Charlotte McGill: Self-Employed Writer & Editor

Name: Charlotte McGill 

Age: 22 

College & Majors/Minors: English and Creative Writing BA, Writing for Children MA 

Current Location: Hampshire, England 

Current Form of Employment: Sole Trader, offering Professional Writing Services 

Where do you work and what is your current position?

At the moment I am set us as a sole trader with no other employees, so I have the luxury of working for myself. The name of my business is Charlotte McGill Writing Services, and I mainly deal with businesses as an outsourced copywriter or editor. 

In my previous two jobs, while I was technically classed as 'sales' I was actually more of the marketing manager, and this meant I had the responsibility of writing content for the company blogs and websites, as well as managing social media and the marketing department. I found this particularly useful, and when you're going into writing as a professional, having a marketing background is a massive bonus. 

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job.

Up until University I just worked in retail, so I don't feel this is relevant. I found my first 'real' jobs through an employment agency, which required you to take basic competency tests to prove you could write and count. I was lucky in that I didn't have to interview much before I was offered the job. The main skill the employers were looking for in both accounts was the ability to communicate clearly, come across as personable and enthusiastic, and how good my ability to sell myself to them was. It was these skills that convinced them i would be good in sales, but better in marketing. I always thought the interviews would be terrifying, but once you arrived and realized that they are just normal people, the interviews were relaxed and easy going. 

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

One of the most important things I did during uni was take part in Project Litmus. This was a part of the 'Publishing Project' where students created and published an anthology of their works, from start to finish. We split into sections and all took on different responsibilities. Everyone wrote a piece, it was then given to designated editors (I was the editor of all children's fiction submissions) before being given to the graphics department to be typeset, a cover designed and sent to print as an anthology. I was also part of the marketing department, working on promoting the launch event and a general marketing strategy. This gave me a great insight into the whole process and allowed me to say I had a piece published. 

My uni frequently ran author and career talks, and I attended every one of these. These were a great chance to pick the brains of people who had made it in the business, and get an idea for just how many ways you can succeed in writing. 

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Make sure you ask questions of anyone who you think can help you. Don't be afraid of looking stupid— we were all there once— but getting advice from people you admire of who do what you want to do is the best way of not only getting ideas of how to move forward, but also to disillusion yourself. Everyone thinks a career in writing will be easy for them because they are great and people will love them, but the truth is, until you acknowledge that it's a tough, competitive field that you have to work incredibly hard in to be successful, you won't move forward. 

Ask questions. Get advice wherever you can. Learn from it, and make a solid plan. Know where you are now, where you want to be, and how you're going to get there.

Visit Charlotte's professional website, CharlotteMcGill.com and follow her on twitter!

Dan Moyer Jr.: Screenwriter

Name: Dan Moyer Jr.

Age: 26

College & Majors/Minors: English, minor in Philosophy

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

Current Form of Employment: Screenwriter

Where do you work and what is your current position?

Simply put: everything and anything. That’s what it takes to make a living as a freelance writer. Someone need a review written? I can do that. Need a product description for a catalogue? Sure, I can do that, too. Every job you get makes it easier to get the next one. Work your way up the ladder. I truly believe the adage: “Do what you have to, so you can do what you want to.” Living that way has taken me some pretty interesting places.

For example, I got to tour with one of Randy Jackson’s recording artists on Warped Tour in 2012. I lived on the bus, did a lot of partying and drinking with bands like Yellowcard and New Found Glory, and all I had to do was blog about our adventures. Basically, I got to live the Almost Famous life for 33 days. Now, I live in LA. I work from home, for myself, as a screenwriter. I’ve adapted novels. Done re-writes. Written biopics. I’m still not at the point where I can to do everything I want to do, but I’m still climbing. Still hustling. Because it’s not enough to be a good writer. There are thousands of good writers out there. You have to be a good salesperson, too. You have to sell yourself.

What kind of projects have you been working on recently?

Unfortunately, I've signed an NDA for most of my recent work, so I can't talk too much about it. But here's what I can tell you:

• I recently wrote the synopsis and character one-sheets for actor Matthew Modine's upcoming project, The Rocking Horsemen, which he plans to direct.
• My original TV pilot, The Edgelands, was highlighed by The Black List this month. The Black List is a list of the top unprodcued screenplays in the industry.

Tell us about how you found your first job— what was the process like?

