<p>I don’t think that anyone has said that a degree is a job ticket. Not
sure why you are making this argument. We’re talking about
marketability. Relatively speaking, which majors give a better shot
at a job across all colleges and universities generating graduates.</p>
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<p>Relatively speaking, across all history, political science and
international relations graduates across all colleges and
universities, how do their majors stack up against those in nursing,
engineering and accounting?</p>
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<p>That works both ways. International companies also hire US graduates
for engineering jobs.</p>
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<p>There are a plethora of engineering jobs that won’t be outsourced as
well and those are in the defense industry.</p>
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<p>My company is representative of the industry.</p>
<p>Survey says…it’s easier to get a job if you have a degree in accounting or engineering. Anecdotes are interesting but the numbers tell the story. That said, it always help to have good soft skills, work experience, and a good gpa as a new grad. And connections too :)</p>
<p>[NACE</a> - Press Room - Press releases - Class of 2010: Business- and Tech-Related Majors Most Likely to Have Job in Hand (5-14-2010)](<a href=“NACE - Page not found”>NACE - Page not found)</p>
<p>That’s because the students with other majors are less likely to be looking for employment – a significant number are going on to graduate school: </p>
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<p>We social science majors pick up some critical reading skills along the way – plus I’ve noticed a key piece of information that is omitted from the press release. But from the info that is there, it looks like 1 out of 4 2010 college grads who were looking for work had found it, within 2 months of graduation.</p>
<p>Ok Calmom, I AM a Social Science major. And I’ve done surveys for a living. I’m well aware of interpretation errors. And how easy it is to play with numbers to get them to say what you want. </p>
<p>So how do you explain those students who REPORT looking for work but don’t apply for a job? (doesn’t sound like grad school to me). The “top” majors are doing a better job at APPLYING for jobs when they’re seeking work. Perhaps it’s because Accounting jobs open up…and therefore accounting majors actually can FIND jobs to apply for.</p>
<p>l don’t have time to go sorting through the detailed survey data…I’m sure you don’t either. But if we did, I’m sure we could find ammunition for many different sides of this argument. My belief though, is that it’s easier for an accounting major to find a job in this economy (vs a liberal arts major). Lots of exceptions, yes, but overall, I believe it IS a more marketable major. You disagree. That’s OK.</p>
You might ask Mr. Obama - his poli sci/ir major seemed to have worked out well for him. “Across all history”, the political science majors pretty much end up running things. We’re the ones who hire the accountants to keep our books. </p>
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<p>There’s more than one industry. I’m talking about all of the jobs and all of the functions in all of the businesses and agencies, not just jobs in your industry.</p>
<p>Perhaps they do. But what percentage of majors get jobs? BTW, I do know an accountant that became a high-level manager of our company’s engineering. He’s worth about 8 figures and retired young. To get a degree in political science.</p>
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<p>I feel comfortable speaking for my industry. I don’t feel comfortable speaking for other
industries.</p>
Its a survey of 2010 college grads, and its only 2 months out from graduation. I assume a significant number of recent grads have decided to take a breather, perhaps do some traveling. Some are in the process of relocating, some are getting married, etc. Some may not be all that sure of what they want to do for a career – if they don’t have a career-focused major, they may be considering a variety of different options and still in the process of exploration. </p>
<p>That’s the problem with trying to compare short term employment prospects of people who have come out of a career-oriented program with people who have come out of a generalized academic program – the career-oriented people know what occupation they want to pursue even before they start. They are also more likely to be having recruiters for the industry related to their major show up on their campus, early in the year – so the whole looking-for-work cycle starts earlier for them.</p>
<p>I personally wouldn’t give a lot of credence to an employment survey reported in July – it’s way to soon to draw conclusions, except for the very encouraging news that 25% of all college grads who have looked for work found it within that time frame. I’d think that you would get better numbers at least 6 months out, because you’d pick up the people who were deferring looking for work for personal reasons. The surveys could ask the respondents when they began looking for work and when they started their jobs, so you could still get a picture as to what percentage had work 2 months out, what percentage had jobs 4 months out, etc.</p>
But my whole POINT is that there are a ton of other jobs and industries outside of technical fields. When I got sick of being a lawyer after 20 some odd years doing it, I attended a workshop run by an ex-lawyer career counselor who specialized in helping lawyers transition to other fields. I was totally amazed at what I learned in that workshop, in terms of what people are or can be doing for a career, and what doesn’t fit into easy categories. I realized then – that you don’t need a profession or a label to have a job. </p>
