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Other than getting adjunct work with your shiny new MFA, what other professions like them?
(I'm gainfully employed, and while I think my MFA helps me, it is in not appreciated by my employer in any direct way. My question is the result of sitting next to the father of an MFA graduate at his graduation ceremony and hearing him complain about the uselessness of the degree. I disagree, but wanted to gather more factual info.)
An MFA would come in handy when working in the publishing world. A lot of editors for publishing houses have MFAs and even owners of publishing houses occasionally have them. I know at least one of the editors at the primary house I work for has one and I'll be pursuing an MFA myself.
Not only does the experience often help editors, it gives the publishing house a good image. Having five editors with MFAs looks better than having 5 editors with HS diplomas.
As far as I've been able to ascertain through the years the "educational" institutions are about the only place that the MFA carries any weight. In a way I'm glad I didn't go for one decades ago.
I applied to an MFA program as a side-option last year, and I am about 90% per cent certain that I read this somewhere on the department's site/admissions portal. (The 10% uncertainty comes from not being able to recall where exactly, maybe on a FAQ somewhere). Paraphrased: Our students usually are able to find part time work as editors for newspapers/magazines, and copywriters for publishing houses...while they take the evening classes.
In any case, I am only telling this because they seemed to suggest that being part of an MFA made it easier to get yourself into this line of work. Not the sort of jobs you were hoping to hear, I am sure.