After I graduated (and after a drunken conversation on the beach), I moved to LA with a friend of mine who was going to be attending USC’s engineering school. He said to me, “You’ve always wanted to go to Hollywood, right?” A few days later, I signed a lease for an apartment on the other side of the country (in a city I had never been to, mind you) and the job hunt began! I applied for every internship I could think of. Every opening. I lined up six or seven interviews for my first few days in LA, and luckily, I got one. It was with a small film acquisition company in the NBC building. Exciting at first, but the long hours, cold calls, and commission-based pay got old— fast. But they happened to be down the hall from a small development company. I just walked into their offices one day and told the boss, “Look – I went to school to be a writer. Not a telemarketer. I have this script…” He read it, liked it, and hired me as a staff writer to polish some screenplays they had optioned. That job gave me all sorts of insight into the industry. How scripts get made. How they get bought, sold. Turned into movies. I attended premiers. The American Film Market. Eventually, I learned enough to know that I could make more money as a freelancer, jumping from project to project, company to company. And so – here I am.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I’ve done a lot of editing over the years (even though I’ve always considered myself a writer first, speller second). A lot of blogging, too. I did both for an energy company that was based out of Singapore. Found the job through a Craigslist ad. That side-job helped pay my bills in between scripts. It’s always important to have a side gig. A lifeline. Can’t put all your eggs in one basket, because what happens then? Someone doesn’t pay on time. You can’t make rent. It’s you who winds up getting evicted— not them.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

You know how they say college isn’t for everyone? I always felt like that. I didn’t need college, I thought. I hated going to class. Hated taking classes I didn’t care about. But I stuck with it. Got my degree. And thank God I did. I had a brief internship in New York City working for New Line Cinema in the Merchandising Department when I was a sophomore. It was a good learning experience – got to sit in on a few product integration meetings, plus I got a lot of free stuff – but what I learned most was that the “9-5, commute to the city job” wasn’t for me. I just wasn’t happy. 12-hour days. Filing. Half-hour lunch breaks. Groan. I quit after a month or so.

The lesson? If you aren’t sure what you want to do with your life, keep crossing things off the list until you find it. For me, it was screenwriting. Always loved movies. Loved writing short stories. But it wasn’t until I opened my college newspaper one day and read an article about a one-week student film competition that I put it all together. They gave me a camera, Macbook Pro, final cut, tripod – you name it. My friends and I spent the next week skipping class and staying up all night working on our film. I loved every second of it. Even the painful ones. For the first time, I loved the process of something. We made the top 10 that year. I dropped every education class I had (I was going to be an English teacher) and enrolled in every film and screenwriting class I could. The next year, I had two films in the top 10. Year after that, I was in LA. Things move quickly once you’re inspired. In the meantime, just keep crossing careers off your list.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

My advice would be this: never settle for anything in life. Don’t just become a teacher because you’re not sure what else to do with your expensive education. No, I don’t make a lot of money, and yes, some months are more stressful than others – but you know what? I’m my own boss. I love the hustle. And I haven’t woken up to an alarm clock since I graduated. That, to me, is true happiness. So whether you’re reading this and you’re in a good mood, or you’re depressed because all your friends seem to have their futures so “figured out,” remember this – the people who think they’ve reached the end of the line in their twenties are usually the ones who’ll have a mid-life crises. So keep searching for that dream job. Learn to take “no” and move on. Successful people are built on the rejection of others.

Amanda Rinker: Content Manager at OVC Lawyer Marketing

Name: Amanda Rinker

Age: 25

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. in English, Writing Concentration from Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Current Location: San Antonio, Texas

Current Form of Employment: Content Manager at OVC Lawyer Marketing

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I currently work at OVC, INC. (aka OVC Lawyer Marketing) which is a website development company based out of Chicago, Illinois. We provide website design, Search Engine Optimization, social media, website content, blogs, and more for attorneys located throughout the U.S. At OVC, I am the Content Manager. I mostly handle the assigning and editing of website content and blogs, but I also help out with the web operations duties of maintaining legal directory listings for our clients, creating and updating mobile websites, updating websites, and the upkeep of Google Places listings. Really, I wear many different hats at OVC but my passion is the content. It is a big responsibility to keeping content and blog schedules on track, as well as handling client turnaround on projects, but my passion for editing makes all of the pressure worth it. I love being able to take something a writer compiled, research the latest SEO techniques to implement, and conform the writing to make a client successful and happy.

