Megan Falk: Direct Response Marketing Coordinator

Name: Megan Falk

Age: 29

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. English: Creative Writing, with a focus in Womens’ Studies

Current Location: Cincinnati, OH

Current Form of Employment: Direct Response Marketing Coordinator for a non-profit organization

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work full-time for The Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters as Direct Response Marketing Coordinator. My job is largely encompassed by creating and editing content for direct mailings, as well as creating and updating websites to promote special events.

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

My first job straight out of college was as an ESL instructor in Seoul, South Korea. At the time, I was blissfully afflicted with wanderlust and the job market was dismal, so teaching English seemed to be the perfect fit. A friend of the family had been teaching in South Korea for years and although I enjoyed his anecdotes and stories he told during his state-side visits, I wanted to see it all for myself!

After completing the lengthy application and applying for my passport, I had to answer a few essay questions regarding my aspirations in English and undergo a phone interview (Skype had only just launched and was still quite unknown!). I lived in Seoul for one year and massively enjoyed balancing work and play.

An acquaintance assisted me with acquiring my current job in the non-profit sector. She had been promoted and asked me if I knew of anyone who would be interested in her former position; I jumped at the chance. I had always been told that working for a non-profit was very rewarding and I can honestly attest that it is and continues to be!

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

When I returned to the U.S. after a year teaching abroad, I took on a job as a teacher’s aide at a special needs elementary school. Although most of my day consisted of working one-on-one with students, I was given the opportunity to assist a colleague with creating content for the school’s new website. I relished the opportunity to put my writing skills into action while helping to promote the services and programs of the school.

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

I applied and interviewed for the college newspaper but unfortunately did not get the job. Writers and reporters for the college newspaper were highly coveted positions and although I didn’t get hired on, this was perhaps my first real lesson about the competitiveness of writers in the job market. This experience, however, did not deter me from submitting articles on a freelance basis in order to get my work out there in print.

During my sophomore and junior years, I had a paid summer internship at a marketing firm. The internship allowed me to learn how to make professional connections and discover that the film “Office Space” was really a cautionary tale! All cinematic interpretations aside, I learned first-hand what the expectations were of working in a nine-to-five office job.

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

Having meticulous spelling, grammar, and punctuation will assist you in many ways, but in order to find and keep employment that will justify your years spent studying English, you must not settle. It is of the utmost importance to find a job that you look forward to going to each day.

Employers want to hire someone who stands out and can bring innovation to their company. Keep your mind fresh with learning about new technologies and acquire new skills that will make you a valuable asset. Accept challenges head-on and understand that there are no failures, only learning opportunities.

Visit Megan's online writing portfolio, check out her blog, and connect with her on LinkedIn!

Katie Plumb: Freelance Writer

Name: Katie Plumb

Age: 28

College & Majors/Minors: University of Puget Sound, BA in English: Writing, Rhetoric, and Culture. University of Utah, MS in Environmental Humanities.

Current Location: Salt Lake City, UT, soon to be in Bozeman, MT

Current Form of Employment: Freelance Writer & Aspiring Author

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I have plunged head first into freelance writing. It has only been about six weeks since I made the decision to do so, and although it has been scary, unnerving, and overwhelming at times, it has also felt like the best decision I’ve ever made. I have two established “gigs”, one writing short articles for a quarterly magazine and one editing for a small business, neither of which provide enough revenue to sustain me, but do give me hope for other opportunities. I spend the bulk of my time now seeking out opportunities and networking. I look forward to spending a greater portion of my time actually writing soon, but freelancing is a process I am still learning.

Previously, I held a variety of jobs in the field of environmental conservation. Whether my job description included writing or not, I always made it known that I liked to write, and was often given the opportunity when it arose. I recently completed an AmeriCorps volunteer position as a field assistant for rare plant conservation. I re-wrote the department’s web content and drafted newsletter articles in addition to the reports we put together on our research. Before that, I was the outreach coordinator for a small non-profit, and I wrote almost everything we put out into the world, including web content, social media content, grants, press releases, newsletters, and donation appeal letters. I also edited monthly “green tips” that were published in our local papers.

I have also been writing published articles for local and regional publications over the last three years. Some work has been paid, some hasn’t, but it has all been good experience. I plan to continue pitching story ideas and developing relationships with publications I aspire to write for.

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

My first job out of college was as a barista, and it served me well while I figured out what my next step was. After two years of traveling, playing, and working, I decided to go to grad school for a program that brought me under the mentorship of a number of environmental writers I admire, and helped join my passions for environmental issues and writing.

My first job after graduate school that involved writing was for a non-profit, and, strangely enough, it found me. I had applied for a position with another organization, and although I was not selected for the job, one of my interviewers passed my resume on to a friend who was looking to hire an outreach coordinator. She contacted me and offered me the job without even doing a formal interview. It was not at all your typical job-search experience, but it was valuable to recognize that by putting myself out there, even for jobs I wasn’t fully qualified for, I was opening myself up to opportunities I wasn’t even aware of. Especially in small communities and non-profit networks, people talk and share resources, and you never know when your name is going to come up.

