In Spring semester 2026, the department offered LING 3050, Career Exploration for Linguists, for the first time. This course was proposed by the Linguistics Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and developed by the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Liz McCullough, to provide undergraduate majors with structured opportunities for career exploration.
The course provides students with the opportunity to assess their own strengths, weaknesses, skills, and interests, draft a resume, find and read job ads, engage with linguistics BA alumni, conduct informational interviews about different career paths, and connect with career exploration resources on campus. The course is offered for 1 credit for students who want inspiration about career paths that align with a linguistics major, and for 2 credits for more advanced students who are looking for more support in career exploration. The course is repeatable, so students can take it early in their first or second year for 1 credit and then later in their third or fourth year for 2 credits, allowing them to take advantage of both versions of the course during their time in the major.
This semester’s offering included visits from BA alumni Jessica Hanson (Senior Contract Implementation Analyst, MHS Health Wisconsin, class of 2016), Joseph Marulli (Software Engineer, Navstar, class of 2009), Michelle McKenzie (Project Lead, Riverside Research Institute, class of 2019), and Shirley Wu (Assistant Director of Industry Connections, ASC Career Success, Ohio State University, class of 2020). During their visits, these alumni talked about their own career trajectories, how to translate the skills acquired in linguistics coursework into things that employers look for, and how to find a job that aligns with one’s skills, interests, and values.
Current students in the course have appreciated the support provided by the course for career exploration and the opportunities to learn about campus career development resources. Undergraduate Samuel Smith said, “I enrolled in LING 3050 to learn how to seek out and find opportunities for research and work experience. The most valuable part of the course has been learning how to format a resume or cv and learning about events and people which can help me find work.” Undergraduate Izzy Ramey said, “I decided to enroll in LING 3050 because I started my degree knowing I didn’t have a clear plan (or any ideas, honestly) after. I was always going to have to do some formal exploration of career options, and this class was the perfect structure to do so and was ‘customizable’ to my situation by enrolling in a certain number of credit hours. I’ve found interviews with working professionals that have graduated so far most helpful!”
Undergraduate alumni who are interested in talking with students about their career trajectories, especially those who are working outside of linguistics, but are applying the skills learned in the major, should contact Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Liz McCullough (mccullough.136@osu.edu).