<p>If you had to target a major that affords the best oppurtunity for employment and a decent salary five years from now what would it be. You'd have to exclude the medical field, information systems (computers), teaching and engineering. My S has asked for suggestions but eliminated the fields, where four-year grads generally find work. What is left? As the expression goes ... "I got nothin". He's a solid "B" student with 1200 math/verbal and wants to stay in the northeast.</p>
<p>If computers and science are out of the question (guessing math is too) then I’d say accounting.</p>
<p>You can really turn any major into a good job if you work hard, are smart, resourceful, etc. etc. However, if your son just wants a major that turns into a direct career path then accounting is probably the best way to go for him. He might not be guaranteed anything after 4 years of undergrad, but if he puts in an extra year to get up to 150 credits, he can take the CPA and if he passes that’ll give him really good job prospects.</p>
<p>arabic language/culture</p>
<p>Well, first of all, I wouldn’t get too hung up on picking a college major while still in high school. Something he likes at the age of 17 may be vastly different from what he likes at 20. </p>
<p>But, I understand your position. My son was the same way for a while. He knew what he wanted to rule out, not what he wanted to rule in. So that’s when we made “fit” the focus of our college search, not major. There’s absolutely no harm or shame in being “undecided.” </p>
<p>Having said that, I offer the following in response the OP’s question…</p>
<p>Foreign language - the federal gov’t has increasing demand for multi-lingual people. </p>
<p>Accounting, as previously mentioned</p>
<p>Hospitality - The recession has to end eventually, right?</p>
<p>Library Science - don’t laugh. 
Yes, it’s mainly a graduate degree, but it’s also in high demand. Thanks to the internet, the ability to store, organize, and use data effectively can make or break an organization. Further, no good website can be built without logical and intuitive navigation. That’s a big niche for Library Science people. I think almost any undergrad can pursue an MLS graduate degree.</p>
<p>Lastly, there’s always the option of majoring in something one loves and minoring in something “employable” (for lack of a better word). For example, an English major + Business minor could work in journalism, sales, etc. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Try browsing the Occupational Outlook Handbook [Occupational</a> Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/]Occupational”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/)</p>
<p>[What</a> Can I Do With a Major In](<a href=“http://www.uwec.edu/career/students/major/index.htm]What”>http://www.uwec.edu/career/students/major/index.htm)</p>
<p>This site goes through career options and employability by major.</p>
<p>Check out the coop program at Northeastern, if getting a job is going to be the focus of his college experience.</p>
<p>All the business stuff – marketing, human resources, whatever.</p>
<p>But, really, from my standpoint the perfect major is the one that really engages a student, and gets him to perform at the highest level he can, and teaches him how to really understand a field and to want to learn as much as he can, to contribute as much as he can, to develop ideas fully and to communicate them well. That’s the real stuff from which employability and careers are fashioned.</p>
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<p>No, it’s not. MLS people constantly talk about the incredibly poor job market in the field. The only way to gain a bit of a leg up in the job market is to have a background (degree in) science to go with the MLS.</p>
<p>I would vote exactly for the ones that you excluded. I do not know any others. Medicine being #1 even with government run medicine. Computers being the least secure out of three.</p>
<p>There are good paying opportunities in many fields. DD’s good friend is in geology. He is has a well paid internship this summer in geological imaging. He is in line to continue with this company and major, securing a security clearance and getting into intelligence fields. </p>
<p>You just have to be interested in what you are studying so you have a passion to learn and sometimes explore beyond traditional paths. Even a field such as psychology - I teamed that with a comp sci minor and learned to negotiate high tech contracts. My masters degree solidified the field for advancement. . </p>
<p>Picking a field because you can earn money is not the best path. The fields that are lucrative change. There are numerous threads on cc about students miserable in their major because it was chosen to be a high paying field instead of one they enjoyed. A student without a strong defined passion should be allowed to explore a lot of areas before deciding. Rice does not even have a declared major until after the sophomore year for that reason.</p>
<p>I thought that the question was job security, not salary. You can earn good $$ by doing a lot of different things and there is no need to go to college for that. From my experience, having college education gives you more job security - it gave me. Having to choose the right major is very important also. However, if you end up doing what you hate, it is a torture that is not worth any $$. I have done it also.</p>
