Success After Eckerd

Careers in literature

Our graduates have pursued many career paths, from business to law to education. Some have gone into publishing, journalism, and marketing. Some are now professors at other institutions. Some have changed fields entirely, going to graduate school in other areas or entering businesses far afield from literature.

How is this possible? Because our graduates are good learners, confident in their abilities to read and understand texts, to write about complex topics, and to research anything from Chaucer criticism to cyber sources on the web. The skills that an EC literature graduate gains are readily transferable to other areas.

What can I do with this major?

Possible career options a literature major might pursue:

  • Media/Publishing: writer, web content editor, journalist, social media coordinator
  • Journalism: reporter, correspondent, photojournalist, newspaper editor-in-chief
  • Public Relations: publicist, communications specialist, media relations manager
  • Business: copywriter, marketing, advertising
  • Legal/Law-Related: lawyer, judge, paralegal
  • Fields that require strong writing ability, verbal communication expertise, interpersonal skill, information management, and attention to detail welcome literature majors.

Where Eckerd grads are going

Here are some of the graduate schools our literature majors have attended:

  • Boston University
  • Carnegie Mellon
  • University of Florida
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • University of North Carolina
  • Stetson University
  • University of Utah
  • Yale University

In Their Own Words

Amber Robinson ’10
Managing Partner at Robinson Law Office PLLC
Major: Literature
Minor: Law & Justice
Hometown: St. Petersburg, FL

“Dr. Julie Empric teaches law and lit classes to professionals, so she likes to bring law into her classrooms.” Amber began introducing legal elements into her coursework, ultimately adding a pre-law minor to her literature major.

It was also Dr. Empric who suggested Amber do an internship to see if she might like the field. “Even to this day when I interview with law firms or government organizations, they’re impressed that I did two internships before I graduated.”

The experiences have already paid off. “By the time I started taking intro courses at Georgetown, I’d already seen a complaint and worked on other legal documents,” says Amber. “It really put it into perspective for me.”

Amber says her Eckerd advantage was completing two law internships while at Eckerd – one with a 12-attorney firm and one with a solo practitioner.

Job placements by Literature alumni

Students graduating with an Eckerd Literature major gain a skill set that is very much in demand across a huge variety of professional fields. The following is a partial list of positions obtained by recent graduates of our program:

  • 10th grade English teacher at IDEA College Prep in Alamo, TX
  • 8th grade ELA teacher at Samuel J. Green Charter School, New Orleans, LA
  • Academic Manager at Franklin Educational Services, Los Angeles, CA
  • Account Executive at Paradigm Marketing and Creative, Memphis, TN
  • Administrative Assistant at Bregante & Company LLP, San Francisco, CA
  • Administrative Assistant at The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, New York, NY
  • Behavior and Applied Behavior Analysis Specialist at Boston Public Schools
  • Case Examiner at Sherman, Federman, Sambur, and McIntyre, Bay Shore, NY
  • Cloud Consultant at Cloud for Good, Washington DC
  • English / Reading Instructor at Randolph Community College, Winston-Salem, NC
  • English Instructor with the Fulbright Program
  • English Language Teacher at Time Life English Language School, Tottori, Japan
  • English teacher at Lycee Carnot, Bruay-la-Buissière, France
  • English teacher at STEM3 Academy, Valley Glen, CA
  • English teacher at The Webb School, Bell Buckle, TN
  • Global Asset Management Coordinator at Digital Realty, San Francisco, CA
  • Graduate student at Emerson College, Boston, MA
  • Graduate student at University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD
  • Graduate student in Classics at UC-Santa Barbara
  • Graduate student in English, Aberystwyth University, Wales
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant at Chapman University, Orange County, CA
  • Instructor in Intensive English Program, Seattle Central College
  • Library Technical Assistant at Lakeland Public Library, Lakeland, FL
  • Managing Teacher at American Infants English College, Dalian, Liaoning China
  • Master’s student in English Literature at Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
  • MFA student at University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
  • Ob/Gyn Resident at Wayne State Medical Center, Detroit, MI
  • Owner and Insurance Consultant at Expat Insurance, Singapore
  • PhD Candidate in English, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Project Manager at Pearson North America, New York, NY
  • Publishing Assistant at Open Road Integrated Media Inc., New York, NY
  • Religion teacher at St. Paul’s School for Girls, Brooklandville, MD
  • Resident Teacher at Academy for Urban School Leadership, Chicago, IL
  • Senior Fellow at the Institute on Science for Global Policy, Washington, DC
  • SEO at Rapid Marketplace, LLC, Cleveland, OH
  • Shipyard Coordinator at Sons of Neptune Services Inc., St. Petersburg, FL
  • Speech Language Pathologist at Sub Acute Nursing Facility, Lakeland, FL
  • Systems Librarian, Wilderness Coast Public Library, Tallahassee, FL
  • Teacher at Jefferson Parish Public School System, New Orleans, LA
  • Teacher at Six Mile Charter Academy, Fort Myers, FL
  • VP of Operations at Accounting Software Connections, Crozet, VA
  • Writing Consultant and graduate student at Emerson College, Boston, MA
  • Writing Tutor at Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL

Our graduates have pursued many career paths, from business to law to education. Some have gone into publishing, journalism, and marketing. Some are now professors at other institutions. Some have changed fields entirely, going to graduate school in other areas or entering businesses far afield from literature.

How is this possible? Because our graduates are good learners, confident in their abilities to read and understand texts, to write about complex topics, and to research anything from Chaucer criticism to cyber sources on the web. The skills that an EC literature graduate gains are readily transferable to other areas.