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Subject:Re: Seeking advice on English MA From:Elna Tymes <etymes -at- lts -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 18 Apr 2001 14:52:11 -0700
Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com wrote:
> > A question for the other English majors among us, and for those who can
> > offer an employer's perspective: does an MA in English Lit do a tech
> > writer any good?
I've found that, in general, people with degrees in English tend to be somewhat
more prickly about nitpicky items than those with degrees in other disciplines,
and unless I'm hiring for an editing position (where I *want* someone who's
nitpicky), I prefer people who have a somewhat broader perspective. Hence my
hiring bias is slightly against English majors. An advanced degree in English
proves to me only that the person had the funds necessary to support a variation
on intellectual curiosity, not that they were inherently better communicators.
That said, however, advanced degrees tend to tell me two things: (1) the person
is capable of independent research, and (2) the person is capable of
communicating the results of that independent research in sufficiently clear
form to pass scrutiny by a thesis review committee. And that has some valuable
to me and my firm.
If I already had a BA or BS and was done with everything but the thesis for an
MA in English, unless there were sheer survival issues at stake I'd finish the
MA for personal reasons, not because it would enhance my career options.
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