I think it would be a good idea for those who have gone through college to post what kind of career their major lead them to. It can be so intimidating for undecided students to pick a major as they feel that each major has finite career paths. So if you don’t mind, please enlighten the students on CC of what kind of careers can come from each major.
Among California publics, UCB, UCSC, and CPSLO have career surveys that are by major and have some information on job titles and employers of students who found employment after graduation.
https://career.berkeley.edu/Survey/Survey (“What Can I Do With A Major In…?”)
https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php
http://careers.ucsc.edu/about/fds_reports_page.html
Remember, many majors are not specific to a particular type of job, and many jobs hire new graduates from many majors. In addition, even if your major is preferred for a particular type of job, if that industry or job type is in a downturn, you may have to search more widely for other types of jobs, including those that are not college-major-specific.
English lit
early career at dotcoms and software companies as a content monkey–>web producer
last 15 years as educator, last 6 as partner in a small education business
More importantly, it got me pointed in the direction of a lot of great books, ideas, and people.
Grandpa graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Business. Got an MBA, PhD in business, then followed that up with law school (JD). Worked in internal audit and loved it. Dad went to UC Davis. Got a degree in biology. Now he’s a program manager in the defense industry managing a 380 million dollar program. Your degree gives you a base. What you do with it is what matters.
Area Studies; went to that area to work in a start-up; returned to US as paralegal at top firm; went to Ivy for double masters including B-school on full scholarship w/ stipend; went into writing/ editing mainly focusing on the Area-related business; after many years, recruited to become director of a leading program devoted to Area.
History; real estate investor and developer
English Lit. College instructor (non-tenure track but full time) and writer.
GarlandH–Bio and Philosophy. Physician and then HS teacher.
Chemical engineering. Career progression: process engineer at chemical plant, facilities engineer for offshore oil & gas production, decision analyst and business planner with increasing scope/responsibility. Left for personal reasons after about ten years in the workforce but was on track for mid-level management at a major oil & gas company.
Biology - medical
Psychbiology - medical
Me- classics- corporate career in large multinational companies. Eventually ended up in Human Resources although did a few different functions first (and a detour for an MBA partway through). Many of my colleagues have degrees in History (they write well, good researchers), Psychology (especially the more quantitative disciplines) and “Area Studies”- Asia, South America, Middle East especially when combined with language fluency. Companies love to hire entry level professionals with in-depth knowledge of a region’s history, political system, and culture. I was in a role a long time ago when my company was opening an operation in Shanghai. In addition to the local employees we recruited, we pretty much offered promotions and huge advancement opportunities to anyone in the company who was fluent in Mandarin.
My D was a psych major and is now in grad school studying speech pathology.
Me - EE, software engineer at small company (10th employee), software design engineer at medium-sized company (~4000th employee, grew to 25K employees), now at my own one-man software company (I routinely fire myself for insubordination!).
Wife - Bio, accounting at several small companies, mom, and after D18 goes off to college she wants to be a Flight Attendant
Me: social sci (loved it.) Primary career in the tech world, mostly start-ups (two became major players.) Mostly in a hybrid tech marketing role working with engineers, sometimes directing them, and national clients. Now work for a U, writing for them and another 2 roles.
It’s what you bring to the table. And some luck. My primary industry heaved, as it grew, changed. But fascinating.
I earned a B.A in History. That and $2.45 got me a freshly brewed Venti coffee at Starbucks!
Me: Literature -> corporate/tax lawyer
Spouse: Psychology & American Studies -> policy expert in a specific education subfield, former government official
Sister #1: Spanish -> Investment manager of international equity mutual funds
Sister#2: History -> Emergency Room M.D.
Brother: Geography -> Trader in commodities without established markets
Child #1: English Literature -> Program officer in foundation targeting at-risk youth
Child #2: Sociology -> Social science researcher at academic research institute
Future Child-In-Law: Sociology -> M.D… medical resident
And here are some others, of my generation:
Art History -> Real Estate Developer
Studio Art -> M.D., Internal Medicine
East Asian Studies (Japanese) -> Elementary school teacher (after 10 years of business journalism in Japan, then another 10 of consumer journalism in the U,S.)
French & Music -> CEO of large artist management company
Astronomy -> Founder and CTO of public tech company
English Literature -> Right-wing pundit
Linguistics -> Linguistics professor (sometimes it is linear)
Me: Visual and Environmental Studies (a mix of studio art, architectural history and design, film), went to grad school for architecture and I’m an architect
DH: Biology and Physics, PhD in Biophysics, now does cancer research at a med school
SIL: English - NH State Legislator, Zoning Board Rep in her town, nursery school teacher
Older son: Computer Science works at Google
Younger son: International Relations, worked at two NGOs, will soon start officer candidate school in Naval Intelligence
Me- bachelors, masters and advanced studies in speech pathology. Worked in the field since 1973. Love it.
DH- bachelors in engineering. Has had great career in that field.
DS- bachelors and masters in music performance. Makes a living as a musician.
DD- bachelors in engineering. Currently pursuing studies in another profession.
Me- undergrad Honors Chemistry. Changed interests and became a physician back in the dark ages when women were very much a minority and the tales I could tell… Those affected my career. Now chemistry much more involved in biological sciences plus fields I didn’t know about that may have kept me in the lab/research. A college friend (woman) who did the PhD route and I had a discussion some years ago about whether we should have chosen each other’s path. Pros and cons for each.
Son- finally chose Math-Honors but overreached in applying to top grad schools and ultimately decided to finish off a second major in computer science (had theory math related courses and needed to add those practical ones) for an fifth year (affordable elite public U and was ahead of age). Got a first job in a nationally known firm despite what he said were weak programming skills then recruited by a major CS field player. Being challenged, doing better than if he had pursued grad school.
H is from India and went back and forth between medicine and engineering his first months as a teen in college- excellent physician and it suited him much better despite his strong math interests. His patients over the decades are grateful for his choice!
My advice to current HS and college students is to pursue a field they love and not just one they think will get them into grad/professional school or a job. They will enjoy college much more if they truly like what they are doing instead of only having an eye on the future. Plus- they need to keep flexibility as they their world widens.
Behavioral Psychology -> Law [me]
English Literature -> Law/High School English Teacher [wife]
Classics -> grad student -> ??? [daughter]
Math -> Actuary [brother]
Creative Writing -> Accountant for non-profit education fund [niece - getting second BA online in accounting]
Psychology -> Counselor at school for autistic kids [niece]
me: started as engineering major but switched to geological sciences major -> high school math teacher -> college ski coach -> graduate student in geology -> field geologist in mineral exploration -> college faculty in geology and environmental studies -> licensed professional geologist (consultant) -> business entrepreneur (hospitality and recreation) -> jack of all trades…
My path is not so simple and straightforward as depicted above, though, as there are a lot of overlaps and concurrent involvements in different things…
some other examples:
spouse: graphic design major -> prepress dept. in commercial printing -> ski instructor --> potter -> innkeeper…
father: architecture major -> military -> high school math and science teacher -> graduate student in education MEd -> college physics instructor -> graduate student in physics MS -> back to the college -> state government (environmental protection) -> graduate student in sanitary engineering -> back to the state -> licensed professional engineer …