As for my current situation as a freelancer, I made the decision after trying a variety of jobs that I thought might be good career paths, and not really loving any of them. Although they were great experiences in which I learned a lot, I wanted more flexibility and creativity and an endless possibility of things I could write about. I have a lot of ideas that I want to pursue, and it seems like a risk worth taking while I am still young and relatively untethered. Truthfully, I’ve wanted to be a “writer” since college, and knew that I could be a “writer” since grad school, but letting go of regular paychecks and facing the fear that maybe it won’t work out took a long time and a lot of self-encouragement.

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

As a graduate student, I had the opportunity to teach a writing course for undergrads. For the most part, I enjoyed the experience. It helped me recognize that I do have a lot of knowledge to share as a writer, and that I enjoyed helping others learn the craft. But it also helped me recognize that although it was something I could do, teaching wasn’t at the top of my list of jobs I wanted to do, at least not at this time in my life. Figuring out what I don’t want to do has been a huge part of deciding what I do want to do.

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

In college, I was really drawn to travel and experience the world. I did a Semester at Sea program, traveling around the world on a ship, and then I took a leave of absence for a semester to travel more and reconsider the academic direction I was headed in. The time I spent wandering and learning about the world helped steer me towards my current path. I was a literature major who loved words, and by going out and seeing some of the world, I was moved to think about how my studies, and eventually my career, could be more active and engaged in my community. I was inspired to write as a way to educate on a larger scale, to use it as a creative and powerful tool to motivate others.

Towards the end of my college career, once I had settled on an emphasis in writing, I participated in the submissions committee of my school’s literary journal, which prompted me to start submitting my own work (and to start accepting rejection!). I also got an internship for a class, during which I worked with a non-profit to write some marketing materials, research future projects, and pitch project ideas to potential donors. This got me interested in non-profit work and I began searching for writing and communications jobs with other non-profits, only to learn that the place I was living was saturated with well-educated and experienced applicants, which inspired me to go back to school!

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

These are some things that I have to remind myself of often, which might be helpful to someone in a similar situation:

• If you want to write, write about things that matter to you. Delve into things you’re passionate about. It shows in your writing. As one of my dearest mentors said, “If it matters to you, it will matter to someone else.”
• Don’t be afraid. I know, it sounds dumb, but it’s the simplest form of advice I can give. Fear of failure is a powerful motivator to not do the things we care most about. I face it every day, but eventually I just got tired of my own excuses.
• Collaborate with other creative thinkers, support and encourage other writers, and listen to others’ advice and criticisms. You don’t have to take any of it to heart, but you never know what gems of wisdom someone else might have.
• Thinking about writing doesn’t make you a writer; writing makes you a writer. Doesn’t matter where—on a blog, in a journal, on a napkin, on a piece of bark. Doesn’t have to be published or polished—if you are writing anything in any form, you’re a writer, and you will get better.

Visit Katie on her website, and connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Maggie Smith-Beehler: Poet, Author, Freelance Writer & Editor

Name: Maggie Smith-Beehler

Age: 37

College & Majors/Minors: Ohio Wesleyan University, BA English & The Ohio State University, MFA Poetry

Current Location: Bexley, Ohio

Current Form of Employment: Poet, Author, Freelance Writer and Editor

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I work at home and have several positions, some more glamorous (and lucrative) than others. As Maggie Smith-Beehler, my married name, I’m a freelance writer and editor, owner of Versed Creative Services, LLC, and a stay-at-home mom to my two children. As Maggie Smith, I’m a poet and author.

After college graduation, I earned an MFA in poetry from The Ohio State University, taught creative writing at Gettysburg College for a year, published my first book of poems, Lamp of the Body, got married, and began a career in publishing. I worked in educational and trade book publishing for several years, balancing full-time editorial work, poetry writing, and family.

When I received a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011, the financial cushion gave me the courage to leave my full-time job and begin freelancing from home. These days I’m on kid duty during the day, and I work at night after my daughter and son are in bed. The work is complex and varies from client to client, which I enjoy. Projects to date have included writing lessons for a Grade K language arts textbook, writing rhyming poems for a Grade 1 poetry anthology, editing digital activities for an elementary reading intervention program, and copyediting academic books for a university press.

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

In the year between college and grad school, I worked as a receptionist while continuing to write. My first writing-related job after graduate school was at Gettysburg College. I received the Emerging Writer Lectureship for 2003–2004, so I moved to Pennsylvania and taught both introductory and advanced creative writing courses for one academic year. It was an intense and mostly wonderful experience, but I’m an introvert, so being “on” so much of the day was challenging. I also knew that going on the academic job market would mean that I would have to follow the teaching jobs rather than settle back in Ohio. So I moved back to Columbus in 2004 and figured I’d find another way to make a living.

