Centre for Career and Personal Development Degree Profiles
English
English is a broad and integrated field where reading and writing intersect, and issues in critical thinking come into play.
Key Skills & Knowledge
Communication - Writing skills, adapting to genre and audience; High proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking; Good listening, clarifying, questioning and responding skills; Knowledge of the structure and functioning of language
Research - Textual analysis and interpretation; Analytical and critical literature comprehension and review; Conduct and clearly explain research results; Skills in seeing patterns in written material; Interdisciplinary methodology and perspective
Organization - Capacity to make critical observations and appropriate decisions; Organizational skill and time management skills
Critical thinking - Awareness of how language conditions not only what we think but how we think; Skill in applying a complex set of criteria in order to make an evaluation
Analytical - Analyze written material and extract salient points; Understanding of the nature of literature and of the various currents in literary criticism; Knowledge of genres, authors, periods, and critical approaches; Read material articulately and analytically;
Creative thinking - Original and Creative Development of Ideas;
Cultural Literature Perspective - Awareness of the role of language in transmitting culture; Exposure to different cultural environments
Rhetorical skills - Public speaking and persuasive arguments; Audience specific and target presentation skills
Editing skills - Comprehensive command of grammar and vocabulary
Computer skills - Word processing, editing and design software
Sample Job Titles
Please note some of these positions may require further training, certification or education. Check out the occupational profiles to review the full details for the occupations that interest you at alis.alberta.ca/occinfo
- Academic/Career Advisor
- Advertising Account Executive
- Announcer
- Archivist
- Assignment Editor
- Book Editor
- Circulation Assistant
- Columnist
- Communications Specialist
- Community Affairs Director
- Copy Editor
- Copywriter
- Correspondent
- Creative Writer
- Crossword Puzzle Maker
- Dictionary Editor
- Document Specialist
- Editor
- English as a Second Language Instructor
- Film Production Assistant
- Instructional Designer
- Intelligence Officer
- Journalist/Reporter
- Librarian*
- Lyricist
- Media Specialist
- Medical Writer
- Narrator
- Playwright
- Poet
- Producer
- Production Supervisor
- Proof Reader
- Proposal Writer
- Public Affairs Coordinator
- Public Relations Consultant
- Public Relations Writer
- Public Speaker
- Publisher
- Researcher
- Terminologist
- Translator
- Teacher/Instructor
- Technical Communicator
- Technical Editor
- Technical Writer
- Tutor
- Web Site Designer
- Writer
Potential Industries
- Advertising and Marketing
- Archives and Libraries
- Business and Professional Services
- Communications
- Culture and Recreation
- Education
- Government
- Handbooks and Manuals
- Health and Medical Care
- Magazines
- Media
- Museums & Heritage
- Newspapers
- Non-Profits & NGOs
- Post-Secondary
- Public Relations
- Publishing (Firms & Houses)
- Research & Development
- Theatres
- Telecommunications
- Television Networks
- University Presses
- Web Design & Content Management
Aligned Majors
Associations & Professional Development
- Association of Canadian College & University Teachers of English
- Association of Canadian Publishers
- Canadian Association of Broadcasters
- Canadian Authors Association
- Canadian Federation for the Humanities & Social Science
- Canadian Magazine Publishers Association
- Canadian Teachers’ Federation
- Creative Writing Research Group
- Cultural Careers Council Ontario
- Cultural Human Resources Council
- Editors’ Association of Canada (EAC)
- Education Canada
- Modern Language Association
- Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Society for Technical Communications
- Writer’s Guild of Alberta
- Writers Union of Canada
more resources
Key Contacts
Arts Students' Centre
Social Sciences Building, SS102
T: 403.220.3580
E: ascarts@ucalgary.ca
W: arts.ucalgary.ca/advising
Clubs on Campus:
University of Calgary English Club
Centre for Career & Personal Development
MacEwan Student Centre, Room 188
T: 403.220.8020
E: csstdnt@ucalgary.ca
W: ucalgary.ca/career-personal-development
