Ask the Experts: How to Decide on a Major in College
ningcontentQuestion:
I am in my first year of college and I am trying to decide on a major. I was hoping that someone could help me in deciding on which major I could prosper more from, and yet still have fun.
First Answer:
RELAX! You’re just starting out! Call me a “fossil,” but I STILL believe that college, especially the first half of it, should be spent learning about the world and not trying to find a “trade.” Take lots of different subjects and you’ll start to learn about what it is that your passion is. The more you experience new and different things, the easier it will be to eliminate those you’re not good at and that you don’t really care for, and zero in on those that you love. If, by the end of next year, you’re still not at all sure what you might like to do, enlist the help of the school’s career services.
— Alison Blackman Dunham, life & career expert, columnist, personal public relations consultant, half of THE ADVICE SISTERS®, and the author of the ASK ALISON career advice column
Second Answer:
So you want to have fun? I love that that this is a priority, and why shouldn’t it be! The average employee spends a minimum of 50% of their waking hours on the job, so why not have some fun. Begin with your values. Values are things you do or that you find very attractive. When engaged in these activities, you feel most like yourself: well, connected, excited, glowing and with ease of effort. Bottom line, we have the most fun when we are doing something we enjoy, and we usually enjoy doing something that reflects our values. Start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What’s really important to you?
- What turns you on?
- What do you like to do so much that you’d almost feel guilty getting paid to do it?
Career satisfaction is a direct correlation between your personal values and the work you are doing. Keeping this in mind, review the majors available at your college and create a list of the ones that match your values, interests and abilities. Talk with your academic advisor to help you choose classes in the majors you are considering that still meet general education requirements in case you decide against the major.
There are very few careers that immediate identification with specific majors (nursing, teaching, law, accounting, etc.). To be successful in any career, you must be able to demonstrate that you can think, learn, make decisions, solve problems, etc. Develop these skills and you are prepared for the constantly changing workplace. Put the focus on preparing to do something you love and have fun at, and you will always find work and satisfaction. If you are still wondering, work with a professional coach who can guide you through the process easier and faster. I am offering a 20% discount on one month of coaching to anyone who mentions this newsletter article.
— Janine A. Schindler, Professional Coach and owner of the Jas Coaching Company.
Third Answer:
Don’t worry too much about about making the right choice of college major early on. Many recent studies show that a large number of
people are working in areas totally unrelated to their college major
and that people will change careers — not just jobs, but careers —
at least five times over the course of their lives.
Still, you do have to make a choice, so here’s advice for someone struggling for a major path:
- Examine the things you like to do – at work and at play. What activities give you the most joy and get you energized?
- Examine the types of activities that you dislike performing – and never want to perform again.
- Now look at your strengths and weaknesses. What are the types of skills and activities where you excel? What are the types of
things where you have troubles? - With this newfound knowledge of yourself, go back and take a few of the assessment tests. The career services office at your
college probably has a few you can take – or go online and take a few
of those. Here’s an article that includes a review of all the major
online assessments: Online Career Assessments: Helpful Tools of
Self-Discovery. - Think about the classes you’ve taken that you’ve already enjoyed. Once you’ve narrowed down possible majors, talk to the
department chair and other faculty members in that department. it’s
important not only to choose subject matter you’ll feel comfortable
with, but also instructors who will be supportive, encouraging, and
stimulating.
You may also want to read Choosing a College Major: How to Chart Your Ideal Path. Also, see
how the Internet can help you choose a major at the Choosing a Major portion of our tutorial on Job-Hunting on the Internet .
As far as choosing a major that will lead to prosperity, you might be surprised by the college-major choices of some of the folks who
turned out to be CEOs of the 1,000 largest U.S. companies, USA Today
reported recently. Disney CEO Michael Eisner never took a single
business course. Only a third of the CEOs have MBA degrees. About 18
percent majored in engineering; 15 percent in liberal arts, and 7
percent in economics. Offbeat CEO majors include East Asian history,
medieval history and philosophy, French literature, and industrial
engineering.
— Katharine Hansen, former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for the Web site, Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters
