The 4 tactics I used to convince one of the largest financial institutions in the world to hire me.

When it comes to career opportunities for English majors, people sometimes laugh at us. Trust me, I’ve been there. We’re asked what we plan to do with our lives and why we’d waste so much money on an impractical area of study.

An English degree can even be found on the list for some of the worst majors to get. Unless you want to teach, what’s the point, right?

But when I told people where I worked, they often asked a different question. Instead of asking me why I became an English major, they started asking me how I became an analyst at one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

I’ve found that if you position yourself correctly, an English major is actually one of the most malleable areas of study. And if you understand that and can articulate it, you’re one step closer to success in pretty much any field. By employing English major correctly, you can apply for all kinds of careers.

Sound Familiar?

During my sophomore year of college, I decided to become an English major. When I told my advisor, she asked what I wanted to do with the degree. I didn’t know at the time. And, in a lot of ways, I still don’t. But the school happily took my tuition money anyway. And off I went to read books, write papers, and sit in big circles discussing bigger questions.

It wasn’t until I neared graduation that I found I had no plan. I ended up getting an education minor so, at the very least, I could make enough money for pizza and beer.

But as graduation neared, it was clear to me that teaching wasn’t what I really wanted to do. And I starting thinking about the thing I should have been thinking about the whole time: What now?

Real Life

English majors don’t have a clear roadmap. It’s not like becoming a doctor or an accountant. Sure, you can go on to get a Master’s Degree and a PhD and teach in college. But that life isn’t for everyone. And that certainly doesn’t mean that career opportunities for English majors are limited.

When I became an English major, I thought I’d be fine, that I’d figure it out. The reality is that our education experience (reading and discussing literature) makes up only a small fraction of actual English major’s careers (teachers and professors). So what do the rest of us do?

Flip the Script

Imagine graduating with an English degree and having, not just one career path, but many laid out before you. English majors shouldn’t have to decide right away. We can do almost anything because career opportunities for English majors are nearly endless.

English degree graduates everywhere are told to slide into a teaching role or to keep going to school. What most people don’t realize is how useful an English degree can be in the real world.

If you are currently an English major or you graduated with a degree and you’re unhappy with your life’s trajectory, then you need to know how to mobilize your degree. I’ll show you how I used the unique skills we learn in school to land a job as a financial analyst.

If you know how to position yourself with your degree, you can confidently apply for practically any job. I’m going to explain how I did this.

The How

Career opportunities for English majors don’t have to be limited. You just need to know how to utilize and highlight the best of your English degree to turn your skills into assets.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Effective Communication
2. Ability to Learn
3. Uniquely Qualified
4. Common Ground

Effective Communication

While English majors have skills that will help them in almost any field, you want to ensure you’re highlighting whatever skills are useful for that particular job. So when I interviewed for the analyst position, I made sure I highlighted my ability to communicate with others because I knew that would be part of my role (email communication with clients).

English majors have to write all the time. By highlighting this strength, I put myself ahead of others who might struggle with that skill. Sure, other applicants knew finance. But can they clearly and effectively express a position?

If your English classes were anything like mine, you were forced to talk during class, articulate a point, back it up with evidence, and do all this with clarity and concision. If you were looking for someone client-facing, wouldn’t you want that as an employer?

Being an effective communicator isn’t a given for most adults. English majors earn those skills. It’s time we used them to our advantage. In this way, I imagine I out-shone a lot of finance majors and you can too! Think about what skills are inherent to you or that you honed throughout your degree. How can those be articulated in a way that makes them a strength. And more than that, how can your strengths help solve a problem for that company?

Ability to Learn

English majors are nothing if not studious. That’s why it’s important to demonstrate this during an interview. When I interviewed in finance, there were a lot of questions about my background.

The reality is that even a degree in finance wouldn’t have prepared anyone for the day-in and day-out processes of the career. Instead, the company knew they’d have to train me.

So when I went in there, I was ready to articulate this point while also having done my homework. When I showed up to the interview with a knowledge of their business, positions, available roles, and company history, I’m sure I seemed like I knew what I was talking about. Want to know how I learned all that information?

I read everything I could get my hands on about the company. I used my reading skills to consume as much information as I could. By doing this, I was able to display my research skills and show how it might be useful to my employer.

Uniquely Qualified

You are uniquely qualified. Make it clear that this is not a stepping stone or a place to buy yourself some time. Ensure whoever is interviewing you knows you’re planning on giving everything to this position because you’re interested.

When I went in for the interview, I knew about the company, about the position, and I picked the parts of the position I would be good at executing and I highlighted those. For me, I knew I would be good at communicating with clients through phone and email, so I mentioned that. I said I was excited to communicate with clients on a daily basis to ensure we were providing them with everything they needed. It was a little comment, but I imagine it stood out when they made their decision.

That’s why I made sure to bring it up. Being a confident communicator is not something easy to teach. But where do the numbers go in a spreadsheet? Anyone can learn that.

Common Ground

Finding common ground is tricky but can be so useful when applying for a position English majors don’t usually get. One of my interviewers looked disappointed when I sat across from him.

“So,” he said, looking at my resume, “I can’t ask you any difficult finance questions can I?”

“You can,” I said, “but I’ll definitely get them wrong.” He laughed. Then I followed up with, “Tell me about what you do here.”

By showing my interest in the inner workings of the company, I was able to build a rapport more easily. If he had grilled me with finance questions, I’d just be another interviewee who either got the questions right or wrong.

However, by the end of the interview, he and I were much more informal than we would have been if he just peppered me with questions. We’d found common ground (the Knicks) and I’d shown myself to be a friendly person who would be good to have in the office.

This isn’t always easy. And some interviewers are quicker to give in to this style than others. But if you can manage to make a friend in the interview room, you’ll have one more person on your side when it comes to the decision of who to hire.

Conclusion

At first glance, it would seem that most doors are closed to English majors. After all, there aren’t many jobs out there where people can read and discuss literature all day. So what should you do if you have serious literature skills but aren’t sure how to use them? The answer is simple: You have all the skills you need to be successful.

If you can prove that you can communicate effectively and learn quickly, then all you need to do is prove you’re uniquely qualified for the job and find common ground so you seem like you’d be enjoyable to work with.

Imagine being able to land almost any job out there. When you see your English degree as a key to opening doors, instead of a lock, you’ll be able to mobilize your degree to help you nail the interview and land your dream job.