<p>College students who want to be engineers or accountants or doctors or lawyers or teachers certainly are free to do so – but there’s a very wide world of opportunity for people coming out with majors that aren’t focused on career training. Art majors do not have to become artists; history majors do not have to become historians.</p>
<p>Well, that’s true for engineers, accountants and nurses too. We lose engineers to investment banking firms, non-profits and other industries that want people with demonstrated quantitative skills. But we’re still talking about marketable.</p>
I think current stats show that about 95% of people with college degrees are employed… so I think that its pretty likely that the vast majority of people in any major get jobs. The ones who are least likely to be employed are probably those who have opted for career-oriented fields in areas where its very tough to find permanent employment, like film making or theater majors-- assuming they want to pursue a career in the fields they are interested in.</p>
If there are jobs advertised for individuals with a poli sci degree (or insert your degree of choice) – then how is that degree not “marketable.”? </p>
<p>I mean… most of the people my offspring work with have similar degrees. They have full time, stable jobs with good benefits and some nice perks. I assume that if you did a survey of new hires at a publishing house, you’d probably find out that most of them had degrees in English, literature, or journalism. </p>
<p>Just because something doesn’t fit your particular niche doesn’t mean it isn’t marketable.</p>
<p>You miss my point. People with journalism majors aren’t stuck in a single industry – they can work in any context where written communication skills are valued. That may be working for Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, or Google writing press releases, web content, or software manuals. Every one of those companies hires writers for marketing and public affairs, and they put journalists on their payroll. (I just checked on line – right now Google has an opening in Mountain View for the position of “financial journalist” – I only bothered to check one company and one location, so either I got lucky or else there are other jobs out there in the private sector for journalism majors).</p>
<p>The problem is that you are looking at a college major within very narrow constraints. Maybe that’s an occupational hazard – maybe that is how people who have highly specialized technical training look at things. (Would you hire a chemical engineer to solve electrical problems? probably not). </p>
<p>But outside the technical fields, job categories and qualifications are far more fluid. What the student majored in is NOT a limitation – nor is someone else’s preconceived notion of what journalists or historians or political scientists do going to limit their opportunities when it comes to seeking employment.</p>
<p>I think having some technical or specialized training can help you get your foot in the door. I’ve worked for and with many large and small companies over my career in multiple industries. I have seen folks come in as finance and move to operations or market research or the more quantitative areas of HR. I have seen engineers hired as portfolio managers (it’s quite common). </p>
<p>And I don’t think it’s quite as black and white as what’s being painted here. I was a psychology major with a minor (an interest) in business. My son is a finance grad with a minor in history - he also did study abroad in political science, and did his thesis based in social psychology/organizational mgt, Not all business and technical folks are drones who are unable to construct a paragraph. And many Liberal Arts majors are excellent with numbers…math majors in particular!</p>
<p>At least in the short-term, the grads with certain types of occupational training seem to be more marketable. That doesn’t mean that they will do better long term. It just means they’ll likely have an easier time getting a FIRST job. Especially in a recession when many companies are holding back. </p>
<p>And I have to say, although the accounting and finance courses I took in college were downright PAINFUL, they were helpful. If you work in business, and many do, it really helps to understand the bottom line and how to interpret company balance sheets. You can learn that on the job but it does help to have some education as well. I would never be an accountant but I gain some credibility when I understand it and can speak the language. I actually think personal finance should be taught as well…but that’s a different topic all together!</p>
<p>In my opinion YES. I told my children I didn’t care what they did as long as they could get a job when they get out of school. We looked at Engineering but that wasn’t a good fit. In the end my daughter majored in Quantitative Economics (heavy on Math) and she got a job in May right after graduating with an economics research firm. It definitely makes a difference. Friends/relatatives who majored in “dance” and “fashion design” are unemployed and are scrambling. If you are going to pay a ton of money for college don’ waste it on a degree that has low job prospects.</p>
<p>I believe there are recent studies that indicate if you don’t get some sort of decent career track job right out of college you are going to stay well behind those that do for life. Firms will hire next year’s grads over you if you have been working at Starbucks for a year.</p>
<p>Gee- what great advice! Any thoughts on HOW do “make sure it is worth it.” I bet the kids who started at Penn Wharton in 2005 sure thought it was going to be “worth it”.</p>
<p>I know several kids who started Wharton in 2005 found their ideal jobs and I am sure there are many who didn’t. However, we don’t know whether those who were not employed soon after graduation refused employment opportunities deemed “not a right fit” or “too low starting salary”.</p>
<p>In the 2009 career survey of Wharton undergrads done in September 2009, only 9.2% of the 2009 grads are seeking full time employment with 86% student participation in the survey. I think for most of the students, that was money well spent.</p>