Week 3 - The Anything Blog

Confusion. That's what I feel whenever I think of my future. Like the picture, you see, my mind envisions a myriad of different pathways I could take, ending with either hopelessly optimistic success or depressing tragic endings. Most of the time, however, what ends up happening is the typical, the run-of-the-mill, the ordinary.

Recently, my biggest decision has been choosing college and my major. I've been fortunate enough to be able to get into college through automatic admission, but now comes the harder decision: what major do I want to choose? Logic would dictate a major that could land a high-paying job straight out of college, but who's to say I will actually like it?

I stumbled upon an article on Psychology Today that addressed that very issue. If you have the time, maybe check it out yourself, it's worth the read. http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201311/november-10-16/gambling-the-right-college-major?tr=HomeColItem

If you don't have the time or just don't want to read it, I'll try to summarize it neatly for you. Essentially, this article argues that every major is essentially a gamble, and while certain ones (STEM - science, technology, and math) give better benefits out of college and have a wider job market, they might not provide the best odds for students on an individual level.

Instead of focusing on a major, the article makes the claim that "employers hire a package of skills, not a specific major" and suggests asking yourself the following questions:

1. Why is the student in college?

2. Why have they selected their particular major?

3. What other courses are they taking?

4. What are they doing outside of the classroom?

5. How strong are their job-seeking skills?

6. What are they doing to develop their emotional intelligence, social skills, and/or the Big Five personality traits?

Reading this article, I'm slightly reassured that my major won't mean everything. I've heard plenty of stories of how people's jobs don't coincide with their college majors, yet they're successful. This article argues that being able to answer these questions about yourself will make you a better candidate as a future job prospect, and I agree. What do you think?