I was introduced to the owner of OVC, Greg Wildman, back in 2011 through my first freelance job after college. I worked for (then Online Video Concepts, LLC) here and there for two years, adding content and updates to attorney websites. In 2013, I gained a bigger role with the company, and this year I became its first employee. With the 2014 massive growth of OVC, we hired on three more full time employees and even more contract writers and web developers. OVC, INC. has a bright future and I plan on helping to carry the torch.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). 

My first job was for a multi-faith prayer website (weird, right?). After college, I started dating my now husband of four years so I was determined to find a work-from-home job. He was in the Army and we'd likely be moving around every two to three years. So I cruised Craigslist ads for three months after graduation before I came upon the interesting ad. I sent an email with my short post-graduation resume and received a response from the Chicago-based website. After a Skype interview, I was hired and worked for the website for about a year as a freelance editor eventually managing a team of writers and editing their content for publication and email newsletters. Through this amazing opportunity, I learned HTML, the content management system Joomla, Wordpress, how to publish eBooks, and really just how to be a professional in a virtual setting. I will be forever grateful for this first opportunity I had.

Examples of Amanda Rinker's Work

Examples of Amanda Rinker's Work

Examples of Amanda Rinker's Work

Nowadays, especially when you telecommute to work, employers are looking for writers and editors with a broad range of skills. You can't just be able to write anymore; you have to know some HTML, have worked in the "back end" of websites, know the latest SEO techniques, have experience with social media, and more. Not only do you have to have talent, but you must also be willing to learn how to market yourself. This involves keeping your own online portfolio and making sure it's up to date. For example, my website www.amandarinker.com is not as current as it could be, but now that I have a full time employee position I can afford to let it linger until I need it. However, when I'm in the market for new freelance opportunities, I always make sure to have the most recent articles I've written, live links to social media I've helped manage, etc. Not only should the resume be recent, but having my own hand-built portfolio website also shows my budding web development skills.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

My job after the prayer site was for a digital art magazine/news website. This job taught me the importance of being an asset to a business. For example, I would take calls or push out relevant news stories for our website on nights and weekends. I was the link of broadcasting the latest art, fashion, or book news to our viewers. It was great for learning responsibility and my value as a worker. This editing position also taught me more about interviewing. I would interview innovative creators of art and learn what made them tick, or what their inspirations were. It helped me connect with people even if it was over a computer or on the phone. It can make you stir crazy working in an empty office at home, so this provided some human interaction. Finally, this freelance job gave me more insight on publishing for eReaders like Kindle, Nook and iPad. There are so many different aspects that go into publishing that readers don't think about, such as each eReader must be created in it's own file format. They all don't read the same file and make it look pretty on the screen. That was probably the hardest thing to deal with when publishing the quarterly eMagazine.

I also freelanced for a publisher that released different science-related journals. Specifically, I worked on an academic physics journal. Let me say, it's very interesting to edit around scientific terms and theories that you don't understand. However, I made it work somehow. As a copy editor you pick up inserting that "blank" noun or verb over a term you don't know. Though, I am proud to say that when I see stories about the Large Hadron Collider in the news I jump for joy because I've been editing works about it. Most notably, this job taught me how to work with the Chicago Manual of Style (whereas I was familiar with MLA style in college) and how to use different editing software for journals.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

During my senior year of college, I was involved in the English Department's "BaZaar Magazine," a student publication with articles and reviews written on music, movies, and travel sites. But, my main involvement that shaped my career was my in English Club and Sigma Tau Delta (English Honors Society) from sophomore to senior year. My senior year, I was the President of the English Club and Vice President of our Sigma Tau Delta chapter. Attending STD (yes, it's a great acronym) conferences in different cities, submitting my writing and meeting book authors was the best experience I had in college. I have signed books from Alexandra Fuller, Michael Perry, and Neil Gaiman that I will treasure forever, as well as the memories of hearing them speak about their careers. Not only did these organizations look good on my resume, but they enriched my life and future career with expanding my own writing, learning from others, and gaining relationships with my peers.

The other major thing I did to prepare for post-college life ("real life" as I call it) was nab an internship at a small Pittsburgh publishing house. This helped me get my hands on manuscripts, allowed me to contribute my own book reviews to their blog, and showed me the ins and outs of a real company. Though I did intern tasks like maintain the stockroom, mail out book orders, and get everyone lunch, I learned valuable editing and business skills from the editors and book designers.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

One concrete statement that I can give to English students and graduates is what I mentioned before: Be more than just a writer or editor. Know your craft but also know what will make you successful. Market yourself with the abilities you should have in today's digital age. Also, be willing to take less money if you want to get your foot in the door. I started off making $8/hour (now near minimum wage) with my first gig. But, I worked hard and made my way up to $10/hr in only a few months, and so on. Today a lot of people, especially in my generation, think they deserve more right out of college, so that's why they might not be working in the field they enjoy. It takes sacrifice and working over 40 hours a week to get somewhere. I'm not saying you may not be worth a higher salary, but to get somewhere you have to start from the bottom and fight your way to the top.