I wasn’t quite sure what I would do next. My first book had been taken by a publisher and was due out the following year. I’d had a prestigious position…but now what? Could I cobble something together by adjunct teaching? Could I find a job at a magazine? I ended up interviewing for an assistant editor position with a children’s trade book publisher. The interview required an editing test and a writing test—and frankly, the interview process was a cakewalk compared to daylong academic interviews. I got the job. It meant a $10,000 pay cut. It also meant no summers off, no winter break, no community of poets and writers. I’d be lying if I said that leaving academia didn’t come with a price, but I was home with my husband, and I really enjoyed editorial work.

I was there for two years and was promoted fairly quickly to associate editor. I read the “slush” (unsolicited manuscripts) and chose the most promising proposals to present to the editorial director. I also got the opportunity to work with authors to revise their manuscripts and develop the books. At the same time, I was writing copy for catalogs, posters, websites, bookmarks, book jackets, and book flaps. It was a terrific crash course in publishing, and writing and editing felt like a natural fit for me in a way that teaching hadn’t. I left that company in 2006 and went into educational publishing from there. In 2011 I took the leap of faith to go freelance. 

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

The “other” writing job in my life is my career as a professional poet. My latest chapbook, Disasterology, won the 2013 Dream Horse Press National Chapbook Prize and will be published in 2014. My next full-length book, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, won the 2012 Dorset Prize and will be published by Tupelo Press in 2015.

When I was working full-time in an office, I had two weeks of vacation time per year, and I used most of that for my daughter’s sick days. Now I have a lot more flexibility. I can spend more time writing and revising individual poems, organizing book manuscripts, writing commissioned work (as I did for Nationwide Children’s Hospital), and sometimes guest blogging (as I did for the Kenyon Review). I can schedule afternoon class visits and out-of-town poetry readings, and even travel for brief teaching stints, readings, and residencies. In 2011 I was able to accept a two-week residency fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and this summer I’ll be a Peter Taylor Fellow at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, where I’ll spend a week assisting poet Stanley Plumly with his workshop.  

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

I’ve never been a “joiner.” Maybe that’s why writing poetry has always appealed to me—it’s not a team endeavor. I did work on the college literary magazine, though, and I loved it. I enjoyed seeing what my peers were doing, and I liked curating each issue with an eye toward how different pieces writing could speak to each other. But the one thing I did in college to prepare me for my post-grad life was writing. I wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote. I took a year off between college and grad school to see if I’d keep at it, without the motivation of deadlines and grades. If I didn’t, then maybe I wasn’t a “real” writer—and maybe I shouldn’t go to grad school for poetry. But if I did keep at it, I’d let myself give an MFA a shot. And that’s what happened.

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

I’d suggest thinking about a potential career in practical terms. Think about the logistics. How much education or experience is required? What is the average salary? Could you do the job where you currently live or would you need to move to a place where the industry is more developed? Do your research. If you can intern, do so. If not, perhaps your alumni relations office could put you in touch with an alum in the field you’re considering. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of careers in which writing and editing skills are extremely important, even though they may be less obvious choices than writer, editor, or teacher.

And for the creative writers out there: write. Find some aesthetically compatible people with whom to share your work. Maybe you meet a few friends at a coffee shop once or twice a month, or maybe—like me—you email poems or stories back and forth with a few close friends, because your best readers live hundreds of miles away. Submit when you’re ready, but don’t be in a hurry. Read literary journals, buy them, subscribe to them. And don’t take rejection too personally. Some pieces or books get snatched up quickly. Others you may send out for years. All that waiting will give you plenty of time to write some more.

Visit www.maggiesmithpoet.com to check out more of Maggie's work!

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READ MORE:

Nicki Krawczyk: Copywriter, Copy Coach & Founder of FilthyRichWriter.com

Robert S. Gerleman: Freelance Author & Editor

Sara Shepherd: Freelance Writer

Christine Stoddard: Writer/Filmmaker, Co-owner & Creative Director of Quail Bell Press & Productions

Name: Christine Stoddard

Age: 25

College & Majors/Minors: Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts (VCUarts)—Film B.A., English/Creative Writing B.A., Product Innovation Certificate, and minors in French, Spanish, and European Studies.

Current Location: I go between Greater Washington and Richmond, VA, but I also travel frequently, depending on where work takes me.

Current Form of Employment: Writer/Filmmaker, Co-owner & Creative Director of Quail Bell Press & Productions

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I am very lucky to write and make films. Most recently, I co-wrote the book Images of America: Richmond Cemeteries (Arcadia Publishing) with Misty Thomas. The book has a companion documentary that I am directing called Richmond's Dead and Buried. Richmond's Dead and Buried centers on the stories of Richmond's cemeteries, including a developer's controversial proposal to build a baseball stadium over a slave burial ground. The documentary will be released later this year. 