<p>Majors do not always lead directly to employment opportunities – what’s more important is the kinds of experiences that your child gains in college. For example, a political science or philosophy major could get a job as a hospital administrator or a management consultant if they do those kinds of internships over the summers or during the academic year. In my department, a lot of girls (because I went to a women’s college) went on to get business-related jobs because the skills learned in a psychology major can be very applicable to business, especially if you take the classes focused on organization, management, and group dynamics.</p>
<p>What your son should major in in something that he really likes and that he’ll be invested in learning. Mathematics may not seem like it leads directly to jobs other than teaching, but it has the lowest unemployment rate of science and engineering disciplines! Once he gets to college, he’ll take classes and figure out what he likes. In the meantime, he should be selecting colleges based on other factors. That should solve his quandary!</p>
<p>Agree with Juliet. It is far more often that a particular industry is “hot” or not. Within that particular industry there could be all kinds of related jobs that need all kinds of a different knowledge base. The world moves in peculiar ways, who would have thought 5 years ago when this year’s college seniors were high school seniors that I-Banking would loose it’s steam. 5 years ago who would have thought that basic mechanical engineering would have devalued starting pay due to global resourcing. Too hard to try and “chase” what might be the “hot job” five years out.</p>
<p>I think Engineering provides the safest and quickest way to get employment. Even with just BS there is much more probability to get and hold on a job with an engineering major than anything else but you need to like it and have a passion for it otherwise it is a demanding hard working field. </p>
<p>Among all the engineering concentration the safest and the most lucrative is EECS. A BS in EECS provides you knowledge to actually move into three of the most employed fields of engineering i.e. Electrical, Electronics (Communication) and Computers. But it is toughest to graduate from also.</p>
<p>Many colleges are starting to speak up about how the whole endeavor has become much too vocational, and are trying to get back to the idea of “learning for learning’s sake”, and taking 4 years to explore things a little before thinking about career. Perhaps, in a recession, this message will not take (and also with the incredible expense we are all shouldering), but I know that my kids feel that the learning environment is very much affected by an overly vocational focus for many kids in college.</p>
<p>There are seminars in some schools that deal with the real purpose of higher education. Perhaps it really will evolve into something vocational, but I hope not. Seems to me that just becoming and educated person should come first, and then grad school is a good time to focus on career direction.</p>
<p>In high school, I would hope your son would not have to think about his future career direction. It is absolutely fine to go to college “Undecided,” and is even encouraged.</p>
<p>If your son was in the office of my school’s career center, they’d tell him that no degree or counselor could give him a job, but that he’d have to earn offers. Network. Contact Alumni. Assess your tastes and strengths. Conduct informational interviews. Build your resume. That would be what my engineering school would say.</p>
<p>Maybe the colleges have to get educated about the real purpose of college for most of their customers. And pay more than lip service to career services. Many LACs have comical placement services.</p>
<p>He may not be interested in CS with his math skills but CIS (a combination of programming and business, roughly speaking) or IT (information technology) might be worth a look. It’s an area where you work with computers and applications which isn’t so math and science oriented.</p>
<p>I’d second accounting.</p>
<p>How about criminal justice?</p>
<p>There are jobs in the medical industry that aren’t that science and math intensive as premed.</p>
<p>“Among all the engineering concentration the safest and the most lucrative is EECS.”</p>
<p>My degree is EE with CE option and I disagree. Maybe it depends on the part of the country, but I believe ChemE’s & maybe ME’s have the edge in Texas. Around here EECS is in direct competition with the normally lower paying CompSci, so maybe that lowers the salaries.</p>
<p>I do believe that barrons is correct and that having a good placement office is a HUGE benefit to a school. If you student is savvy enough to network, contact alums all on his own that’s great, but to the average 22 year old being able to just fill out a form and get several interviews is a great thing!! If nothing else, it makes for great practice. We were encouraged to sign up for the ‘extra’ space after the seniors were done our junior year just for the interview practice!</p>
<p>Sorry OP, back to your question… I would agree with earlier posts the geology and accounting are both ‘safe bets’. I can’t understand the Arabic recommendation. If you’re looking towards international jobs I would think Chinese would be better.</p>