<p>(OK, first, why does this board keep kicking me off and losing my posts?)</p>
<p>I got a “useless” degree–English with a focus in Applied English Linguistics. And I’m working as a scientific editor, so I’m using that.</p>
<p>I have a hard time imagining I was the only person in my graduating class who found work (related or otherwise). Or that all those other millions of people who’ve gotten liberal arts degrees over the decades are living on the streets right now.</p>
<p>Even in a tough economy, people need to fill positions that aren’t in medicine and business. In my own department, we have a hard time finding qualified applicants. It takes us months. Yes, while everyone complains that there are no jobs, I and others in my department are doing the work of two or three people to cover for our unfilled positions. Now, my job isn’t even remotely for everyone, but it’s still annoying when people suggest that the only way to get a job is to be an accountant while we’re sitting here with empty offices. There are <em>lots</em> of different kinds of jobs out there.</p>
<p>My suspicion is that most people who graduate with liberal arts degrees and “can’t find work” (under a normal economy) don’t know what career they even want. That may be why they chose a “soft” degree in the first place. You know, an attitude of, “I’ll get a degree in something interesting and easy and then just do ‘some job’ when I get out.” In my opinion, if you do what you like, do well at it, and know what you want to do when you leave school, you’ll be fine (a poor economy notwithstanding). (It should also be noted that bad economies don’t last forever.)</p>
<p>All fairly common majors have a use. That doesn’t mean everyone enrolled in them will be using them in a useful manner, but that’s hardly the major’s fault. Not all majors have the “make large sums of money” use, and when people’s illusions run contrary to this, they often overestimate their future earnings, borrow too much, and don’t have realistic goals coming out of college.</p>
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Yes, we must ask the pressing question, what is the key factor driving the US into debt? Bloated war spending? Nope. Ever-lowering taxes for the wealthy? Not a chance. Inefficient funding/management of government programs? Can’t be. College students taking out loans? There we go!</p>
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That damn 8.8% default rate on federal student loans has bankrupted the country! Of course, that number is driven up by the 15% default rate for students of for-profit colleges. Public college/university students default 7.2% of the time, while nonprofit private college/university students are sitting at 4.6%. This clearly represents a sizable majority of students majoring in the liberal arts.</li>
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<p>You’re clearly not a liberal arts major. Now I have to throw out a science major, too, since your post shows either terrible math skills or nonexistent research habits. So… business? Hm, but you have a poor understanding of the credit markets and loan default rates. Uh… engineering? But then there’s the math issue again. Out of curiosity, to what major do you owe these tip-top reasoning skills?</p>
<p>There aren’t useless majors because there will always be some sort of demand for a person with that kind of degree. Universities need to make money and as a business, they wouldn’t want to provide a service that gives no return.</p>
<p>If you want to see how different fields of study gets utilized in different ways, you should check out this program I work with called Beyond the Blue at Boise State University. It’s a series of podcasts from Boise State professors about their academic work, such as the DNA forensics professor who contributed to the Amanda Knox trial.</p>
<p>It’s all about your marketability and how well you know the industry in which you are trying to get into. </p>
<p>I don’t understand why people have issues with communications, but maybe thats because communications at some schools are a joke major for lazy people. At my school that is not the case. I’m in the school of communications studying video production, and yeah, you can go through the curriculum, fulfill all your requirements, yada yada yada, but unless you PREPARE YOURSELF on your own time, put in the effort to make yourself marketable to a competitive industry, you will not succeed. BUT if you prepare yourself correctly, you will be able to crack an industry that is hard to get into. Almost everything these days is driven by media/communications. There will ALWAYS be jobs in this sector, you just have to learn how to understand the industry. </p>
<p>The teachers you have also makes a huge difference. Right now i am taking a class called Business of Media. The professor teaching it has been researching what it takes to succeed in the media field. In the 4 classes that i’ve had so far i have already learned so much, and it’s great, because he is still very connected to the industry. Just today he was like, “Yes I was talking to yadayada yesterday who is a professional sound engineer…”…</p>
<p>And then on the flip side, my friend took the class with a different teacher and said the entire class was a joke because the teacher didn’t know anything about the subject. </p>
<p>Choose your teachers (as) wisely (as you can). Know your industry. Be good at what you do. Few majors are truly useless if you traverse it the right way.</p>
<p>And this coming from an African-American. LOL.</p>
<p>Oh, and most film majors. I can’t wait to laugh my a*s off at all the pretentious fools from my little Christian private school that honestly believe that they’re going to be the next Steven Spielberg, yet they would rather spend time on Facebook posting pictures of themselves licking the bottom of shoe sneakers and statuses about them “Partying” via web.</p>
<p>Let me also state that thinking one is going to be the next Steven Spielberg is next to absurd. There is also a difference between film and video production. A huge misconception is thinking that only big time directors produce media. In reality there is a huge media industry (from TV, News, Commercial, movies etc) and there are a plethora of positions that help contribute to the development and creation of that media. If your goal is to be a famous director/filmmaker, then you are obviously oblivious to the reality that there are a host of other possibilities out there.</p>
<p>It’s all about marketing yourself. Know your strengths. You need to be able to define clearly and succinctly why YOU are the best candidate for the job. Build a personal brand! And most of all, stay positive! Believe in yourself! You DO have the ability to get a job you LOVE. Never lose hope, and never, EVER give up!</p>
<p>Some people knock film as a “useless major”, but in reality there are many job prospects stemming from a film & video production major. Very few will ever go on to direct a major motion picture, but there are plenty of other avenues for that type of degree. </p>
<p>You simply have to look at the hundreds of channels on TV that need creative people with the technical skills that major teaches you. Writing, producing, shooting, editing, marketing those TV shows - a film/video major will teach you that.</p>
<p>Also, all of those commercials that you see on TV. The guys shooting, editing, creating graphics and special effects - yes, those are film/video guys too.</p>
<p>Web content is also an avenue for film/video majors. Lots of online media uses the skill set of those majors.</p>
<p>For those that never make it on the national level, there are hundreds of local markets that need TV production, local commercial production, small market/client productions (training videos, etc).</p>
<p>There’s lots and lots of avenues for a film/video production degree. Unless you live in a bubble, you view and use their services on a daily basis.</p>