Visit Amanda on her professional website amandarinker.com, check out her profile on OVCLawyerMarketing.com and connect with her on LinkedIn!

Kat Clark: Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications

Name: Kat Clark

Age: 24

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. from Swarthmore College, English Literature & Studio Art.

Current Location: Philadelphia, PA

Current Form of Employment: Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at Moorestown Friends School, which is a Quaker school for students in preschool through 12th grade. As the Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, my primary responsibility is storytelling: writing articles, managing social media, designing communications, and editing our magazine. I am also the school’s photographer, which is where my double major really comes into play. For projects such as our Summer Programs brochure or Great Kids video, I’m able to start with a blank slate in InDesign or Final Cut and build the piece from start to finish — I like that I don’t need to choose between writing and visual art. I teach a middle school video production class once a week, and I love doing that.

Last year, I worked at North Shore Country Day School outside of Chicago, where I was their Communications Associate. The responsibilities for that position were similar to what I’m doing now, and I also advised the high school newspaper several times each week and planned events with the library staff. I’m passionate about teaching and community building, so connecting with the students means a lot to me and helps me feel like my work in marketing is meaningful. I believe that all offices of an educational institution should be student-centered, not only classroom spaces; if a student listened in on one of my meetings, I would want her to feel that I’m her advocate.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job.

My first job out of Swarthmore was a paid summer internship in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Museum Education Department. I’m not sure if I can share exactly what the application process was like, but I can say that the interview round was difficult. Working in museum education requires public speaking skills, and my experience at AIC made me more confident. I’m used to being behind the scenes, so presenting American Gothic to a large group of people was important to my growth as a person. It also helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses: I was fired up when talking to local kids about artwork, but I was hopelessly bored when waiting to see a rare print.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I was Co-Executive Editor of Swarthmore’s daily online newspaper, and that experience kind of reprogrammed my brain. Not only was I obsessed with the big picture (the paper succeeding), but I was also thrilled to spend my free time copyediting, editing images, and dealing with the minutiae of Wordpress. It got me more interested in the details of journalism and new media, both of which are integral to my current position. On top of that, the other students on the editorial staff were insanely talented (Hanna Kozlowska, Jon Emont, Sahiba Gill, Max Nesterak, Monika Zaleska), and I learned so much from them. As John Wooden once said, “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you.”

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

In addition to the newspaper, I worked for the College’s Communications Office for several years. That experience familiarized me with how communications work at a school, and I also managed the student Media Center at Swarthmore for two years. I think the technology skills gained from hours and hours in the computer lab helped me more than anything else. A generous grant from the Kohlberg Foundation allowed me to have summer experiences as well, and I could not be more grateful for that. I don’t think anyone should be forced to take an unpaid, uncompensated internship after graduating, and many people can’t afford them during school vacations either.

During the winter of my senior year, I also began volunteering remotely for the Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls & Young Women. Our media toolkit was later featured on the radio and in Al Jazeera, and it was a great introduction to the nonprofit world.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree? 

I highly recommend using Indeed and Idealist to find a job the moment it’s posted. Zero in on one job at a time. Look for a connection to the organization, do some thorough research, and submit a customized cover letter and résumé as quickly as possible... then repeat the process. Sending 100 generic cover letters is a waste of your time. You are only looking for one job, so focus on quality over quantity and be a standout applicant.

I also think it's helpful to have fluency in various computer programs (Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office) and be able to specify your skill level on a résumé. Employers will be able to see your writing skills in a cover letter, but it's much harder for them to rate your competency in design or social media, so spell it out for them as much as possible.

Most importantly, don't be a misanthrope. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Always stand up for the little guy. Share the credit with someone else. 

Visit Kat on her professional website katclark.org and connect with her on Facebook and twitter.

Janet Schwind: Self-Employed Writer, Editor & Publishing Consultant

Name: Janet Schwind

Age: 51

College & Majors/Minors: Indiana University Bloomington. Double major in Journalism and English.

