I use my English degrees everyday in my career

What are your main responsibilities?

I write legal transcripts from audio, including court hearings, interviews, telephone calls and witness statements. I edit the transcripts depending on the needs of each client, from the Ministry of Justice to private clients in civil cases. I edit the text for ease of readability, usually working to strict deadlines for live cases.

What other jobs have you had since graduating?

After my BA, I worked as a graduate mentor for Sheffield Hallam’s GROW programme, mentoring GCSE aged students in disadvantaged areas of Sheffield and providing them with career advice, revision strategies and general moral support to improve their sense of self-worth and belief in their futures. 

After my MA, I have started working as a Speech to Text Editor for a legal transcription company. 

How has your degree from the School of English and your time at the University of Sheffield helped you in your career?

I use my English degrees everyday in my career. The abilities to edit text quickly and accurately and recognise key linguistic elements are essential in my job. The skills I learnt in understanding and engaging with dense pieces of texts are also really vital in my job. My strengths in independent research and critical thinking will also be useful in any career I have. 

What is your greatest achievement to date?

My greatest achievements have definitely come from my time at Sheffield. I received two awards at the end of my MA for the best dissertation on poetry on the MA programme, and the best work on Medieval and Early Modern studies.  During my MA, I also did a work placement at Chatsworth House, where I discovered an unpublished poem by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and I have had some blog posts published about it which I am incredibly proud of. 

But my greatest achievement is definitely being accepted to Oxford University to pursue an English DPhil. English has always been my greatest passion, and I’m very proud of where it is yet to take me. 

What career advice would you give to a student interested in studying English?

Don’t underestimate yourself or your skills! I have been told by people before that the arts and humanities are not worthwhile pursuits, but that is definitely not the case. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. My English degrees and future DPhil will always be the greatest things I ever chose to do, as they have given so much back to me and continue to fulfil me and my life with a longevity even I didn’t know was possible. If you love English and are thinking about studying it further, do it. Hopefully it gives you as much joy as it has given me.