<p>What on Earth is there to do for a person with a degree in English literature and chemical engineering who has a profound infatuation with leadership, writing and personal development?</p>
<p>I've thought about law school (of course, how fancy), specifically patent law, but that sounds boring. I want to take over the world (not literally). I've thought about joining the Peace Corps, NGO Development section, and plan on writing a few good books. </p>
<p>Does anyone else have any suggestions? I know you do, so please share them. I would be so delighted to have you join me on my quest for purpose!</p>
<p>Your two degrees are on opposite ends of the “football field” of concentrations. Interesting.
So…how do you spend your free time? That might enlighten your path and identify your passion.
EnJOY your quest!
~APOL-a Mum</p>
<p>I was an English major with an interest in science and ended up at a medical device firm. I would say you would be an excellent candidate for upward mobility in pharma or biotech companies, because you can speak the language of the science of your product, while also being able to communicate research results effectively (you’d be surprised how many hard science researchers really cannot).</p>
<p>I had an undergraduate double major in chemistry and English and worked in pharmaceutical research for more than 20 years. However, my science skills and experiences were far more vaulable, career-wise, than my English ones.</p>
<p>You may be able to parlay your interests in writing and science into a job in marketing or technical writing, although recent scandals in ghostwriting have shifted the landscape in that particular sub-genre. Be aware, though, that the language and writing one uses in English-related work varies significantly from that used in science (and even varies significantly between and among sciences).</p>
<p>And with all due respect to 2plus2, I would not count on US-based pharma for job security or career advancement right now. Much of pharma research and development is being outsourced overseas, at least for the big firms, and that outsourcing includes some of the writing and PR that was once in-house (at least for my old employer). If you want to explore those possibilities, though, I would suggest that you take a few business classes - at least my old employer valued those classes much more than any English courses.</p>
<p>is also not necessarily true. I found that my old colleagues were actually very adept at communicating their science to other scientists, but less adept at communicating that knowledge to those in other fields. It always kind of irked me when people imagined scientists to be numbskulls at communication (even though they did have problems distinguishing “effect” from “affect.”) Oh, well.</p>
<p>Are you a senior yet? If not, there’s no big hurry to determine your career path. Remain flexible. I think the NGO and Peace Corps ideas are sound possibilites (probably better than pharmaceuticals). I do agree with you on the patent law thing, though…</p>
<p>College BF from eons ago had double major chem and English. Got a master’s in chem, but ended up teaching English at a major midwest uni. Intro writing plus something upper level. Still there 25 years later.</p>
<p>scout – that may well be true. I live in a biotech “hub” and am constantly seeing new and interesting innovation come up - and I would say in general, the startup pharma/biotech/medical device world is still in a very exciting and innovative place. I have a lot of friends doing very cool and interesting things, and most of my friends trying to get into this industry have found jobs.</p>
<p>I have less experience in the big firms, however, and I know that I benefit from both being in a hub and pursuing a degree that will open some doors from me in that space.</p>
<p>That being said - my English degree has served me very well in this field. And of course there are some researchers who can communicate (just like there are some English majors who get well paying jobs!). The idea of only-being-able-to-communicate-to-other-scientists <em>is</em> a problem though, if their discovery/research/whatever is meant to have broader impacts for the world at large. Someone has to be able to explain to the world why they ought to adopt this technology/use this drug/follow this procedure. That’s where I think the OP’s skills could serve them well.</p>
<p>At the same time, OP, a lot of it is luck. Luck of where you get your first job, which will often lead to your second job, etc etc. I’d suggest starting to do some shadowing and internships to start to get a sense of what you enjoy.</p>
<p>2plus2 - I agree wholeheartedly about the luck thing (although this is often not a very popular opinion.) And I also agree that big pharma is kind of a different beast from biotech - I’d argue that for research scientists, the more exciting place to be now would be the smaller biotech firms.</p>
<p>Actually, big pharma is exciting place, too, but more in a “when-is-the-ax-coming” sense…</p>
<p>What about training? Training is a very social profession while actually depvering the training, and training development is a collaborative process, working with project managers, subject matter experts, operations. </p>
<p>Along that same line, technical project managers marry communication and technical skills. The jobs are varied and are great for someone who id detail-oriented, able to work with a wide variety of people and are confident/aggressive enough to lead by persuasion.</p>