Major and Careers

s1185
Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:38:23 +0000

Here are excerpts from “Ten Facts About Majors and Careers” from Stanford’s Career Development Center. It clears up some misconceptions on how closely majors and careers are related (the answer: not very).

Most employers do not care about your major. - They seek individuals with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to learn quickly. They expect you to begin your career in an entry-level position, learn the job, and then move on to positions of greater responsibility and challenge.
A [insert any prestigious college here] education is an indicator to employers that you have the ability to learn. - By the time you graduate, you are trained to quickly learn new subjects, analyze and synthesize complex ideas and facts and write clearly and concisely. Any major will provide you with this base level of preparation. A study by AT&T showed that the most successful managers were those with liberal arts degrees, strong interpersonal skills and motivation.
Some jobs do have specific academic requirements. - As a general rule, technical jobs are more likely to require specific majors. If you want to do chemistry at a biotechnology firm, it’s likely, you will have to major in chemistry. If you want to design analog circuits, you’ll need an electrical engineering degree.
Investment banking and management consulting jobs don’t require specific majors but you’ll need to demonstrate that you have strong analytical, math, and interpersonal skills. An excellent work ethic, high standards of achievement and the ability to work in a high-pressure environment are also important.
Some employers may have a preference for students who have majored in specific business majors.
In the long term, your experience matters more than your academic background for most jobs. Employers will want to focus on what you did in your last job and how successful were you, rather than your major.
Medical, business, and law school do not have any academic major requirements. - Medical school has basic science requirements. However, you can major in whatever you want as long as you take the classes that meet these requirements before applying to medical school.
Most graduate schools do not have specific academic major requirements, but may require specific courses. - If you did not major in a specific field, you may be required to take undergraduate courses when starting your graduate program.
Specific majors may be more supportive toward certain career fields. - For instance, anthropology may provide more preparation for jobs, such as, museum curator, historic preservationist or salvage archeologist, than other majors. How much of an advantage might a specific major provide? The impact can range from negligible to significant. It depends on the job. You need to research the specific fields to find out on a case-by-case basis.
Exploring your career options first will help you determine whether a specific major will be important or not.


[Career Development Center | Student Services](http://cardinalcareers.stanford.edu/majors/tenfacts.htm)

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