Some people seem to come out of the womb knowing what they want to do when they are all grown up. Others, particularly students who opt for arts degrees, are not so lucky. When I tell people I study English Literature, the response is often 'Oh, so I take it you want to be a teacher then...'<br/><br/>I would like to make it clear I have nothing against the teaching profession (although I did not come out of the womb knowing I wanted to be a teacher I did come out of the womb of a teacher ), and am not about to rule out the possibility that I will end up as a teacher. However, I resent the opinion that teaching is my only option; surely doing a degree with no set path should leave me with plenty of open doors?<br/><br/>Arts degrees encourage the development of skills that can be applied to various career paths , such as critical thinking, verbal and textual communication skills, developed cultural horizons. In order to turn these skills into pay cheques, you need to capitalise on any spare time to practice applying these skills in the real world.<br/><br/>If you are still at university, take advantage of the few teaching hours most arts students are given and get involved in some extra curricular activities. Writing skills honed through the completion of countless essays put you in good standing to get involved with student media. The critical thinking arts students are trained in can come to life through involvement in student councils, political societies and student councils - all of which provide fantastic opportunities for networking.<br/><br/>If you recently graduated and are currently unsure of what path you should follow your arts degree with, reflect upon which parts of your degree you most enjoyed and apply for as much work experience as possible related to that feature as humanly possible; if you were fascinated by the research aspect of your degree, see if you can find some work experience in a museum related to your preferred field. If you particularly enjoyed writing essays, look into getting some work experience with a newspaper or publishers. Your degree may not 'lead' to any job, however it will give you the opportunity to figure out where you personal strengths lie. From here, one can transfer these strengths into life experience, something which employers' value highly as tangible evidence upon which to take on prospective employees.<br/>
