Communication BA Degree Program

Information for Students

• JOBS
• JOB ADVANCEMENT
• GRADUATE STUDY

Jobs in Communication

 Careers in business and communication include: sales representative, executive manager, personnel manager, public information officer, industrial and labor relations representative, negotiator, director of corporate communication, customer service representative, newsletter editor, communication trainer, human resources manager, mediator, and buyer. (Also see Law, Media, and Public Relations and Advertising.)

 Careers in education include: teacher (elementary and secondary), school counselor, educational researcher, audiovisual specialist, educational administrator, school/university information specialist, director of college news, director of a collegiate information center, educational tester, development officer, educational fund-raiser, alumni officer, college placement officer, college admissions director, and college recruiter.

 Communication and government/political-related careers include: public information officer, speech writer, legislative assistant, campaign director, research specialist, program coordinator, negotiator, lobbyist, press secretary, and elected official.

 Careers in technology and communication include: trainer for communication technologies, closed circuit television producer/director, systems analyst, technical copywriter, language specialist, speech synthesizer, cognition researcher, audio and visual computer display specialist, and performance assessor.

 Careers in health and communication include: health educator, school health care administrator, medical grants writer, hospital director of communication, clinic public relations director, health communication analyst, research analyst, medical training supervisor, communications manager for federal health agencies, health personnel educator, medical center publications editor, hospice manager, drug rehabilitationist, health care counselor, activities director, marketing director, and health facility fund raiser.

 Careers in international relations and negotiations include: on-air international broadcasting talent, corporate representative, translator, student tour coordinator, diplomat, foreign relations officer, host/hostess for foreign dignitaries, and foreign correspondent.

 Careers in law and communication include: public defender, corporate lawyer, district attorney, public interest lawyer, private practice lawyer, legal researcher, mediation and negotiation specialist, paralegal researcher, legal secretary, legal reporter, and legal educator.

 Careers in social and human services include: public administrator, social worker, recreational supervisor, human rights officer, community affairs liaison, park service public relations specialist, philanthropic representative, religious leader, and mental counselor. 

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 In a survey of communication graduates, students just like you identified their first job after graduating and their present job. The career advancement of these students with a communication degree speaks for itself.

Source: Wolvin, A.D. (1998). Careers in communication: An update. Journal of the
Association for Communication Administration, 27, pp. 71-73.

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Areas Of Concentration in the Communication Discipline/

Possibilities for Graduate Study

Many subject matters are encompassed in the field of communication. While areas of emphasis differ from one school to another, some of the most common include the following:

• Applied Communication: The study of processes used to analyze communication needs of organizations and social interaction, including the design of training to improve communication between supervisors and employees.
• Communication Education: The study of speech communication in the classroom and other pedagogical contexts.
• Communication Theory: The study of principles that account for the impact of communication in human social interaction.
• Family Communication: The study of communication unique to family systems.
• Gender Communication: The study of gender and sex differences and similarities in communication and the unique characteristics of male-female communication.
• Health Communication: The study of communication as it relates to health professionals and health education, including the study of provider-client interaction as well as the diffusion of health information through public health campaigns.
• International and Intercultural Communication: The study of communication among individuals of different cultural backgrounds, including the study of similarities and differences across cultures.
• Interpersonal Communication: The study of communication behaviors in dyads (pairs) and their impact on personal relationships.
• Language and Social Interaction: The study of the structure of verbal and nonverbal behaviors occurring in social interaction.
• Legal Communication: The study of the role of communication as it relates to the legal system.
• Mass Communication and Media Literacy: The study of the uses, processes, and effects of mediated communication.
• Mediation and Dispute Resolution: The study of understanding, management, and resolution of conflict in intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup situations.
• Performance Studies: The study of communication as performance, including its components, that is performer(s), text, audience, and context.
• Political Communication: The study of the role that communication plays in political systems.
• Public Address: The study of speakers and speeches, including the historical and social context of platforms, campaigns, and movements.
• Public Relations: The study of the management of communication between an organization and its audiences.
• Rhetorical Criticism: The study of principles that account for the impact of human communication between speaker and audience.
• Semiotics: The use of verbal and nonverbal symbols and signs in human communication.
• Small Group Communication: The study of communication systems among three or more individuals who interact around a common purpose and who influence one another.
• Speech Communication: The study of the nature, processes, and effects of human symbolic interaction. While speech is the most obvious mode of communication, human symbolic interaction includes a variety of verbal and nonverbal codes.
• Theatre and Drama: The study and production of dramatic literature.
• Visual Communication: The study of visual data, such as architecture, photography, visual art, advertising, film, and television as it relates to communication.

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