What Can You Do With a Degree in English, Comparative Literature, or Linguistics?

Graduates of the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics go on to have successful careers in a wide range of fields. Studying literature or linguistics does not prepare you for any single career; instead, such study gives you a versatile toolbox that you can use in virtually any professional situation. English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics majors learn to write clearly and persuasively, read quickly and precisely, interpret a wide range of texts, empathize with others, consider things historically, work independently, tolerate ambiguity, and think critically.

The thinking, reading, and writing skills acquired by English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics majors are highly sought after by employers. While there may be relatively few professions in which the study of literature or linguistics is an explicit part of the job description, English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics graduates nonetheless typically find their studies at Cal State Fullerton have had an indirect and unforeseeable utility in their professional lives. One of our alumni who now works as a fraud investigator, for example, was surprised to realize in retrospect that “explicating a poem or understanding, say, The Sound and the Fury was the perfect training ground for civil or criminal investigation.” Majoring in English, Comparative Literature, or Linguistics will provide you with a broad set of skills that will help you throughout your whole career.