“What can I do with my major?” or “I don’t know what I want to do.”
Those are phrases we often hear from students, especially if they are not in a technical major such as Engineering or Information Systems, or a specific business major such as Accounting or Marketing. The truth is that many, if not most, careers do not require a specific college major as preparation. Sure there may be a certain set of skills required for many fields, but that still does not limit your career choices after graduation.
So how can you find out about the broad range of career opportunities open to you, no matter what your major?
One resource that provides help is on our web site under Career Guidance.
It’s called, appropriately enough, “What can I do with a major in…?“ It provides information on nearly 80 different academic majors; the list ranges from Accounting to Urban Studies alphabetically, and provides information such as areas related to the major, sample employer categories, and strategies for making the most of your major.
A second part of this resource provides links to websites related to that academic major. This includes links to relevant professional associations, US Labor Department information and job boards for that field. Each of these provides valuable information and leads when looking for full-time openings or internship opportunities.
Another resource that the Career Services Office offers is a career guidance system called DISCOVER.
This web-based resource has a wealth of information about the World-Of-Work that highlights career fields and job titles, and includes background such as Work Tasks and Settings, Related Occupations, Training, Abilities Needed, Likes/Dislikes and much more. You can easily search the site by using a keyword, occupational title, college major etc.
Using DISCOVER is free, but you must get a unique USER ID from our office. We will give you a brief overview of the system and how to use it, and meet with you at your discretion to follow up on the information you discover.
Just call our office, 948-6260, to set up an orientation appointment. Tell our staff assistant, Colleen, that you would like to learn more about DISCOVER.
We look forward to working with you.