Current Location: Indianapolis, IN

Current Form of Employment: Self-Employed Writer, Editor & Publishing Consultant

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I am currently enjoying my fourth year as an independent writer, editor and publishing consultant. Prior to striking out on my own I had come from an advertising agency background where I was a copywriter and producer, writing for a wide variety of clients in both business to business and consumer areas. I worked on everything from print ads and brochures to websites and radio, tv and video scriptwriting and production. I often worked with graphic designers, partnering with them to brainstorm concepts.

After a few decades of this I decided I had had enough of the advertising world— suffered a bit of creative burnout— so I quit my job. It was scary as I had made my way up the ladder and was making a lovely sum of money. But that didn’t do it for me anymore. It was totally exhilarating to quit! I slacked about at coffeehouses, thoroughly loving my escape from the cubicle farm. I was out and about among the living. I felt freedom! And sunshine! I moved forward trying to discover what I wanted to do next, taking on some temp editorial jobs with the state legislature until I landed a job at a small publishing company. This lasted 2.5 years until the economy took them under but what I gained from that job was a passion for publishing. I had fallen in love with it! I wore multiple hats at this small company— primarily as project manager, taking each author through the publishing process. I was responsible for creating the timeline, working with graphic designers to develop covers and interiors, with orders and shipping, with printers, and with online distributors. Oh and I edited manuscripts. I even wrote a chapter in a book we published called "Overtime: The Bonus Years."

I do not believe anything happens by accident. Such a detour from my former advertising background led me to this new passion, and gave me the tools I needed to do what I had always wanted to do— have a freelance career combining everything I love: publishing (editing) and writing for business.

Last year I was able to take 5 weeks away from my life to take an amazing adventure: I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain— a 500 mile pilgrimage. I am working on a speaking/powerpoint presentation and will likely write a book after that. I have over 3000 photos so it’s going to take a lot of editing.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). Tell us about the interview process, too!

My first job was with my hometown newspaper (South Bend Tribune) on the editing desk. I worked every Friday and Saturday night proofreading articles and writing headlines to fit the copy space. I loved it! Only a few people worked those lame hours, but there was something special about that first job.

Eventually the hours were not enough to sustain me though. Shortly thereafter I got a job at a large advertising agency as a copy editor— what I considered to be my first professional job. It was very exciting. While there, as editor I asked for small writing projects in order to build myself a sample portfolio. That strategy worked because I was laid off from that job after one year and next went to a small ad agency with my writing samples, and landed my first job as a copywriter.

I don’t recall having to take any tests for these jobs. There have been a few jobs in my career where I have taken editing and writing tests, however. They were temp jobs as I recall. The interview processes at ad agencies involved showing samples of my previous work. Whatever samples you can accumulate, the better— especially starting out. Write for businesses and magazines and anything where you can gain experience and a sample to take away. They look for professional samples— not like poems and fiction stories. 

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?  

I had the opportunity to write a video game as a freelancer in partnership with Gabriel Interactive, and with a grant from the National Cancer Institute. It was an educational antismoking videogame for young girls to encourage them not to start smoking. This was a new application of my skills. The project was important to me for many reasons. It lasted a year and a half, and it enabled me to jump into having my own business. The creativity involved with this project was out of the box for what I was used to doing as a copywriter for the advertising market. It really stretched me creatively and also was such a fun and satisfying project to be involved in. I worked with game designers and programmers. I learned a new software called Chat Mapper which enabled me to write dialogue in non-linear fashion for the video game play. This was very different thinking, sometimes difficult to wrap your head around. We brainstormed characters and storylines and I helped develop each character and their personalities. It taught me to think differently and working on such a huge team was fun. I even wrote in a peripheral character based on myself— Janet was a cute hippie girl who made jewelry and sold it on the beach in Dolphin Pier.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

In college I was on the yearbook staff my senior year, which was a fun experience. But honestly there wasn’t much else during college (in the extracurricular sense) that I did toward my career. I worked in the audio visual department’s library for some extra money. I filed tapes. (This is sort of like saying I carried a watermelon*.)

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree? 

If you’re still in school, I would say to have a second major. English is good, but perhaps a second major gives you a broader field of career possibilities. Having good writing and communication skills is so important in any profession. Put yourself in as many environments as you can where you are required to write. Collect as many professional samples as you can. Offer to write for free when you’re just starting out, in order to build up a portfolio of work. Find a magazine you want to write for and study up on their stories and then submit articles. Experience as many different things as you can, and write about them. Start a blog. Create a GooglePlus professional profile and a LinkedIn profile. Be aware of your internet presence and clean up anything that is out there that doesn’t enhance your professional appearance. Be consistent in the way you present yourself online across all of these channels. This will help build your credibility and your consistent appearance in search engines. Live life. Do stuff. Write about it. 