Richmond's Dead and Buried - the documentary

Quail Bell: Issue 4—Fall/Winter 2013 print 'zine

Images of America: Richmond Cemeteries

Airborne: An Anthology of The Real by Quail Bell Magazine

Falling Hard

The Nest: An Anthology of The Unreal by Quail Bell Magazine

While at VCUarts, I studied under experimental filmmaker Mary Beth Reed, a student of Stan Brakhage, and have since become fascinated with the process of experimental stop-motion animation in particular. This spring, I will be showcasing some of my animations and experimental shorts at the New York Transit Museum in Manhattan and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond. Many of my writing and film projects fall under what I call the Quail Bell umbrella, after Quail Bell Press & Productions. That is the arts, communications, and media production firm I run with Kristen Rebelo, an illustrative graphic designer. We work directly with clients and also creative original projects. One such project is Quail Bell Magazine. That is our fairy punk magazine dedicated to the imaginary, the nostalgic, and the otherworldly. I am the editor and Kristen is the art director.

Previously, I have done work for the Smithsonian Latino Center, WashingtonPost.com, WETA-PBS of Greater Washington, Teatro de la Luna, Virginia Living Magazine, Maryland Women's Journal, Washington Life Magazine, and others. I am also a proud AmeriCorps alumna.

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

I guess you could say that my first job was as a freelancer writer and collagist. I've been getting paid to do what I love for a while now, thanks to hard work and a network of great mentors. In high school, I wrote for different online clients, especially AssociatedContent.com. I also won poetry, playwriting, and essay-writing contests with cash prizes. Every once in a while, I made illustrative collages for 'zines and private clients, too. Those collages became the basis for the animation work I do now. I tutored regularly, as well: Spanish, French, and English composition. That tutoring experience became very handy later on when I applied for AmeriCorps and eventually a contract position at Writopia Lab. My first big break came when I was 16. Editor Betsy Franco selected my poem for publication in her book Falling Hard: Love Poems by Teenagers (Candlewick Press). And what do you know? The New York Times gave the book a positive review. These early opportunities and accomplishments formed the basis for a successful freelance career.

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

Definitely anything I've done related to film and television production because it's helped inform my written stories. But also teaching. As an AmeriCorps volunteer, I served at a Title I elementary school my last year of college. Everyone—even the smallest of children—has stories, and these stories matter.

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

I chose what I wanted and I pursued it. I knew that I wanted to keep writing and get into filmmaking, so I thought strategically about how I could achieve such things. I actively freelanced, interned, contributed to university media, and sniffed out undergraduate research and travel grants. The library, the student media center, and the editing studio were my on-campus havens. I also did an independent study two semesters in a row with the aforementioned Mary Beth Reed. That being said, I was also selective. I generally knew when to say no. I tried to participate in activities I knew would be genuinely worthwhile.

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

Take an academically rigorous workload, but balance those courses with professional experiences that will build your real-world skills. Read and read a lot—just don't end there. Start engaging with your campus and your community your freshman year. You'll regret waiting until the semester you graduate. Sometimes you'll have to make the hard choice of doing what you have to do versus what you want to do. Baking Club might be fun, but unless you want to become a food writer, your time might be better spent on the library committee or on staff at the school paper. 

If you have to work to pay for school (and the reality is that most students do), try to take work that will lead to the sort of opportunities you want after graduation. If you want to teach English in a foreign country, for instance, get teaching experience now. Tutor in the campus writing center or at the neighborhood elementary school. If you want to get into publishing, see if a faculty member or local author will pay for proofreading, clerical tasks, or social media promotion. Be resourceful and don't be afraid to ask your professors for guidance. Most of them want to help. You just have to take the initiative. You'll find that some of them won't let you give up! When you're taking 18 credits and wondering how you're going to pay your expenses one semester, that encouragement will fuel you. Treasure that encouragement because if you think school is hard, the real world is harder.

Christine's portfolio of work can be found online:

• quailbell.com

• quailbellmagazine.com

• worldofchristinestoddard.com

• wordsmithchristine.com

• rvadeadburied.com

• poerichmond.com

• forgetfairytales.com

Vincent Rendoni: Email Marketing Copywriter

Name: Vincent Rendoni

Age: 28

College & Majors/Minors: Chatham University, MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) & Western Washington University, BA in English

Current Location: Seattle, WA.

Current Form of Employment: Advertising/Marketing

Current Occupation: Email Marketing Copywriter

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

I am currently an email marketing copywriter for the GreaterGood Network, a charity website. In the past, I was a copywriter for the mom-and-kid focused zulily when it was still a start-up.

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

I was waiting tables when I found the copywriter posting for zulily on Indeed.com. I was a bit nervous about applying as I knew nothing about moms and kids. They must have saw something they liked. It wasn't long after I applied that they sent me a time-sensitive copy test for five different items. After submitting, they had me in for a long interview with the three leads. That's when my future boss gave me a test on the spot. It wasn't long after that they hired me.

