Whether you are a wordsmith or poetry buff, whether you are addicted to reading or like to create characters, a degree in English Literature serves you the best! Being an ardent lover of literature, when you go to pursue the degree, you get to explore the world of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Elliot, Christie, and so many more greats.
Besides providing you with industry knowledge, a degree in English literature helps you gain significant skills that eventually assist you to stand out from the crowd. You learn to communicate and think better; you acquire fluency and get better at expressing thoughts or emotions. The creative side inside you is flourished with spark. Hence, there will be lots of career options lying in front of you and you will be ready with the one of your preference.
Here in this blog, we will tell you what are some of the lucrative career options after pursuing a degree in English Literature. Don’t worry! We will also guide you through some of the best colleges to get your English literature degree.
Studying English Literature: Eligibility and Requirements
Getting a degree in English literature needs you to start with a Bachelor’s in English Literature (B.A. English Honours) which is a 3-year course to be pursued in regular mode from the relevant colleges or universities. In this course, you take a journey across timeless prose, novels, poems and develop a clear understanding of the English literary world. Aspirants who plan to set up a career in scriptwriting, teaching, journalism, or any related field, should go for this course.
To be successful in this domain, the aspirant needs to be a patient learner and dedicated student. You need to fulfill certain eligibility requirements too to be eligible for the course. The aspirant needs to be a 10+2 or equivalent pass out with a minimum aggregate of 50% or equivalent from a recognized board. Also, the candidate must have English as their core subject in high school. The admission is generally based on merit and in some cases through an entrance test depending on the intake capability and university.
Career Options after English Literature Degree
Myself being an ardent literature lover and a student of the same; I feel thrilled to know some of the exciting career opportunities that can unfold in front of you if you are the right candidate. There are plenty of career options for successful English literature candidates that can help them set up their esteem in the industry and earn a handsome sum. You need to be patient with your goals and be confident about what you are doing. Let us take a look at some of the promising career options after a degree in English Literature.
1: Journalist
Being a journalist requires you to be exceptional with communication skills with great analytical, thinking, and adapting skills. After your degree in English honours, you ought to be better with all these parameters and the role of a journalist might perfectly suit you. You can be responsible to look after the different aspects, from writing to editing and analyzing.
The basic average salary of an Indian journalist is INR 3,88,882/year.
2: Content Writing and Blogging
‘Content is the king’- as the world continues to grow digital, the demand for digital content writers and bloggers is on a hike. Doing the research, gathering the information, and pouring it out with top-notch creativity. Who can do it better other than a literature student? If you have a spark for words and interest in writing, exploring the career options in content writing is worth doing it. You can start your blog with a suitable niche and start earning a decent income. For better guidance regarding the same, read how to be a content writer and earn money.
Indian Content writers earn about INR 2,82,309 per year on average.
3: Creative Writer
Literature is all about reading, understanding, knowing, and recognizing the works of esteemed writers. After investing a cherishable time for understanding the works of literary greats, do you ever boost yourself to be one? If you are excellent with words and great at developing poems, novels, or prose with a creative mindset, a career as a creative writer would work out to be the best for an English Literature degree holder like you.
Creative writers earn about INR 3,30,000 per year on average.
4: Law
One that might not be the first thought as an English honors graduate but a popular one is Law. Many students from reputed universities go for a career in law after completing their courses in literature. English and law, what a massive combination! As you develop better communication and analytical skills through your English honors course, a further degree in Law would surely add a colourful feather to the glowing crown. After completing the 3 years B.A. course in English, you can go for the 3-year L.L.B. course to pursue law.
Indian lawyers make around INR 4,81,964/year on average.
5: Teaching
One of the most coveted and lucrative career options after an English literature degree in teaching and academia. If you have a deep passion for imparting education, being an educationist is the best thing you can do. What’s nobler than being a teacher who lights the candle of education in society? After completing your honors, you can go for a B.Ed or equivalent course and move a step ahead towards your teaching profession.
INR 3,07,316/year is the basic national average salary for Indian teachers.
If you plan to be a professor, that’s outstanding too! That will need you to complete your masters as the minimum eligibility. Afterwards, you can join the university as an Assistant Professor and researcher. With time and experience, you will eventually upgrade to a permanent professor.
Top Colleges to Study English Literature Honours
Cracking hurdles and ultimately getting to study your favourite subject is no way less than a big dream come true. There are abundant colleges in India proving the B.A. English Honours course to millions of aspirants across the country and globe.
Here goes the name of the top-tier institutes to pursue your degree:
- St. Stephens College: University of Delhi
- Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi
- Christ University, Bangalore
- University of Hyderabad
- Loyola College, Chennai
- University of Calcutta
The list is not only limited to the above six names and there are many other quality Indian colleges that provide this course to the aspirants. As already discussed earlier, admissions are merit-based for some universities while in others it is based on the entrance examination as conducted by the concerned authorities
Is English Literature for You? Seek Guidance from Experts
Now comes a vital part of the blog. If you are confident with what you are doing and ready to set up your career through English literature, congratulations! In case you are not and confused about your likes and dislikes, no problem too! Experts are there to guide you. People say ‘An individual is either a Maths person or English person, no one is ever both’. In case you are both and not sure which one to go for, you can always seek professional guidance.
Connecting with a career counsellor and discussing your queries can sort out most of the problems and help you make a firm decision. They take you through a series of events to have an in-depth understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, capabilities, interests, and background. Hence, they provide you with the best suggestions, giving you knowledge about the possible career options in the related field, market value, and so on. Eventually, you get to decide for yourself!
Edumilestones, India’s best career counselling platform, helps you to connect with the best industry experts to get your doubts solved. Here are the steps to book an appointment with a career counsellor through our platform.
Step 1: Visit the website at www.edumilestones.com.
Step 2: Under “Find Career Counsellor Near You”, In the red drop-down box, click on ‘career counselling for students and enter your location.
Step 3: After you press ‘enter’, a big list comes up with many names and details. You can browse through them and once decided, you can proceed to book an appointment with the counsellor.
The Bottom Line
Studying English Literature is neither about being “cool” nor about “only reading”. It’s a timeless concept to get connected to the eternal write-ups of all-time greats and appreciate the value of their work. Meanwhile, you get to develop better communication skills, patience, and a lot of knowledge about the literary world. What a great concept, isn’t it?
So if you want to make a career in the same, be very sure of what you are doing. Also, making the right career decision after successful course completion is vital too. That’s why seeking professional guidance is always recommendable as it helps you more towards the right path!
