There is always a lot of anxiety amongst students when it comes time to declare a major. Even students who have a *pretty good* sense of what they want to study might have reservations being pigeon-holed into a specific career by making this choice.
It might interest you to know that only Only 27 percent of college grads have a job related to their major.
Which means, of course, that 73% of graduates don’t have a job related to their major. So, what gives?
What declaring a major does it outline requirements and courses that must be taken to ensure the breadth and depth of your study. It’s a path to your degree, and the title on your diploma. And usually, you’ll take a course or two outside of that path, either for your own enjoyment or to get a complementary set of skills. You can double-major (I’ve seen students do a triple-major, which, wow!) and have one or multiple minors.
Do these decisions determine your career path? Certainly not.
Sometimes I talk to students who have a specific title/role in mind and want to create a step-by-step action-item list to achieve that. I think it’s important here to challenge those expectations.
At the age that you’re declaring a major, you are still learning WHO YOU ARE. You’re gaining new understanding of the “world of work” and testing out your strengths and talents. As you grow and change, so may your interests and passions, leading to a change in career. As a generation, Millennials (Gen-Y) are considered to be “job hoppers,” moving freely between companies and jobs.
It may be worth straying slightly off-path- you could end up in a career that you love, even if you never imagined doing it.
