<p>Sometimes I feel like people say almost every major besides engineering and maybe business is useless and won’t get you a job. Do any humanities/social science majors really lead directly to a guaranteed career? I feel like IR is as good a bet as any. Personally, I’m planning on double majoring in IR and econ because I love the subjects and the careers related to them.</p>
<p>Good luck, SummerAus! Sounds like a fine plan to me. Of course, I might be a little bit biased because I was a Fine Arts Management major, got a double minor in Broadcast Journalism and English and worked in the government, then as a lobbyist, before getting married and having babies. You’re my mini-me! LOL. I’m jealous of the dual citizenship, though, don’t you have to choose? My niece had dual until she was either 18 or 21 (can’t remember), then she had to choose between GB and US. There are a lot of jobs in the US that you can get without clearance (which might be difficult, even as a dual, because of your foreign national contacts). But, a job that capitalized on your background would be brilliant. I hope all goes well for you! A great writing background will serve you well no matter where you go.</p>
<p>My kid is majoring in international relations.</p>
<p>Probably because it is an interesting subject to him.</p>
<p>I think some people are presuming that because the world is fast becoming one integrated place, that anything “international” must be good.</p>
<p>In reality, it is probably the more mundane subjects, like pharmacy, acccounting, nursing, etc., that offer the best job prospects.</p>
<p>But I agree that international relations is probably, in most cases, just a sexier version of a political science degree.</p>
<p>I would bet that most people who get good jobs in the IR field are from rich families, who have good connections.</p>
<p>SummerAus and Enil, I’ll PM you in a sec with some info. Floridadad, I can tell you that, as with any other major, you will get out of it what you put into it. There are many, many kids with fancy “high demand” degrees who are currently unemployed. No matter how employable nurses are right now (and they are, and will continue to be), if you don’t want to be a nurse, why bother? There are myriad opportunities for kids with IR degrees. I can promise you that. But a student with an IR degree and little else will be in no better shape than the student with a high school diploma. IR grads do not need to be rich or have good connections. However, they DO need to know how to MAKE good connections. And, they can’t wait until senior year of college to start making them. Like any other major, your marketability is based on what you have to offer outside of a piece of paper saying you attended class. The jobs are there. They are plentiful. But applicants need to bring skills and experience to the table.</p>
<p>Well I’m planning on majoring in IR (or Global Affairs, as it is called at the university I’ll be attending). I’m also planning on doing pre-dentals and most people tell me I should major in something like Biology or Chemistry or something like that, but I don’t want to. I LOVE LOVE LOVE learning about world issues and languages, so that’s why I think IR is basically the perfect major for me. I didn’t actually think it was “popular” until I went on my school’s Facebook page for accepted students and I saw a lot of other people who are also looking to major in it.</p>
<p>The highest post you could attain is working for the United nations I am in my 1st year UG program thinking of IR as a major, does it have enough scope…?</p>
<p>Most students starting out in IR don’t really know what they want to do, but do know what interests them. Once in a quality program an IR student should develop a specific focus and the appropriate skills with career interests in mind.</p>
<p>It also might be wise yo choose the school/program/location wisely. My policy wonk son chose DC for a reason and he is very happily employed in a job he loves. A friend with similar interests and education at a large state school has not been able to get his foot in the door for the same career interest.</p>
<p>What’s so awful about wanting to pursue a career as a foreign service officer? Toured a college today all pumped for my life as an IR or poly sci major but apparently I should rethink my career goals according to this post?</p>
<p>I’m a double major and one of them is Global Affairs. I would love a consulate or embassy job abroad, but the biggest reason I am taking it is because I love travel and foreign culture. The business track doesn’t interest me at all.</p>
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<p>Many jobs require a degree in political science, economics, or international relations (aka the social sciences) while disallowing degrees in other fields. You can’t group them all into the same category, because they are neither grouped together in the world (whether in academic department or by employer) nor are they theoretically similar. There’s a heavy difference between the social sciences and the humanities (primarily centering around the role of research, statistics, etc).</p>