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In your first semester as an English major, you will take English Forum, a course in which you will be introduced to the resources on campus to help you begin to plan for your future. Working closely with faculty, you will learn about the steps to career development and create a roadmap for your time at EIU to help you achieve your goals. 

In your senior year, you will take English Studies Career Development, a course that teaches you essential skills such as writing a resume and cover letter that translates the skills you have gained in the English major to the job market, navigating the job search, learning to read for what employers really want, and interviewing. Students interested in post-graduate study also have the opportunity to research graduate programs and put together their portfolios.

Internships provide hands-on experiences for you to apply the research, writing, and/or editing skills you’ve learned in your classes in a career setting. You will work one-on-one with the internship coordinator to locate or create an internship that aligns with your unique career goals. Internships can be completed locally during a fall or spring semester while you are enrolled full time; or, for a more extensive experience, you can pursue a summer internship locally or in their home communities. Previous interns have worked at a range of sites, including small businesses, publishers, nonprofit organizations, local government offices, libraries, law offices, and more. Students in the Professional Writing emphasis are required to take at least one internship; all other students can take one or two internships for English elective credit.

In our teacher licensure program, you will receive intensive and specialized preparation for your future classroom by completing three content-specific methods courses focused on how to teach writing, literature/reading, and speaking/listening to your future students.  You will apply this knowledge in clinical experience opportunities throughout your path toward certification, culminating with a two-semester intensive sequence, practicum and student teaching, wherein you will work with cooperating teachers in long-term placements

The English Department hosts several networking opportunities throughout the year. Creative writing readings and our creative writing festival, Lions in Winter, allow you to meet contemporary writers and work with them in workshops. Students have ample opportunity to meet with our English Department alumni during Handshaking Night in the fall and at alumni panels offered in the spring at our English Studies Conference.

Students in our department present their work in a variety of formats outside of the traditional classroom setting. Creative writers and students interested in graphic design may submit to or help produce The Vehicle, our student-edited creative writing publication. Students also present academic papers, read from their creative work, or share their applied projects during our annual English Studies Conference, or they may travel on faculty-sponsored trips to regional/national conferences, such as the Sigma Tau Delta National Convention.