My current job was found on Craigslist. The GreaterGood offered a more challenging position and more responsibility for causes (Animal Rescue, World Hunger, The Environment) I truly care about. Despite a lackluster first interview with HR, I had some wonderful conversations with my future boss and colleagues during the second one. To my surprise, I was hired later that day.

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

Funny thing: I never wanted to be a professional writer. I always sort of thought I should keep work and passions separate fearing it would all become work. Sometimes it feels like that. But copywriting keeps me sharp. There are worse things that constantly practicing your craft and getting paid for it.

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

In my undergrad, I actually didn't do much to prepare for post-grad life. Failed to network, content to pass instead of excel. To be honest, I was a bit of spoiled slacker. It didn't bode well for what happened afterward. It was 2006 and the recession was in full swing. When I couldn't find a job at Kinko's, that's when I got a TEFL Certificate and taught English abroad.

I don't want to go into too much of a tangent here, but teaching English abroad is something I highly recommend for English Majors— for anyone with a college degree, really. You get to experience a different culture, contribute to an emerging economy, and make money instead of blowing through savings. It's not always easy at times: Not every country is hiring and the schools that hire you don't always have your best interests in mind. Homesickness can be crushing. It's not an adventure you can easily pull out of. If you decide to do it, consider placement carefully. That being said, I wouldn't take back any of my experiences. I student-taught in Italy and later taught courses in South Korea, Turkey and eventually the United States. It was a good thing for a really long time, but definitely something I couldn't do forever. When I got into Chatham's MFA program, I decided it was time to head back home.

When I got into graduate school, I changed it up. I said yes to everything. Maybe too many things. (Readers, be mindful with internships. You don't work for free, you hear?) But I'm glad I did. Went to readings big and small, read for my school's literary magazines, interned at the county jail, worked with Chatham's international community. I just tried to absorb everything I could before it was time to hunker down and get to work on my thesis.

One instructor in particular prepared me well for copywriting. Novelist Sherrie Flick taught me a lot about sentence structure. I tend to be long-winded and say nothing in particular quite often. Her classes helped me get to the point of what I wanted to say. Turns out if you can write succinct, active sentences in fiction, you can do quite well in the copy world.

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

Don't let people tell your degree is useless. Our world is not as literate as you think. A moderately well-spoken person who reads is an asset in any business. Take advantage.

You won't use your degree for what you want. Not at first, anyway. Acknowledge that you will have to write about lingerie for pregnant women, breast-pumps, and tulle-laden tutus. You will just have to. But soon enough, you may get to write copy about helping dogs in Sochi, rescuing horses and how people can help feed the hungry.

Check out Vincent's resume, portfolio, and connect with him on LinkedIn. 

Chris Strom: Marketing Copywriter

Name: Chris Strom

Age: 28

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. & M.A from Central Washington University

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: Marketing Copywriter

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I'm pleased to say that I have just accepted a new position working as a marketing e-mail copywriter. I suppose, though, I could speak more to what I had been doing prior since I've not gotten into my new digs just yet.

I have been working as a copy editor for zulily.com, where I edit all kinds of copy that goes onto the site or into e-mails. In a nutshell, my job is to uphold voice and style according to brand and make sure writing looks presentable for the public. I also work one-on-one with writers to help them develop their own work copy and dabble in some special projects.

Currently, I work with designers and other copywriters to put together marketing e-mails for clients.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? What kinds of extracurriculars did you participate in?

Is it extra-curricular if you got paid? I guess I'm not sure. I wish I had more to present here, but I don't. To be honest, a lot of the extra things I put into my college experience were really helping me to prepare for teaching, which was my interest for a very long time. I worked in the writing center, acted as a TA and taught my own composition courses. Additionally, once I had gotten into grad school, I submitted several papers to literary conferences. If I was looking to actually become a college professor, I was on a great path.

However, this isn't to say that none of this shaped my career now. These were instrumental in developing my editing abilities, and I believe wholeheartedly that learning the basics of tutoring, teaching and public speaking also made me into a much better coworker and communicator, and I've prided myself on my interpersonal skills. They translate over!

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). What was it like applying?

At first, terrible. I did not expect it to be so hard. If you think you're the only one struggling in your job search, you're not. I use this as a way to preface my statement with a ray of hope. As hopeful as it may make you feel to know that your misery is in company. It's just that I had to learn this the hard way once my morale had taken quite a beating. I looked very hard for a couple of months, and all the responses back were rejections. And that prompted me to, well, give up. I thought that it was me and that I wasn't talented all along, and this is where I mean it would have been nice to know I wasn't alone.

Finally, I took a chance and decided to get in contact with an old college friend of mine. My preliminary message was just to ask for advice on where to look and maybe get some other contacts. She was very nice and insisted I send in my resume to her work because they were looking for an editor. I got very lucky. It kicked off the entire interviewing process where I did phone screenings, an editing exercise and eventually an in-person interview.

