The English Department Career Advising Initiative
The Rutgers Department of English is excited to announce a new Career Advising Initiative to assist and support English undergraduate and graduate students in their career exploration endeavors. If you've ever wondered, or if friends and family have wondered, what you can do with a degree in English, we are here to help you address that question. There are so many possibilities. There are so many ways to apply your valuable research, writing, critical thinking, and problem solving skills to various occupations and industries.
Some of our successful English alumni have become writers, educators, librarians, journalists, editors, managers, community leaders, grant professionals, and media experts, or gone on to become professionals such as lawyers, doctors, or bankers. If you'd like to discuss your career aspirations and specific ways to acquire the networking and professional skills required to conduct successful career campaigns, please contact Joann Choi Messina, the Department of English Lead Career Advisor, to schedule a virtual or in-person appointment. Prof. Messina may be contacted at
We have courses for you:
01:355:355:
01 or 02 Writing in the Professions: Careers in the Humanities (3 credits) is an intensive writing and research course that offers students the opportunity to explore and research a real-world issue professionals in their chosen career are facing. Students will also learn how to customize a resume and cover letter for a real internship or job, practice elevator pitches, and conduct valuable informational interviews. The course culminates in the creation of useful writing samples and/or personal statements for graduate school, law school, etc. This course combines academic and practical skills.
03 Writing in the Healthcare Professions (3 credits) This advanced writing course prepares students to communicate effectively in academic, clinical, and professional healthcare settings. Students will learn how to analyze and evaluate writing across a range of genres used in the health professions and then write in those genres themselves. Students will not only write patient education and health campaign materials but also investigate a healthcare topic of their own interest through scaffolded research assignments. These writing projects will sharpen students' critical thinking, communication, and writing skills so that they can better convey complex medical information to varied audiences and stakeholders. Overall, this course emphasizes writing as a vital tool for inquiry, patient advocacy, and professional development within the healthcare field.
01:090:210 Career Explorations in Arts and Sciences (1.5 credits) is a graded elective course that will help you develop the skills and knowledge to pursue a career. This course helps students discover their interests and values, explore majors and careers, and build skills and pursue goals.
01:355:397 Fall semester and 01:355:398 Spring Semester Writing Internship (3 credits) Primarily geared toward students in the Business and Technical Writing minor, the Writing Internship enables students to acquire practical experience in a variety of professional settings that draw on the skills in reading and writing that Business and Technical Writing and other English courses develop. It also enables students to test the practical range of some of the ideas presented in their coursework and to experience first-hand some of the career possibilities available to strong writers.
01:355:302 Scientific and Technical Writing offers students practice in the forms and discourses of scientific and technical writing as they develop, research, and revise an independent project. The purpose of the class is to prepare students for their professional lives in scientific, technical, or public service fields by helping them organize their knowledge and explore ways of applying it to further develop their professional expertise.
Each student develops an independent class project through several stages of revision, culminating in a final project proposal. Topics are freely chosen but must be supported by evidence from research. Final project proposals are written to a specific audience (sponsor/funding source).
01:355:303 Writing for Business and the Professions offers students practice writing for a business or professional audience as they develop, research, and revise an independent project. The purpose of the class is to prepare students to think as managers capable of putting information to practical use. Students from all backgrounds are encouraged to take the class and a wide range of proposals are possible for their final project proposals. Proposals must provide a researched rationale for a project designed to address a specific problem. During the term, students will complete assignments intended to help them develop and expand their projects.
01:355:396:04 Conference Creation and Management: Interns will help create the Annual Undergraduate Research Writing Conference at Livingston Student Center.
Interns will select papers, organize, publicize, and run the URWC the day of the event. They will act as respondents/advisors to student-presenters as they develop their work for multimedia presentations and serve as marketing experts, creating press releases for RU news media, designing promotional materials, building a social media presence, and helping to design the multi-page conference on a permanent site at Rutgers. The conference is multidisciplinary: papers are drawn from all disciplines and schools at RU-NB.
01:355:315 Writing Grant Proposals: Writing Grant Proposals is designed for students who hope to enter professional careers requiring knowledge of grant writing. The course will teach students the mechanics of proposal writing and the political and social aspects of "grantsmanship," as they develop their skills in identifying sources of grant funding, doing useful research to support their applications, and tailoring their proposals to specific audience interests.
01:355:342 Science Writing: Students will refine their skills in presenting technical and scientific issues to various audiences while they critically examine social aspects of scientific information. The course examines new opportunities for covering science (especially on the Internet), the skills required to produce clear and understandable prose about technical subjects, important ethical and practical constraints that govern the reporting of scientific information, and the cultural place of science in our society. They will compile a writing portfolio. Revision will be rewarded, and students are encouraged to seek publication for some of their work.
01:355:425 Web Authoring: This course provides instruction in the drafting, development, and online publishing of a multi-page website. Focused on individual projects and learning by doing, web authoring covers software, code, writing, and user-friendly design for web sites. The goal is to create in-depth, attractive, and original writing enhanced by savvy graphics.
01:351:209 Introduction to Multimedia Composition: Students will examine how digital media has contributed to new modes of thinking about topics of social and cultural importance. Through assigned texts and selected videos, podcasts, and other examples of popular digital media we will be meditating on what creativity and communication means in the 21st century. Students will develop projects that utilize digital media in order to generate their own ideas around the question: what does it mean to be connected in the digital age?
For more information about the Minor in Business and Technical Writing, please visit https://wp.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate/business-technical-writing-minor/about
For more information about the Minor in Creative Writing, please visit https://english.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate-91/minors/4315-creative-writing-minor.html
LinkedIn Rutgers University-New Brunswick English Alumni and Students: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rutgers-university-new-brunswick-english-alumni/
We invite current and former Rutgers English majors and minors, graduate students, faculty, and staff to contribute to our shared endeavor by joining this LinkedIn group, inviting others, sharing information, and getting to know one another. We aim to create connections and to foster conversations about literature in all the ways those things happen. Our goal is to create a welcoming, useful, and active professional RU English network.