*Jennifer Grey’s character, Baby, to Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing.

Visit Janet on her portfolio site JanetSchwind.com her publishing website allianceforselfpublishers.weebly.com. Connect with Janet on Google+ and on LinkedIn!

Rachel Wong: Content Specialist

Name: Rachel Wong

Age: 24

College: Taylor University

Major/Minor: I majored in media communication with an emphasis in writing. I also minored in music composition!

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: Content Specialist at a local consulting firm

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I work at Logic20/20 as a content specialist. Basically, I'm an editor for technical writing at a consulting company and it's great!

Before Logic20/20, I worked as a scriptwriter/researcher at an SEO company. That was a pretty interesting job, because I basically wrote infographics and came up with the stats for cool data visualizations. I never even realized such a job existed before landing it!

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

Like any good writing/English major, I was involved in the school paper. I wouldn't say I was a model student in the major because I was so involved in other parts of college life (residence life, played on the soccer team). For me, my best career-related experience came in the form of internships. I landed a summer gig at Backpacker magazine which was amazing, and I also volunteered my time for a newspaper in Vail, Colorado right after college (I was a ski bum for a season who had to appease the parents in career aspirations). Vail attracts big-name artists and entertainers for the tourists but the newspaper staff was pretty small, so I got to interview lots of famous people! To note: Oscar from "The Office" is exactly like his character in real life.

Shoot high when applying for internships. When you offer to do work for free (both of mine were unpaid), it's easy to get your foot in the door just about anywhere.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). 

My first job was a copywriter at zulily (where I met DearEnglishMajor herself!). I found it online and was persistent as heck. I even called some higher up on the phone just to get the name of the recruiter. The next job I found on Craigslist and had a good recommendation. My current job was also found through a connection and also being persistent again. I took writing tests in two of the three jobs and each test was basically work that I would actually be doing. Employers are looking for a range of writing samples! Lately, I think a hot skill set is any work in email marketing, SEO stuff, and the Adobe suite. The interview process really varies— some took a week and some took six months! Be persistent, keep writing in the meantime, build up your portfolio and then just give the interview your best shot!

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Woo! Yes. As a writing/English major, you're competing with a pretty large group for a very limited amount of cool jobs. Do your best to bulk up your technical skills (can you mock up a great InDesign layout? Do you know what SQL is? Can you write white papers? Can you speak HTML/CSS? Can you mesmerize with your Excel skills?). Employers love to see those hard skills, especially coming from writing folks. It gives them something tangible to go off of, and you're speaking more their language. I'm guessing you've mastered your English skills by now, so equip that career quiver with some technical prowess.

In her spare time, Rachel writes a personal finance blog for people in their 20s called Sage & Mint. Connect with her on LinkedIn! 

Drake Lucas: Grant Writer @ Human Rights Watch

Name: Drake Lucas

Age: 34

College & Majors/Minors: BA in English & minor in French from University of Puget Sound. MA in journalism from Emerson College.

Current Location: Brooklyn, NY

Current Form of Employment: Grant Writer @ Human Rights Watch

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I am a grant writer at the international non-profit Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch has a team of writers on staff to write letters of inquiries, grant proposals, and reports for foundations and major donors. The topics I regularly write about are children’s rights, refugee rights, and rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Writing for donors is a particular style of writing that requires not only researching and knowing about the organization and its work well enough to make it interesting, but also trying to know enough about the person you are writing for to tailor the piece to them. Depending on how familiar they are with the organization and their particular interest, they may want something more general or more detailed. Grant writing can be creative— for some donors, it’s about writing a compelling narrative about our work. Other times, it’s more about filling out forms and writing succinct answers.

Before this, I worked at the press desk at Human Rights Watch where I connected journalists working on pieces about international human rights issues with the experts at Human Rights Watch. I also proofread press releases, making sure each piece was consistent with AP and our in-house style guide.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

Internships were key in helping me get my first writing job. I went to graduate school for journalism and got an internship at a local paper while I was finishing my degree, which gave me the experiences and clips I needed to go for my first reporting job. To try out for the reporting job, I had to work for three days in a newsroom reporting on and writing about a town I was unfamiliar with. They were looking for someone who could not only write, but could also interview, research, cover breaking news, and find interesting stories.