I've had other interviews since then, including the one for my new employer. It definitely got easier as I built up my own professional confidence, but I still don't think I know what people are looking for. Of course, they want all of the normal things like multitasking and great under pressure. In fact, it's listed right in their job postings, but that makes those things boring. You should be able to demonstrate basic professional skills, but they shouldn't be your focus. I think employers want to see you beyond the cookie cutter responses they're used to getting in interviews with people hellbent on impressing them. You have to be you. The person you're meeting face to face is also human, and they're going to be looking to make a personal connection as much as a professional one.

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

Everyone is going to tell you to connect, connect, connect. Get out there and network, and it's true that the two main jobs I've been able to grasp onto first started out with my own professional/personal connections. So, always keep people in mind down the road.

I think, though, judging from my own experience and past, I'd most like to say don't be afraid to start small. If you expect to get your dream job straight out the gate, well... you might, but chances are you won't. Those people want experience, and your name will get shuffled right out (maybe/all speculation/educated guessing). My first job out of college was not my dream job, but it certainly got a better job to look at me after getting a year+ experience under my belt. This is the beginning of your dream, so don't try to get to the end so quickly.

Sarah Scott: Public Library Professional & Writer

Name: Sarah Scott
Age: 34
College & Majors/Minors: University of Puget Sound, B.A. in Philosophy, minor in English (2001). San Jose State University, Master of Library and Information Science (2012).
Current Location: Bellevue, WA
Current Form of Employment: Public Library Professional & Writer

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I currently work as a Library Associate IV at The Seattle Public Library. In this role, I provide reference and instruction services to the public and serve on the Library Innovation Team. While writing and editing are not the central part of my job, my skills in this area are put to use in various ways, from writing email to writing blog posts for the library's blog. I am also part of a team getting ready to launch a new internal blog about innovation. I anticipate that writing and editing will be an important part of my work on that team going forward.

Outside of work, I have blogged for Public Libraries Online (the blog of the Public Library Association), been a contributing writer for the local community website Bellevue.com, written for the newsletter of local literary organization Richard Hugo House, and co-written a book chapter on library innovation for a forthcoming book. I also write poetry and prose in my free time and intend to eventually publish some type of literary work.

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

As an undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound, I worked as a Peer Writing Advisor in the Center for Writing and Learning. In that role, I provided one-on-one writing conferences for my peers and assisted them throughout all stages of the writing process, from formulating a thesis statement to planning a 15-page research paper. I also served on the editorial team of the campus literary arts journal, Crosscurrents, where I reviewed and selected poetry and prose submissions for publication; worked as a Records Assistant in the Office of the Registrar and as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Philosophy; spent a summer working as the Storeroom Assistant in Facilities Services; and hosted a couple of weekly radio shows on the campus radio station. Working in these various positions helped me to develop experience and skills in various areas, from writing and editing to interpersonal communication, customer service, and public speaking. As I entered the job market, I was able to use these experiences to develop my resume and demonstrate my qualifications.

As an undergraduate, I did not have a clear sense of what I would do in the future. I did not have a long-term career plan. I had learned a lot about poetry and philosophy, but what did that have to do with earning a living? I knew that I would most likely pursue a graduate degree but I was not sure of what discipline to pursue, so I decided to spend some time working, traveling, learning independently, and focusing on my own personal development. My first job after college graduation was in the community library in my hometown of Battle Ground, Washington. While I had never considered librarianship as a career, through that job I discovered that I loved library work. After a few years of working in libraries, I decided to pursue a Master of Library and Information Science degree so that I could become a professional librarian.

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

I found my first post-college job the old-fashioned way: in the classified ads in the newspaper. This was in 2001, before online job sites became the norm. When I saw an ad for library assistants at the local community library, my curiosity was piqued and I decided to apply. I was invited to take a qualification test, which involved a typing assessment and a card filing exercise. After passing the test, I was interviewed by a hiring panel consisting of the Community Librarian, Circulation Supervisor, and Library Assistant III at the branch I would be working at. They asked me questions about my knowledge of literary genres and my experience serving customers, handling difficult situations, and explaining policies. I was also asked to put a cart of books in order according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system. I received a job offer for a full-time position a few days later.

I worked at the Battle Ground Community Library from 2001-2003, and since then, I have had a number of different jobs and gone through a lot of interviews. I earned my MLIS in 2012, and since then, I have focused my job search on professional librarian positions. The interviews for these have varied a bit depending on the particular position being filled, but the key competencies and responsibilities for professional librarians today include public service (including reference, readers' advisory, and instruction), outreach, programming, resource development, promoting intellectual freedom, leadership support, staff training and development, technology literacy, and communication and interpersonal skills. Some librarian positions include duties such as blogging, social media marketing, website development, and creating publicity pieces such as brochures and press releases.

Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible

$12.72

By Brian Tracy

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

Build a wide professional network. LinkedIn is a great tool for building your network; attending professional conferences is another great way to do so. Seek out mentors, and become a mentor yourself as you grow in your life and career. Continue learning and investing in your personal and professional development. Study the careers of others who have achieved goals that you want to achieve. If others have done it, then it is possible for you to do it. Set goals regularly and implement plans to achieve them. The book Goals! by Brian Tracy provides excellent advice on goal-setting and achievement.

Visit Sarah on twitter @Sarah_H_Scott, tumblr and connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Melissa Pilgrim: Writer, Editor & Writing Coach

Name: Melissa Pilgrim

Age: 45

College & Majors/Minors: University of New Hampshire (1990). B.A. in English, Minor in Theatre. Graduate of The Institute of Children's Literature (1993).

Current Location: White Mountains, N.H.

Current Form of Employment: Writer, Editor, & Writing Coach

Where do you work and what is your current position?

For the past seven years, I have run my own writing, editing, and script/writing coaching service called Your Writing Muse from my home office (which started in Los Angeles, but is now in the White Mountains of N.H.). In the course of my career since leaving college in 1990, I worked all over the country for seventeen years in all mediums-- theatre, film, TV, and book publishing-- and based on all of those experiences I am now able to help others with their own writing goals.

You can see my full bio on my website, but in short I have had 16 plays produced, four screenplays optioned, one TV show optioned, one children's book and app published, have either edited or ghostwritten over twelve books (both in nonfiction and fiction genres), been a judge in two screenwriting contents, and have been hired by many producers, authors, and companies as a writer-for-hire on various projects (including Martin Sheen's ESP Productions). I also co-write songs as a lyricist with musicians. Besides doing all these types of creative writing projects/jobs, I also work on business websites helping clients with all their business-related writing and editing needs including their page content, blogs, articles, reports, and newsletters.

As a writer I've found it's great to be able to always stay both creative and versatile, for you never know what kind of writing someone may need help with! Working in all fields has kept me both marketable and employed, for when it's slow in one medium it's normally not in other ones. (Plus, it keeps life interesting!)

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Tell us about how you found your first job. 

My actual first job out of college was very hard to get, for when I graduated in 1990, the country was in a recession. I went all over Boston and N.Y.C. hoping to find work in theatre, film, or publishing, but no one was hiring. But, one interview in N.Y.C. led to a lead for an interview for a job as part of the "starting crew" of Universal Studios in Orlando, which I got. So I moved to Florida where I did a variety of things at Universal, including working in casting for one of Nickelodeon's TV shows. This experience showed me that I really wanted to work with kids more as well as write more. So I started sending out my resume and writing samples to different children's theatres that I knew of in the area, and I was soon hired by one of them.

I found that having great writing samples was very important to get the playwriting/directing job in children's theatre I was looking for, so I always kept writing and trying to improve my craft. It also helped to keep studying in the craft (especially within the children's writing market, specifically), so in the early '90s I also did The Institute of Children's Literature writing program to really learn how to write for every age group of children and teens. This knowledge has helped in many job interviews later on dealing with children's projects in all mediums, for clients can tell I know the field very well.

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

I have worked in different community theatres in several states with both children and adult groups, and not always, but most of the time writing the plays for each group basically "came with the job," and so I was very fortunate to be able to be paid for my writing skills as well as my directing and producing skills all at once. But I wouldn't have gotten hired just on my writing abilities alone in any of these theatre jobs. I found it was an asset to have a variety of skills to offer when interviewing for positions in the field of theatre. People who can handle many types of jobs and responsibilities are more likely to get a job in most small theatres. (But as you work your way up to bigger theatres, this changes and you can then be more specialized into doing only one job, or at least let one job be more of the focus overall.)

For instance, I really got into playwrighting even more when I spent five great years as the artistic director for The Sheil Park Players in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago where I wrote plays for the children and teen groups.  I also did writing workshops for adults to develop new plays out of it for the adult group and helped new playwrights’ original work get showcased.  Many of those workshopped plays went on to be produced in other theatres in Chicago, New York, and even London.

During this whole time I was also focused on evolving my writing in other areas— I started writing screenplays and sending them out to writing contests. One of them placed as a quarter-finalist in both the Nicholl's Fellowships and the Writer's Network Screenwriting Competition, as well as a semi-finalist in the Illinois/Chicago Screenwriting Competition. An agent from Beverly Hills then noticed it, and I moved to L.A. to start writing for film and TV. I went on a lot of what Hollywood calls "meet & greets" and got four of my screenplays optioned over time. I was hired to do a lot of rewrites, script coverage/critics, became a judge in two screenwriting contests, and helped many clients develop their own ideas into screenplays or book manuscripts.

