Ours can be a very tough profession, and somewhat unforgiveable depending upon the economic climate at the time that you enter the field and the career choices that you make (or are made for you) along the way. If you decide to enter the field, welcome, but do give a lot of consideration to the program that you select.. If your goal is to enter the private sector, consider a program that is less “theoretical’ and more nuts and bolts oriented. While this is a very diverse field and most of the professionals do eventually specialize in a specific aspect of it. Many of the MLA programs have distinct areas of specialization, which can be problematic if you are someone that has background in another discipline and unsure of what specialty may interest you. Flexibility is important in a graduate program.
When doing your research, ask yourself, how many of the faculty members work or have worked in the real world as consultants (public or private sector) versus the number that are theorists that conduct research and write papers. I have had both types of professors and have learned some things from the theorists. However, I cannot emphasize how much more I learned from the instructors with the practical work experience .
Also, do some checking and find out the types of jobs people within the MLA program take after they graduate, even if you have to go back to a few years ago when the economy was better.
Good luck to you.
