Career Development

Some majors, such as nursing or accounting will lead to specific career choices within varying environments and industries. Other majors – such as sociology, English, psychology and others – prepare you for a variety of careers by helping you build transferable skills valued by many employers. Josh Sawyer (lead video game designer for Fallout and Pillars of Eternity game series), for instance, has a Bachelor of Arts in History. Choose a major by considering your interests, your desired career (and possible graduate school requirements), and what the major offers in terms of knowledge and skills.

Not necessarily. About a third of all college students change their major at least once in the first three years, and one out of ten change their major more than once. Other students may stay with their original major, but delay choosing a specific career until they are exposed to different subjects – such as a biology major who decides to become an epidemiologist after taking a microbiology class. The process of making an informed major or career decision requires careful consideration of all factors, and the flexibility to explore other options when those factors change.

It is perfectly normal to change careers; most people will follow at least two different career tracks in their lifetime. A person’s interests and priorities will change as they move through their career, as will the job market. Many occupations that exist now will be obsolete in the future, and others do not even exist yet! Career planning is a lifelong process, and with each career opportunity, a person should go through the process of self-assessment and exploration to make an informed decision.

Even graduates in high-demand career fields, such as computers, engineering or medicine are required to demonstrate their career readiness and value to the organization before gaining employment. Completing academic coursework is not enough – students must also engage in experiential learning opportunities such as internships, leadership programs, study abroad assignments, service learning, and research projects to gain accomplishments that demonstrate career readiness to employer organizations and graduate schools. Getting involved in campus organizations is also important; this is a great way to gain critical competencies needed for career success, such as communication, teamwork skills and problem solving.