The biggest break of these kinds of jobs came when I was hired to work for ESP Productions (Estevez-Sheen Productions), which is an independent production company in Los Angeles founded by Martin Sheen and his son Ramon Estevez. (It is now run by Ramon and his brother Charlie Sheen.) I worked for them as a writer when it was under Martin Sheen. They are a wonderful family and it was a fantastic experience when they hired me after reading one of my original TV series pilot scripts I had being pitched around Los Angeles at the time. I didn't sell that TV series (yet-- I'm still trying!), but it just shows you never know what is going to happen when you're showing your projects!

I learned early on in my various entertainment jobs that you always have to keep writing new projects all the time and keep pitching/showing your work. Perseverance is key when it comes to writing as a career, in all the mediums, and especially in book publishing... I have helped a lot of people with their book projects (in both nonfiction and fiction genres) over the years, and I really saw how long it took before many books became well known. This kept things in perspective for me as I created my first children's picture book, Animal Motions, which is a fun, easy-to-do, interactive book based on some of my made-up children's theatre improv

games.

After pitching Animal Motions many different places (to both big and small publishers), I finally found a great publisher, Indigo River Publishing, who understood the book's concept and importance to kids right away and I got a publishing contract with them. They found a wonderful illustrator, Ira V. Gates, and we all worked together on the book's creation, with me using my theatre background to "direct" the design of each page as the story unfolded. So once again, I learned how valuable it was to know how to do more than one thing when it came to working on a project like this. An app for the book (published by Authorly.com) was also created in this fashion and it is being launched in February 2014, which is very exciting!

Each of these experiences have all been very important in my career, and I hope they show all writers reading this that working on any and lots of different kinds of projects is possible-- you just have to stay focused and keep writing all the time (as well as bring as many other skills you can to the table/project). If one medium isn't working for you (or you just need a change from it), then do a different one. It's all up to you to keep writing and trying until the right project falls into place at the right time, then you can go on to the next one.

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

I always knew that I wanted to write in a variety of mediums one day, but my first love was the challenge of writing for the stage. I felt it was a great way to learn characterization, dialogue, and plot development skills that would then always help craft any other kind of writing to make it even tighter, better, and stronger overall. So I became an English major with a creative writing focus while I also minored in theatre to really learn as many theatre skills as I could. (Even back then I was advised that to work in theatre you should have several different kinds of jobs/skills to be marketable in the field.) At the time, the east coast had the best programs in writing, but there wasn't as much opportunity for learning about how to write for film and TV, which I knew I also wanted to do. So for my junior year I did an exchange program with San Diego State University to learn the craft of screenwriting out west, where the best training for that was offered. By the time I graduated, I felt I had covered all the mediums and was ready to work in any of them!

At the University of New Hampshire, I was involved with UNH's concert choir, drama groups, several different writing groups, UNH's Student Exchange Club, and SCOPE (a music/performance club that got professional people to come do shows and events at our school including rock groups like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Inxs, comedians like Jay Leno, filmmakers like Spike Lee, etc.). They were all fun and great activities, but SCOPE was the one that put me around professional people who were doing creative, writing-related types of careers for a living, and that inspired me to know it was possible for me to do it too.

Also keep in mind that just because you're out of college doesn't mean you shouldn't stop learning about or working on your craft. For instance, I always knew I wanted to write for children as well as adults, so I enrolled in The Institute of Children's Literature writing program and studied how to write for children and teens pretty soon after I graduated from UNH. Always look for ways you can keep improving in your craft so others will see you're highly skilled and valuable to their specific project/job.

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

My advice to anyone just starting out in the world of writing (beside perseverance, which I already mentioned) is to learn to have patience… things take a long time to get done in this whole "writing world," both the actual writing part and the trying to get it sold (and then hopefully produced) part. So patience is a big lesson in this field (along with a good sense of humor when a project you thought was all set to sell or go suddenly "falls apart")!

I'd also like to mention that it's important to always respect (and appreciate) other people's time and only pitch them something you feel is truly relevant to their own needs or goals (in all mediums, always). I can't tell you how many times I've worked for companies or people who say they only want to read romantic comedies at this particular time, yet get pitches for all genres anyway. Do your research before you pitch, always! For it only makes you look unprofessional if your project doesn't seem relevant to their current needs or tastes.

And lastly, if this is a career field you truly want to do for a living, then respect that it is an actual career choice and expect to get paid for it. Know that your skills--and eventually experience-- are worth being paid for. I see many "free/spec jobs" listed for writers all the time and it saddens me, for all forms of writing takes time, focus, and skill to do, and if someone is going to put all of that into a project they should also be paid for their time, focus, and skills. But for some reason people try to talk them into doing it for free or very little money. But I, like other professional writers I know, normally work on their own projects for free until they're ready to be pitched and sold. Working on other people's projects is then an actual job. Believe it will be for you, too.

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Visit Melissa on her professional website YourWritingMuse.com for more examples of her work and writing tips. You can also check out her latest project at AnimalMotions.com!