Running head: YOUR MAJOR DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE CAREER PATH

Your Major does not determine your future career path

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Your Major does not determine your future career path

When a student joins the job market their major loses relevance. There is no student that

is employed as an English or biology major expect some careers like nursing and engineering.

The reason why majors do not determine career path is that it provides a set of skills that helps

on in the navigation of the career path (Killam, Wise, and Weber, 2017). According to a 2015

research by the American colleges and universities, it was found that employers give a higher

priority on the ability of a candidate to communicate well, think critically and have a solution for

complex issues than their undergraduate major (Hart Research Associates, 2015). For a graduate

to determine the direction to take their career should concentrate on their competencies rather

than their major.

Most of the employers have changed the tactic in looking for workers. The college major

is no longer considered as the essential factor to determine qualification for employment (Killam,

Wise, and Weber, 2017). In most of the situation, the employers look at the soft skills of the

candidates. For instance, a person who has specialized in social science or humanity majors may

wonder what that career can do for them in the job market (Killam, Wise, and Weber, 2017). It is

because few enterprises pay people to analysis novels or conduct a psychological experiment.

However, those skills make it easier for them to learn a key technical ability that is required in

the job market.

The most essential skills that employers prefer include problem-solving, critical thinking,

communication, professionalism, career management, cultural fluency and digital advancement

(Monaghan and Attewell, 2015). The American Association for colleges and universities has

developed a similar list with an addition of innovation, ethical judgment quantitative reasoning,

and self-motivation.
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Students who pursue degrees in STEM subjects have high career success. There is a

greater demand for workers with more knowledge in technology, math, sciences, and

engineering. However, a bachelor’s degree in the STEM subjects does not always constitute a

well-paying job (Monaghan and Attewell, 2015). In those subjects, a worker needs to have a

graduate degree to be able to work well in the workplace. Ranking of the best jobs in the United

States indicates that for one to be successful in most of the top jobs that comprise a physician,

physical therapist, statistician and orthodontist one has to have a master’s degree training

(Monaghan and Attewell, 2015). A study on the class of 2016 six months after graduation

indicates that the student who had done health topics, math, biology, and physical exercises went

for higher education at a higher rate than the rest (Hart Research Associates, 2015). The rate of

going to a master of the subjects was also higher than other related courses like computer science

and engineering majors.

The most popular major in undergraduate courses in business. It was found that about

75% of employers intend to employ one individual with training in the business field (Hart

Research Associates, 2015). However, a major in business administration is similar to a liberal

art major since both of them are generic. A graduate with a general degree in business that has a

few classes in logistics, management, finance, and promotion has a very low possibility of been

hired (Nilsson and Ripmeester, 2016). It indicates that those with training in STEM subjects and

business majors cannot depend on them to get a good job. They also need to think more about

their competencies.

Removing myths on majors create a variety of career opportunity for students. Graduates

have many options to choose from but some may find it difficult to determine how to continue

professionally. For a student to discern about their competencies they are required to think
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beyond what to study in college (Nilsson and Ripmeester, 2016). A graduate needs to think about

what kind of contribution they want to give to employers. While in school need to choose their

internships, classes, clubs and work experience appropriately. After that it is good to have a clear

picture of how skills gained will be used.

Data obtained by universities on the areas where each graduate landed. It was found that

students with training in arts who graduated in 2015, 2016 and 2017 worked for enterprises like

National Air, Disney and Space Museum (Nilsson and Ripmeester, 2016). About half of those

graduates worked in enterprises that were making a profit, 38% were engaged in nonprofit firms

and 13% were employed by the government (Hart Research Associates, 2015). About 6% of

those students join graduate programs will working. A review of six months after graduation

indicated that 38% were employed, 39% were doing advanced education, 14% were in-service

programs, 2% were looking for employment and 7% were participating in other activities (Hart

Research Associates, 2015). Those data can enable a job seeker to remain realistic when

searching for employment. The skills obtained in a certain major makes a graduate a strong

candidate in a particular career direction while weak in another.

While looking for employment graduate should not limit themselves to the firms that

look to be obvious for their major (Nilsson and Ripmeester, 2016). It is good for a graduate to

realize that they have much more to offer than their major. It is good to attend various career fairs

and networking events on the campus and outside the campus. The graduate should go to all

events in career training including those targeting students in a different disciple. About 40% of

the organizations that hire graduates want students from all the majors about 80% of the recruit

from more than one school.

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It is good for a student to listen to the recruiter in those events and ask themselves if it

makes them excite and does it resonate with them. When given the opportunity to talk the student

should sell their skills rather than their majors (Rahman, 2017). Rather than a student indicating

that he is from a major in business administration he should indicate that he wants to learn about

opportunities in those organizations. The attendees of the event should also ask the main

attributes of the new hires from the organization. He should ask about the skills that employers

are looking for in a candidate. Such a conversation is crucial for the graduate to practice in a job

interview (Rahman, 2017). In a job interview, the graduate is expected to go beyond their

academic experience and indicate to the employer the type of skills there are bringing.

It has been observed in the first three years of college that most of the students change

their careers at least once (Taber and Blankemeyer, 2015). It is an indication of the change in

interest over time. Even if a student may have a lot of interest in their field they may be curious

about other majors (Rahman, 2017). For instance, a student with a major in computer science

may be curious about finance and film. Friends can also impact students to choose a certain

major not because of their interest. Looking at this situation it is not possible to determine where

they will end up in the career path (Rahman, 2017). For instance, a graduate with a double major

in management and computer science may end up working in finance due to their competencies

in numbers.

The majority of majors do not offer job training to a student but rather on how to think.

The intention is to enable a student to think in a certain way rather than giving them job training.

The idea of choosing a major is suited if the students want to work in research (Rahman, 2017).

Universities and colleges aim at showing the student how things have been done before. For a

student to understand what is present they must have knowledge of the past. Most of the
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graduates learn what is required of them in the job (Taber and Blankemeyer, 2015). For example

student from a political science major working in finance will have to learn everything about

making cash flow and a there statement financial model to flow effectively.

Therefore a student from humanities or social sciences will learn how to write and

communicate. White graduates in STEM majors will learn problem-solving (Taber and

Blankemeyer, 2015). Those skills are helpful to determine the career of interest rather than their

precise skills (Taber and Blankemeyer, 2015). In a perfect operating world, majors will give

various skills to the students. The student learns a lot of theories in college that have little

application in the actual work environment but rather seeks to increase the thinking capacity of

the student. It good for the student to be diverse, for instance, engineering majors should take

classes in communication and writing while humanities majors should take classes in

quantitative and analytical skills (Taber and Blankemeyer, 2015). It is because graduates with

good communication skills and problem-solving have the possibility of landing in a well-paying

well.
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References

Killam, W. K., Wise, S. M., & Weber, B. (2017). COLLEGE MAJOR AND CAREER

CHOICE. College Student Development: Applying Theory to Practice on the Diverse

Campus, 175.

Hart Research Associates. (2015). Falling short? College learning and career

success. Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Monaghan, D. B., & Attewell, P. (2015). The community college route to the bachelor’s

degree. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37(1), 70-91.

Nilsson, P. A., & Ripmeester, N. (2016). International student expectations: Career opportunities

and employability. Journal of International Students, 6(2), 614-631.

Rahman, P. (2017, April). Future Career for Early Career Researchers. In Industrial

Biotechnology and Bioenergy Careers Fair 2018.

Taber, B. J., & Blankemeyer, M. (2015). Future work self and career adaptability in the

prediction of proactive career behaviors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86, 20-27.