Do employers care about the perceived difficulty of coursework taken?
I’ve read threads here saying majors considered easy, marketing and communications for example, don’t rank as high as accounting. Not fair, considering there are tons of smart communication and marketing grads, just perception.
As to the courses, would it look better taking a harder foreign language than an easier one?
I’d love to take Spanish. I have some background and it’s easy since it is a Romance language and most English words are from Latin. Downside, a lot of people take Spanish. A harder language with less students, Arabic or Mandarin, wouldn’t it show more initiative?
A high GPA is important, but isn’t it relative? A 4.0 in Communications vs. a 3.0 in Actuarial Science?
You are totally overthinking it… It isn’t really a perception made by recruiters or the employers themselves because the recruiting process is normally broken out by department. The emphasis of majors during the recruiting process helps provide a picture on what foundational knowledge you might have that is applicable to the job, and if it isn’t applicable then what skills are related and does the rest of your resume speak to you applying for the role that isn’t relevant to your major?
The majority of the time it wouldn’t make sense for someone who is an engineering recruiter or interviewer to even have someone who is an art major in their schedule or consideration list, so there wouldn’t be a need to perceive the value of majors differently.
As for foreign languages, it wouldn’t really matter either. Just think about it, if you are applying to work at an embassy in Spain for example, and know “more difficult” language say Arabic and Mandarin given your example, why in the world would they hire you over someone who is actually fluent in Spanish. It not only detracts from why you are applying for the position and what skills you would effectively be able to contribute.
Basically ask yourself, in what scenarios would I ever consider a Communications major vs an Actuarial Science major?
This might be a little different for people who are completely changing fields of work but for the most part recruiters would never have to compare completely irrelevant majors.
I believe I understand what you are saying. I can’t think of a scenario where I’d hire a comm major over actuarial, but considering actuarial science is harder, isn’t a fair assumption that the A.S major put more effort in and is more trainable?
As a bookkeeper, I may need to know a second language. Spanish is huge in Austin, second is Chinese. With the majority of people taking Spanish, I’d be an asset knowing Chinese (Mandarin, specifically). As an accounting clerk, I’m not entirely sure I’d have to know another language. It appears French is the language of love, Spanish is the language of serving the public, English is the language of Business.
Basically employers care about what major you have and how you did in your coursework. Something like taking Arabic over Spanish would generally only matter if the employer was looking for that particular skill in an employee. If you want to take Spanish, take it – it can be just as useful as any other foreign language.
I’ve met very few talented accountants who could think imaginatively, write well, or speak well.
I’ve known quite a few imaginative artists, writers, and speakers who can do enough accounting that they are versatile employees who rise high in their organizations.
Some people can do it all. But I’d put my money on the debate team champ who can also run a spreadsheet.
With foreign languages, employers only care if you can speak the language FLUENTLY. They’re not going to care how you became fluent-- whether you spoke it to you mother since you were a baby, learned it because u were dating someone speaking that language, or learned it in college. The amount of effort you spent is irrelevant. And they only care at all if they need that particular language.
@WasatchWriter - I beg to differ with your assessment of accountants. Maybe it depends on the accountants you have come across but I’m a CPA as is my H and S. Almost all of the top notch accountants (Big 4, major companies) are certainly able to write and speak extremely well. There is no way one can rise to the top of a profession like accounting without those skills as well as good people skills. And while accountants are not generally imaginative in the artistic sense, they are often quite imaginative in the business sense (ex. how to streamline reports, how to solve a problem etc.).