For my current job, I had an opportunity to volunteer writing grants for Human Rights Watch while I was still working at the press desk. I was able to work with and learn from the grant writing staff, and try doing the job to see if it was something I was interested in. When a job opened up, the interview process involved both a sit-down interview with a panel of people, as well as a take-home writing and editing test. It’s a job that requires working with many different people, both on the grant writing staff and with the staff of the entire organization, as well as donors. They wanted someone who could write and edit on a variety of topics and work well with many different personalities. The job also requires being able to take difficult and complex topics and put them in clear and easy language, so they can be understandable for an audience that may not know much about the topic.

For all jobs with writing, being able to work on deadline is important.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career? 

Being a reporter is great training for any writing job. You have to write on deadline whether you are “inspired” or not. You have to collect information fast, but be accurate. You have to deal with a variety of people, both inside and outside the paper. You learn to handle criticism—people won’t always like what you write, and they will be vocal about it. You are edited on a daily basis by— often blunt— editors. You sometimes write about topics you may not have ever heard of, so you have to find the people who can explain it to you and research it enough to write with some authority. You have to be careful that you get it right because people will call you out when you get it wrong. And you have to be able to write long features that you might get a month to work on, as well as be able to jump in a car, go to a fire, find the story, and come back and write an article within hours. It’s tough work and long hours and little pay. But it’s great when you uncover news, and it’s fun to see a story in print that you are really proud of.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

For a writer, any activity or class might come in handy, so I say mix it up. Find room in your schedule to take classes outside your degree. I wrote a series of articles about jazz music in Boston from an interest I developed in a jazz appreciation class that I took in college to fill an art requirement. For my current job, I draw on information I learned in a class I took in college on the history of nonviolence. Learning about new topics – and having to write about them – is a good skill to have. And you never know when you will discover a true passion.

I also minored in French and studied abroad in France, then did a lot of traveling. Learning another language helps you to understand your own language better, and traveling is a way to experience different cultures and confront different points of view. Traveling makes you notice things more— while you are away and then about your own country when you return. Any writer needs to have open eyes to notice details, and then be able to share those details, which I did through letters home and later in travel-writing pieces. Now that I work at an international organization, the more I travel, the more it helps me understand people and connect with them. And everyone should experience being the foreigner. It helps develop compassion and often makes for great stories.  

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Read it. Love it. Memorize it.

Write for fun, no matter what your job is. Writing as a job, even if it is interesting and you like it, does make it a job, and you won’t love it every day. You will have to write on days when you don’t feel like it about things you don’t feel like writing about. It’s important to have a space where you write what you want when you want how you want. I have kept a journal since I was 9— not every day, but when I feel like it. It provides therapy and has also helped me be able to just open a page and start writing, letting the words come, not worrying about editing. I also started a whiskey blog, a fun space for me to explore learning about whiskey, develop my own voice, and write in a looser style.

Learn a good second-job skill, like waitressing, or being a barista or a nanny. A lot of beginning jobs or internships don’t pay well, if at all, especially the fun ones. Experience can be more important than money when you are starting out or shifting jobs, and the connections you make are invaluable. I did internships, I volunteered to write articles for local papers while in school, I wrote grants for free while I was doing my previous job. You can survive on surprisingly little money and can work a surprising amount of days in a row when you are determined to learn something and produce something. And then you can draw from all those random jobs for good writing material.

Visit Drake on her blog, whiskeygoddess.com.

Jill Sanford: Admin & Marketing Assistant @ Premier Media Group

Name: Jill Sanford

Age: 24

College & Majors/Minors: University of Puget Sound, English (Writing, Rhetoric & Culture) & Studio Art.

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: Admin & Marketing Assistant

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I work at Premier Media Group, the publishing house behind South Sound and 425 magazine.

I started at this company immediately after graduating college as an Editorial Intern. It has a small but extremely talented staff, and I was thrown right into all that the magazine publishing world has to offer: e-newsletters, blog posts, travel writing and the works. The company definitely needs and uses their college interns, and I loved seeing my name in print! Towards the end of my summer internship, an Administrative position opened up within the company, and in need of employment and in love with the magazine world, I applied and was hired. A year and a half later, I still have this role.

I answer the phones and handle customer service, which are not the most glamorous sides of the publishing industry. But working the front desk at a company that produces two lifestyle magazines that are on par with national publications has opened a tremendous amount of doors for me. I gained experience with circulation, sales and a lot of marketing and advertising support that I would not have experienced as an intern. I have a more well-rounded understanding of the magazine world and a lot of transferable skills that will help me in this industry across the board.

