Liar Liar...English Hire?!

So a couple of weeks ago, something incredible happened. My heart was pounding, my eyes widened as my sense of hope elevated and my mouth seemed frozen open as though stuck on the "O" of "O-M-G". No, I didn't see my true love at first site, and no, it wasn't really good porn. It was a simple article on Facebook, entitled "Why English Majors are the hot new hires" which I have posted here for your viewing pleasure.
https://www.openforum.com/articles/why-english-majors-are-the-hot-new-hires/

My reaction to the article occurred in stages. First, was the excitement at seeing the title and thinking "Yes! Someone is finally realizing my worth! Employment here I come!" Then I actually started reading the article. Bruna Martinuzzi, the author of the article, makes some valid points about the often underrated qualities and qualifications that English majors bring to the table. Things like excellent communication and writing skills, and a strong hand in critical thinking. While I would argue, slightly biased of course, that English majors undergo the most rigorous training in critical thinking of all the liberal arts majors, the reality is that critical thinking, along with the other skills Martinuzzi lists, is not limited to the English major alone. In fact, the entire arts spectrum underscores the importance of logical argumentation and clear, concise communication, so the article's claims for English majors could as easily be made for History, Philosophy, Sociology and Political Science as well. Furthermore, the social science disciplines actually have one-up on us arts students in the research department, as they are required to take statistics courses which only augment employers' confidence in their ability to research and analyze material.

And here's another kicker (and where my original excitement downspirals into cynicism). Any of the jobs I have applied to that list "excellent written and oral skills" or "editing and proofreading" among its ideal applicant's key qualifications second these skills to a very specific education, often including a degree in Communications or Journalism; even a Business Administration degree is requested for the most menial of jobs! The skill set Martinuzzi lists appears after these very specific qualifications, which leads one to wonder which of the two will be considered more favorably by the employer. Will it be enough that I am an excellent communicator with years of experience editing and writing for professionals, but I'm also an English major? Or would they rather have a Business Admin degree, even if that means having to look over every article produced to ensure our dependable business student used the correct "there" in their writing?

What's worse is the reality that it does not necessarily have to be one or the other anymore. Nowadays, good writing practices are being more emphasized across the social sciences and even outside the liberal arts discipline. Many science students are required to take an English Literature course and, having served as a teaching assistant for one of those courses recently, I can attest to the fact that despite a science or engineering background, many non-arts students write with the capability of those of us who specialize in the art of communication and argumentation. An English major alone is rarely enough to satisfy. Those job postings that require "excellent communication and written skill" always come with an additional caveat that run-of-the-mill English majors may not be able to fulfill. Want to edit stories for the news? You need excellent communication skills AND a degree in television broadcasting. Want to work as a research assistant? You need thorough research skills AND demonstrated experience in statistics. An English major alone is realistically insufficient.

Ultimately, it saddens me to say that Martinuzzi's article fails to answer the "why" question. Why hire an English major, specifically, when there are all sorts of other disciplines out there that arm students with similar skills and qualifications? The dreamer in me wants to believe that she is right, that there is something special and unique about those of us who study literature, with which other arts programs simply cannot compare. But the truth of the matter is, the title of the article could just have easily read "why arts majors are the hot new hires", hitting home the reality that despite any corporate move towards the arts, we still have an outrageous number of equally qualified candidates to compete against for the ever decreasing number of jobs available.

In the mean time, we struggle onwards with the hope of finding employment that will motivate us to get up every morning and do our best, while maintaining the reassurance that even if we are "merely" English majors, at least we have one hell of a library.