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Your choice of major may not be the most critical factor in later career success. At least
as important, is learning to work with other people, effectively managing your life,
developing leadership skills, and gaining work experience.
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A Guide to Exploring Majors
A liberal arts degree allows you to develop transferable skills in communication, problem
solving, working with people, and researching and evaluating issues, all of which are valued
by employers in all fields.
College is a time to explore. The majority of college students don’t have a clear career
path in mind and many will change their major during the course of their college career.
College doesn’t necessarily prepare you for a job.Your college degree qualifies you to
compete in the job market but often the content of your classes is not directly related to the
world of work.Almost every career field includes individuals who majored in a range of academic
subjects. There may be 3 or 4 majors that are right for you and can lead to a given career field.
You should choose a major based on what you enjoy and what interests you rather than what’s
hot in the market. No one can reliably predict what the demand in various fields will be when
you graduate and, more importantly, if you do not enjoy the field, you probably won’t be
successful and will change your path eventually.
Deciding on a Major
You will need to gather information in three areas in order to choose your major: yourself,
career options, and academic requirements.
YOURSELF
Self-assessment is critical in determining the major and the field in which
you will be most comfortable. Identifying your interests, values, and skills
will help you narrow down your options and focus on a goal. What are some ways
to do this?
- Talk with a career counselor in Career Services.
- Access the books and articles in the Career Services Library.
- Complete worksheets from Career Services on identifying values,
interests, and skills and discuss them with a counselor.
- Complete an interest inventory at Career Services designed to help you
clarify your interests and how they correspond to various career paths.
CAREER OPTIONS
Once you have begun to clarify your interests, values, and abilities, you
will start to identify some possible careers that may be a comfortable match
for you. Having an understanding of how choice of major may or may not affect
your career options is an important component in your decision. Many books in
the Career Services Library can give you an overview of jobs in a particular
field as well as the specific details on certification, advanced study
requirements, and earnings and growth projections. There are also books that
discuss career possibilities for each major. In addition you may want to:
- Meet with a career counselor to work on matching your interests and
values to possible career fields.
- Talk to people in various careers for a real-world perspective. The
Alumni Contact Database, accessible through Career Services, lists
alumni who are willing to serve as career contacts to Clark students. This
listing can provide information on the types of jobs available with a
particular major. It also can help you identify networking opportunities.
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
It is important to be aware of the requirements for different majors. Begin
by reading through the course catalog to see if the courses interest you. You
also may want to check out the required texts for particular courses at the
bookstore.
Questions to answer include:
- How many courses are required?
- Are certain prerequisites necessary?
- Will you be allowed to choose elective courses or do individual
projects?
- Are internships allowed? For credit?
Next you will want to talk to staff in Academic Advising and faculty in the
particular majors in which you are interested. In addition to the
questions above, you will want to find out:
- What do students do with this major after graduation?
- Do most go to work or on to graduate school?
- What skills do students need to do well in this major?
- Are there general values or characteristics that are typical of students
in this major?
- What are the specialties or research interests of faculty in this
department?
Students in a particular major can also be a great source for information
on the demands of the department (workload, competition), the teaching styles
of faculty, and options for using the major after graduation.
AND FINALLY, REMEMBER…
The Career Services Library has a number of books on choosing a
major as well as many resources for career and graduate school planning.
Some examples:
College Majors & Career by Phifer
Great Jobs for Majors in… (Liberal Arts, Communications,
Sociology, History, Foreign Language, etc.) by Lambert & DeGalan
Peterson’s Guide to Graduate and Professional Programs
An internship placement can be a valuable way to explore career
options and gain practical work experience. The Internship Coordinator is a
member of the Career Services staff.
The Internet can provide a wealth of information. To begin your Web
search, take a look at these sites:
www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/careers/majors/
Useful information on majors and career options.
www.utexas.edu/student/cec/careers/index.html
Another useful site with major to career information.
www.wetfeet.com
“Industry Insider” Information on a variety of fields from advertising/PR to entertainment and sports to human resources.
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