Connecting Majors and Careers

At some point you might ask yourself: Why am I in college? Although it sounds like an easy question to answer, it’s not. Many students would immediately respond, “So I can get a good job or education for a specific career,” yet most majors do not lead to a specific career path or job. You actually can enter most career paths from any number of academic majors. Marketing, a common undergraduate business major, is a field that recruits from a wide variety of majors, including advertising, communications, and psychology. Sociology majors find jobs in law enforcement, teaching, and public service.

Today, English majors are designing Web pages, philosophy majors are developing logic codes for operating systems, and history majors are sales representatives and business managers. You do not have to major in science to gain admittance to medical school. Of course, you do have to take the required science and math courses, but medical schools seek applicants with diverse backgrounds. Only a few technical or professional fields, such as accounting, nursing, and engineering, are tied to specific majors.

Exploring your interests is the best way to choose an academic major and ultimately a career. Chapter 15 will help you know what steps to take to find a career that is right for you. If you’re still not sure which majors will help you reach your career goals, take the advice of Patrick Combs, author of Major in Success, who recommends that you major in a subject about which you are really passionate. Most advisers would agree.

Some students will find that they’re not ready to select an academic major in the first year. You can use your first year and even your second year to explore your interests and find out how they might connect to various academic programs. Over time, you might make different choices than you would have during your first year.

You can major in almost anything. In fact, it is how you integrate your classes with your extracurricular activities and work experience that prepares you for a successful transition to your career. Try a major you think you’ll like and see what develops. Keep an open mind, though, and don’t pin all your hopes on finding a career in that major alone. Your major and your career ultimately have to fit your overall life goals, purposes, values, and beliefs.