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How do I avoid limiting my career options to the major I choose in college?

Hello everyone!

I have always believed that no one should be forced to choose what they do for the rest of life at a young age. How can I give myself more freedom to explore different careers, and at the same time, remain focused on one area of study? Thank you.

Best,
Benjamin

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Lashay’s Answer

Hi Beni: This is a great question! To avoid being limited by your major you can do several things. Study a speciality within the major, opening up another path. You may also choose a minor, typically six or so additional classes on an unrelated topic. You can also study abroad and learn culture as well as another language along with adaptability. Finally, you can teach yourself any other field of study and skills you would like through online classes. There are several online classes tought on many topics through Coursera.org, edx.org and many other sites. Be sure to volunteer as well in anything new you study for skill aquisition. Best regards and happy this helps!
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Shawn’s Answer

I would really do research into the field of your choice and see what types of jobs will be there for the future.  Then you can get a more broad degree that can encompass that area.  What you don't want to do is get a narrow degree that will have limited growth potential.  Also, look at jobs that will be disappearing in the next 10 years and why they will be disappearing.  I certainly wish you the best.
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Ken’s Answer

The best way to prevent yourself from limiting your options is to get to know yourself better to choose the most suitable career and then conduct face to face networking and interviewing with professionals in that field to get their advice and suggestions.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Thank you comment icon My grandfather always said "If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life" My advice would be ask yourself what do you love? What is rewarding to you? Once you can answer that question, research what degree you would need to accomplish what you love doing. Try not to get to specific. If you love sports broadcasting...go for a communications degree rather than a Broadcasting degree if that makes sense. Brandon Peebler
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Simeon’s Answer

A few of your options include double majoring or getting tech or software related certificates from other fields. I agree that it is pretty important to make sure that you're not locked into one job type. I've seen people commit to one career only to see their skill set outdated. I think there's plenty of great certificates at grow. google. com.
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Sheila’s Answer

Hi Beni:

This is a great question. You could start by finding out what you're passionate about. If you are passionate about something it will likely be rewarding as well. Make sure to research the degree you want to get with that passion. FYI, you've received some very good comments from the CV Professionals. So go for it!
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