What is the Best College Major for the Job Market?

If you are in college or simply thinking about college, selecting the “right” major is probably decision you have spent a fair amount of time considering.  Which major will be the best in terms of landing a job upon graduation?

I must preface my comments on this subject with the confession that as a graduate of a Liberal Arts college and as someone whose major had almost nothing to do with my subsequent career path, I have a very strong preference for a more classical education.  By the time I graduated from college, I had actually tried about 10-12 different majors and had to select an interdisciplinary major to manage enough hours in something to actually graduate.  The “something” was called Urban Studies, which turned out to be a major that not one single employer wanted.  Of course, since I happened to graduate in the midst of the Baby Boom generation, there were only about 20 jobs available for every 100 college graduates anyway.  What I did not realize until later was that my selection of a major was not half as important as the type education I had received.

I did not learn a “trade” in college; I learned how to succeed in life.  That’s an important distinction, especially in the fast-paced, ever-changing, information age.  Instead of learning technical skills that would have been outdated within a very short time after graduation, my liberal arts education taught me how to conduct research in areas where my practical knowledge was lacking. Math and logic courses taught me how to look at problems logically and systematically. Literature courses taught me how to read unfamiliar text and make sense of it. Sports and survival training classes taught me the importance of and the skills for being part of a team. History helped me view the other disciplines within a larger context. Studies of other cultures and other religions helped me appreciate the fact that my narrow view was not the only way one could choose to think about the role the human race plays in the universe. And the list goes on… If truth be told, there was not one course which could be called useless.   

Translating these broad skills into those valued by employers was not as difficult as one may think.  Admittedly, getting my foot in the door of large accounting firm without a degree in accounting was a challenge.  However, once there, I was able to learn quickly and was able to bring a breadth of knowledge that facilitated my talking with clients from many different backgrounds and by ability to understand complicated and unfamiliar business environments.  The firm was very selective about which new hires stayed on the job after the first six months.  Seven other new graduates were hired at the same time I was.  As the only one in the group with a liberal arts degree and the only one without an accounting degree (although I was working on my Masters in Accountancy), I thought I was destined to be one of the first to go.  Six months later, I was the only one of the eight who had not been asked to leave. While I lacked the debit/credit skills in the beginning, I was armed with useful, long-term, nebulous skills through my multi-disciplined liberal arts education.  Accounting rules and tax rules change constantly, so accounting classes from college were quickly outdated.  On the other hand, my liberal arts skills maintained their usefulness.

The moral of this story is that your choice of major may be far less important than your knowledge of, exposure to and appreciation of the classes you take in literature, history, math, logic, philosophy, art, music, psychology, drama, communication, world cultures, sports, sociology, economics and anything else that inspires you, excites you, challenges you and makes you think outside of your personal world.  I also took a fantastic course in Business Law :)

Whatever your chosen major, it is wise to prepare to be flexible and leave yourself enough options through minors or double majors for several or many career changes throughout your working life.  One has only to look at the changes over the past ten years compared to a 10-year window in any past generation (History!), to know that the ability to continue to learn and to change is invaluable.

Comments

[Faith Draper]

I must say, you have me thinking in a new direction now. Thank you for 'making me think'.

For the last few days I've spend a considerable amount of time trying to decide on a major.

My problem is I really don't want a major; I simply want to take classes in a particular area but to get financial aid I need to 'name a major course of study'.

After reading your post here I see a way I can accomplish both - there is nothing wrong with a degree in General Studies. I will still obtain what I need 'a major' of sorts but be able to select the courses that will give me the most benifit in the direction I want to go.