Careers

THE PROBLEM WITH A DEGREE IN ENGLISH is that you will not be given a predefined path into a predefined career and a predefined life. It's up to you to reflect on your own priorities, interests, and commitments in order to chart a path that is entirely your own. That's the hard part. But the rewards are infinite.

What will the world look like in ten, twenty, thirty years after you complete your BA? Your training in English--and the fact that you have had to think deeply about your intellectual and vocational priorities--will prepare you to be flexible in the face of an unpredictable future.  

In the short-term, there are many pathways to a successful career that are completely independent of your major. Certainly, as an English Major, you can pursue a career in marketing or consulting or journalism or media and entertainment. But you can also just as readily pursue a career in finance or medicine, law or tech. Your English degree will help you stand out from the pack of other students trodding along on their well-trodden path. And it will help you to communicate to prospective employers that you are someone who knows how to think carefully, someone who knows how to interpret sharply, and above all someone who knows how to write clearly and persuasively. 

The office of Career Advancement is a vital collaborator, helping our students gain experiences and take advantage of networking opportunities that are key to professional success. Our recent graduates have gone on to study in prestigious graduate programs and professional schools (law and medicine) and have landed jobs everywhere from Google to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

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Career Advancement (CA) is an university office that offers a variety of services, programs, and resources to help students prepare for entering the job market. The office strives to provide job and internship opportunities in a variety of fields and to promote University of Chicago talent to a wide range of employers and institutions. CA has also worked with students, alumni, parents, and employers to build, maintain, and access the University of Chicago's dynamic global employment network.

Studying the Humanities at UChicago prepares students for a highly diverse range of careers and graduate programs. Aspiring humanists can take advantage of faculty expertise across disciplines and a wide variety of academic and career resources.

Below is a sample of the types of opportunities for Humanities students at UChicago:

• Careers in the Humanities Day: immerses students in the many different career fields available to humanists. Students engage with alumni and employers representing a wide breadth of industries, including digital media, film, journalism, music, publishing, theatre, and more. At the most recent event, alumni and employer mentors had professional experience from 30 leading organizations, including Browne and Miller Literary Associates, Disney, Electronic Arts, Google, Netflix, Turner Networks, Warner Brothers Records, and W.W. Norton Publishers.
• The College Summer Institute in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences provides selected undergraduates the opportunity to undertake intensive intellectual training and research with accomplished scholars and peers at the University of Chicago. Summer Institute Scholars collaborate closely with a small cohort of faculty across humanistic disciplines in an environment that encourages creative academic inquiry, rigorous discourse, and helps them to develop the research tools necessary for further engagement with their own disciplines.
• The College Summer Research Fellows Program provides grants to support summer research opportunities for undergraduate students who plan to pursue a doctoral degree in a liberal arts or science field.
• The Digital Media Exploration Program gives incoming first-year students the opportunity to explore the multifaceted world of digital media and visit with top employers in Austin, TX.
• JAMGrants provide funding for students to pursue unpaid opportunities in journalism, arts, and media during both the academic year and the summer.
• The Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Media Exploration Program gives incoming first-year students the opportunity to explore the current media, entertainment, and storytelling landscape through visits to film studios, television networks, and broadcast outlets in Los Angeles, CA.
• The Liew Family College Research Fellows Fund provides grants to support undergraduate students who have secured unpaid research opportunities during Winter and Spring Quarter with UChicago faculty members. 25% of all grants are reserved for humanities majors.
• The PRISM Research Grant funds summer research projects for students majoring in select humanities and social science disciplines.
• The Seidel Scholars PRISM Grant funds nontraditional experiential projects for students majoring in select humanities and social science disciplines.
• The Smart Scholars Program supports research opportunities at the Smart Museum of Art in close collaboration with curatorial and research staff and affiliated faculty.
• Summer International Travel Grants offered by the Study Abroad Office provide funding for students to pursue summer research and language study outside of the United States.
• UChicago Arts Grants provide funding to support arts practice, exhibition, and performance across campus.
• UChicago Careers in Journalism, Arts, and Media (UCIJAM) prepares students to launch careers in these fast-changing and interdisciplinary fields. With support from expert career advisers, networking opportunities with industry leaders, and hands-on experiential learning opportunities, UCIJAM allows students to channel their creativity into career success.