Choosing a College Major with a Career in Mind
Last week a report entitled What’s It Worth The Economic Value of College Majors was released by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and made a big splash, covered by Time Magazine and The New York Times among others.
It contained very few surprises. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) majors had higher earnings than Social Science, Humanities and Education majors.
Now Andrew Sum, director of market studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts is pointing a finger at the lack of job growth in professional fields creating a vicious cycle for young adults. He told the Hartford Courant “Every job they take, they take away from the group beneath them,” he said. “It’s a depression for young people. It’s the only way to describe it.”
So, how do you square Georgetown’s view with Northeastern’s?
Perhaps you can’t but the career center professionals at Michigan State University are now saying careers begin the moment a student sets foot on campus as a freshman.
Advice that students at Michigan State are receiving includes …
“Volunteer in your community”…starting before you arrive on campus.
“Roll up your sleeves…” As an example Audrye Tucker, 20 holds down four paying jobs, films her own documentaries and still expected to graduate on time.
“Get experience in your field…” Dennis Miner majored in biochemistry and molecular biology and did four years of scientific research on campus. That put him in line to obtain a year-long paid internship at Pfizer Global Manufacturing. Why companies like Pfizer are turning to paid internships rather than entry level positions in another post.
“Be tenacious in your job search…” Business student Sarada Weerasinghe was relentless in his pursuit of an internship which led to a full-time position at a major accounting firm.
Tags: career transitions, Center on Education and the Workforce, college graduates, college students, Michigan State University, Northeastern University
July 10th, 2011 at 10:45 am
I agree with the premises of the article, especially with the emphasis on the importance of volunteering and gaining real life experience early on. I would like to add that when choosing a college major, people should seriously take into account their core set of skills.