresses the importance of knowledge transfer for graduates in their first jobs: “Reuters has a very thorough training program to coax you into the process of financial reporting. In that way, I was really lucky. Any selected candidate can pick it up and figure it out; the same goes for other places, such as CNBC. If you are in a large organisation and surrounded by people who know what they are talking about, you will learn fast.”
But jumping from literature to finance is certainly daunting. Sen says, “If you never thought of yourself as a finance person, you keep asking yourself, ‘why am I here?’ But if I can do it anyone one can do it. In this sense, the first job is critical. It has to be a place that will hand hold you a little bit, spoon-feed you and won’t leave you on your own.” Sen is now a producer for ET Now for shows on personal finance and long-term stock picking. She also works on financial news and features on stock markets. She says, “The business knowledge and the production knowledge I gained from my initial jobs have helped me find my niche. I now understand what needs to be done in this field really well!”
Sen stresses the importance of learning and development after a graduate degree in English. “With just a BA in English, there is very little scope with what you can do,” she says. “A bachelor’s is a way to tell people that you have good communication skills, you can speak well and jazz up any communication. After that, you need to do a postgraduate degree in your field of choice. English literature students usually do some kind of communication course as a logical step. A lot of people have also started doing MBAs after. In any case, as long as you can speak well, write well and communicate well, there will always be need for you in all fields.”
English literature graduate Abhik Bhattacherjee certainly testifies to that. He has worked as a Corporate Communications Manager at Britannia and now works in Design and Innovation for Godrej. He comments that English literature graduates can transform competitive corporate strategy. He says, “I work and earn the same as my b-school counterparts, despite studying English literature. I get to bring a whole new perspective to the brands I work for, help them think of communication and the literature they produce from a more cultural point of view. I help to bring soul and passion to their stories, and no b-school grad would write it better. Most importantly, I challenge the stereotype that ‘humanities’-type people can’t contribute strategically to business. We find our niche and we build around it.”
The same holds true for international graduates. Colin Murphy studied English literature from Yale University, and now words as a business strategy consultant for Mahindra and Mahindra. He says, “Growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do. Fortunately for me, I studied in a liberal arts college so I studied a variety of subjects. English was never a path to any specific career, nor did it have any bearing on any of the jobs I looked at. I knew that any professional skills I needed would be developed at work, while a college education imparts limited knowledge in terms of job skills. I found a job in Mahindra in business strategy and I’ve learned a lot here.”
But how does a degree in English literature give one a competitive advantage in this sort of field? Murphy comments, “A business graduate may have the hard skills necessary for the corporate world, but I had a more expansive viewpoint – English literature taught me to communicate efficiently and well and how to analyse a text. I can focus on the big picture, pick out the relevant information, think creatively, understand motivations and come up with alternative solutions. I know that the most obvious business solution may not be the most effective one. In order to bring about change, get things done, you have to be able to think creatively.”
There are no easy answers, but one thing is clear. Those with enough drive and determination, the ability to think creatively and communicate effectively can bring their skills to any field and excel at it. The challenges along the way will only help you in your career.
TIPS
Great Thinkers!
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
LORD BYRON
“Death, so called, is a thing which makes men weep, and yet a third of life is passed in sleep.”
JANE AUSTEN
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
VIRGINIA WOOLF
“Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible.”
ORSCAR WILDE
“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”
-Minal Patodia
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