Your Major Doesn’t Matter

Don’t panic! Your major doesn’t have much impact on your career. What matters is you’ve worked to earn your degree. Fact is, your future isn’t dependent on the nature of, or institution from which you received, your degree.  If you have a good reason to go to grad school, that’s a different story and you can skip the rest of this post.

Student Writing Desk

What matters to your career is that you have a bachelor’s degree.

Starting early in your undergrad years, your challenge is to discover the categories of work that keep your interest as well as things you like to do and those you do well. You might do that, in part, with a personal skills inventory and by availing yourself of a few of the assessments that may be available to you in your school’s career center [ask about the Myers Briggs, DISC, Kiersey, and other assessments.] But don’t rely on just one brand of assessment.

Also, step off campus and request “informational interviews” with nearby executives and business owners from various industries. Such interviews are meetings in which you ask questions about their businesses, the kinds of skills required for various positions, and what “a day in the life” is like for each. Prepare your questions in advance but if another occurs to you during your discussion, get it answered there and then.

An informational interview is not a job interview. It’s important to be clear about that from the moment you schedule the appointment.

You might be able to arrange with one of your professors, to invite one or more of your informational interview subjects into their classroom as a guest speaker, if s/he doesn’t already have a roster of guest speakers planned for the semester.

If you’re able, serve a few internships in vastly different industries, too. The real world looks very different when you’re in college than it does when you graduate into it. What appears dull and uninteresting on the inside might yield a few surprises.

Take charge of your future. Use your college years to get a better understanding of yourself and take stock of the occupations and industries that may make you happy and fulfilled. No professor, counselor, or parent can do it for you. Though many will try.