Students who major in English in college are reminded early and often that there aren’t all that many lucrative career prospects in store for them.  Nonetheless, many stick with it, diving into great works of literature, trying to understand human motivation, developing critical thinking and learning to write.

Meanwhile, businesses have discovered that leadership skills are hard to come by.  They need leaders who understand where people “are coming from,” who can communicate vision and direction, who demonstrate adaptability and political awareness.  They want leaders who are willing to slog through difficulty and navigate ethical complexity.  Yet they’ve realized these abilities, while highly prized, are rarely found. 

That’s because hiring managers are looking in all the wrong places.  They’re looking in the College of Business when what they’re looking for is in the Humanities Department.

This is a blog for English majors who may not yet have considered they are uniquely positioned for a future career in business.  I’ll help you convince hiring managers that they’re really looking for educated employees, and that you have considerably more to offer than a narrow specialization (accounting, programming, etc.).  While the ultra-specialized technical skills you often see in job ads will create an army of qualified niche-filling followers, you have genuine leadership potential.

The ability to write well, read between the lines, anticipate human behavior and think critically are what define leaders. If that sounds like you, I hope you’ll apply them where they’re much-needed:  in corporate leadership.

I hope you find practical advice here.  And I hope you’ll contact me, either by posting a comment here or by emailing me at Susan@AlderBusiness.com.

To new horizons!

Susan de la Vergne