Career opportunities English Language and Applied Linguistics
In the UK graduates can use their degree to find employment that's not necessarily related to their degree subject. This is because the employer is looking for the skills they have developed through their academic study, rather than a specific subject.
This page will focus on careers directly related to English and applied linguistics. If you are studying modern language modules together with English modules then you may want to explore Careers Opportunities: Languages as well.
Employers in all fields value applicants who can communicate well, analyse, evaluate and present ideas and arguments effectively. These skills – which you’ll develop as part of your English language studies – can be used in roles where research or written communication plays a major part. Remember that some careers below will require further study, training and/or work experience beyond your degree.
Graduates in English and Linguistics can be found working in:
- advertising
- copywriting
- clerical and information work (including developing content management systems to make information accessible to others)
- journalism
- libraries (including the manipulation of databases, open access and digital resources, and traditional library materials)
- marketing
- policy development
- public relations (PR)
- publishing
- speech and language therapy
- teaching at all levels: primary, secondary, further (FE), and higher education (HE)
- teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and speakers of other languages (TESOL) in the UK and overseas
- web and social media content.
Use the Prospects website to explore career options related to English and applied linguistics where you'll find examples of job roles and contacts for further research. You can also refer to the job sectors information for Teaching and Education; Marketing, Advertising and PR; Media and Publishing; and Creative Arts and Culture, which are often popular with English language students.
To explore other career options you may find the following resources useful. Please be aware that these are American websites so some of the information and qualifications may vary from the UK.
The Career Linguist website shares some useful careers profiles in linguistics.
The All Things Linguistic website features the Linguist Job Interview series which includes interviews with people who have studied linguistics and then gone on to careers outside of academia. Interviews range from a Language Creator to a Computational Linguist.
Useful links
These resources will help you to explore careers areas in further detail:
You will also find information about general job vacancy sites, work experience and volunteering at:
Postgraduate Study
Many graduates undertake further study on completion of their first degree and/or after gaining some relevant work experience. Reasons for doing so include wanting to explore an aspect of their studies in more depth, to further or change their career, or because a specific postgraduate qualification is an entry requirement for their chosen career or would be an advantage if entry is competitive.
Generally, postgraduate study can open up opportunities to work in higher education and teaching at other levels. For English graduates it can open up further opportunities in professions related to this area such as speech and language therapy, marketing and communications, journalism, publishing, and teaching.
The Open University (OU) offers an MA in Linguistics.
The OU has also launched a new course on OpenLearn called ‘Succeeding in Postgraduate Study’ which is designed to help prepare graduates for Masters level study.
It's important to thoroughly research postgraduate study options as this will help you make the right choice for you. This would include checking you can afford it as the way you pay for postgraduate study is different to how undergraduate study is funded. On the Prospects website you can search postgraduate courses, and find information on funding postgraduate study.