Most significantly, I was on hand and always willing to take on freelance assignments for both publications. I have a strong background in visual arts, so I gradually received more and more responsibility to cover the Arts & Entertainment sections for these magazines. I am now expected to manage a few key components of the publications each month and I contribute feature length articles as well as short clips for both web and print.

Taking a job that is essentially more of a stepping stone in my career rather than the end all be all right after college really allowed me the freedom to build my portfolio. Now that I have some substantial clips and a solid relationship with a respected publishing company, I am confident that I will have some tethers to grab hold to when I venture off on my own in the near future. I am beginning to explore what the next few years of my professional life will look like, and I am smitten with the idea of working in a communications, marketing and social media field at a larger corporation while freelancing on the side.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

To put it simply, I was hired for my first job because I had made a good impression as an intern. And I was hired as an intern because I had already had published work through my work with a web only publication, Post Defiance.

I can’t tell you how funny it felt to have my writing chopped up and dissected the first time by the editors at Post Defiance. As English Majors, we are accustomed to our professors critiquing and marking up our papers with a red pen and trying to decipher their often illegible scribbles. Your editors won’t take the time to give you that kind of feedback. The first piece of writing that I had published had whole paragraphs missing, quotes I hadn’t even gathered and words I would never use in a million years.

But it was okay, because that’s what editors will do to your work.

So I would suggest looking for any opportunity as a student that gets you comfortable with someone else chopping up your writing, be it on the school newspaper or even a friend’s blog.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

As I am relatively new to the writing world, I hope to one day count my current position as the illustrious start to a successful and adventurous career! I am at the bottom rung of the publishing world, but I already know what I like and dislike about office environments, managers, topics to write about, etc. I know how important marketing and advertisements are to sustain publications like the ones I write for. I know that taking criticism and working to improve my writing skills are important to success in this business. I have a good feeling that this knowledge will be very important for my future career path.

In this experience and in others, I have often been told this piece of advice, which I was given as a student: if you want to make it as a writer you have to be writing all the time. Not when you are in the mood for it or suddenly feel a burst of creativity, but every day when you sit down in front of that empty word document.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I was busy! I was an editor on the school’s literary magazine, a varsity athlete, I double majored, I worked a part time job… I was a pro at multitasking and I wasn’t afraid of hard work. I think those skills translate into the real world in any setting, but they especially helped me with in publishing because people notice my willingness to pick up extra tasks and learn new skills. Most writing jobs are based on deadlines, which makes them fast paced and usually chaotic during drop-dead week. It’s a good skill to be able to roll with the punches and put out fires while you are on the go.

Nothing can beat solid writing skills, but I would also suggest learning as much as you can about something that doesn’t pertain to your English degree. Your excellent rhetoric won’t get you very far if you can’t ever think of something to write about, and it always helps if you have an idea ready when you finally get your time to shine. Find a passion and know what you want to say about it. Do you love horses or a particular kind of music? Pitch a story about it to a niche publication, or explain why more people should learn about your favorite topic to a publication with a really broad audience.

If possible, learn about other avenues of communication since these can only ever be considered an asset. Social media, press releases, web content and design are all avenues that require a way with words, so take a class in business or marketing if you have the ability and want to hone the skills.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Say goodbye to the oxford comma! I really miss it…

Never say no. Even if you can’t stand the assignment or you think it’s the dullest topic ever, do it with a smile. Also, you’ll never know for sure what you enjoy writing about until you give it a try, so try everything. Eventually the people giving you these assignments will notice, and they always appreciate when their lives are made a little bit easier.

That being said, editors and publishers can usually tell what you like writing about based on the quality of your work. This can be both a good and bad thing, so always strive for excellence but don’t be afraid to tell them how much fun you are having with a particular assignment. Hopefully you will get something similar passed your way again!

Also, never be afraid to ask if you can do something. There were so many times when I pitched a topic and was rejected or just flat out ignored. But there is also a handful of articles, some of which are my favorite things I have ever written, that started with a quick conversation with in the break room or because of a brief email query.

Visit Jill on her website, Pinterest, twitter and connect with her on LinkedIn!

*As of June 16, Jill has accepted a role as Content Editor at Expedia, Inc. She brings an editor’s eye to learning and explaining tools and software as well as her attention to detail and customer-service skills. Her responsibilities include creating new hotel content on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Venere brand websites.