English Students Can Prepare Themselves for Business.
"There is perhaps no single more valued gift in the world of employment," write Julie DeGalan and Stephen Lambert in Great Jobs for English Majors (1994), "than the ability to write well and easily" (184). "The amount of correspondence alone is staggering, and business writing requires an excellent vocabulary, clarity of expression, and some special stylistic technique of directness, collaboration, and persuasion. New business ventures, advertising proposals, international ventures, and new products all present opportunities to do something different" (184).
By developing strong reading and writing skills, English majors equip themselves with some of the most basic traits needed by successful business people. Consequently, numerous employers seek employees with the skills that every conscientious English major possesses (DeGalan and Lambert 196). Such employers include
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Not-for-profit organizations
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Professional organizations
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Federal government
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State and local government
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For-profit businesses
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TV stations
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Radio stations
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Specialty advertisers
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Outdoor advertising agencies
Magazines
Newspapers
Public relations firms
Utilities
Sports organizations
Medical institutions and associations
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Advertising, for example, "requires not only a masterful grasp of English, but also a real sense of the sweep of English language, both historical and in its most recent incarnations. Along with these language skills must come a very high level of general information" (DeGalan 163). Individuals in these fields must be able to connect ideas and feelings to each other, in the interest of an audience's feelings toward an advertisement or a policy.
For a better idea how one writer has put his skills to work in a medical institution, read Thomas Leibrandt's account of his work at a major hospital.
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