Alexis
If I am going majoring in Communications, what is a good minor to take?
I want to be able to have a good and stable career after college. I've heard different opinions, but I would like to know more. I was thinking of minoring in Marketing or Public Relations. #college #communications #communication #majors-and-minors
8 answers
Kim Lehner
Kim’s Answer
Hi,
Interesting question, Alexis. I majored in Broadcasting with minors in Journalism and Political Science. One option is to combine your communications degree with something completely different but also of interest to you - political science, biology, hospitality, etc. That way, you have options of exploring two diverse industries while your communications background will ultimately help in any job you pursue. Wouldn't it be great to be a travel writer with degrees in Communications and Hospitality? Why didn't I think of that??
Another option more along the lines of what my husband did was to pair his MBA with Sociology. As Christy mentioned, it is extremely helpful in dealing with people regardless of which industry you ultimately land in and I have seen that from my husband's experience. It also made him a great people manager and go-to person for a lot of colleagues because he had a unique perspective when dealing with different difficult people and situations.
Oddly, I never pursued broadcasting and my first real job out of college was working on Capitol Hill as a press assistant - a combination of two degrees. From there, I worked for a contractor writing government proposals and then one thing led to another. Every company, community, industry needs people who can write, speak, edit, and present effectively. Bottom line, communications is solid ground for any kind of professional experience so pursue what you enjoy and you will have plenty of opportunity to exercise those skills.
Christy Loerzel
Christy’s Answer
One thought could be to minor in a language. A lot of companies look for bi-lingual candidates and this could potentially set you apart from the competition.
Personally, I majored in Television Production and minored in Sociology. Not a super useful combo, but I felt a passion for Sociology and it did help me learn about human behavior which is helpful in working with people and communicating.
If I could do it over again, I would major in Business or Marketing, and minor in Public Relations or Journalism. With a Business/Marketing major, you learn how businesses work and with the PR or Journalism minor, you get the skills you need to do your communications-related job in a particular industry.
Best of luck to you!
Christy
yoonji KIM
CareerVillage.org Teamyoonji’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
I received a Masters Degree in Global Communications at George Washington University in the last year, and I currently work in Washington, DC at a public diplomacy foundation. I write a lot of the communications for my organization in regards to fundraising and raising awareness for our cause. A common pairing that I see in DC with Communications major is International Affairs or Political Science. Within these fields you can also get into different areas of concentration such as international development, regional studies, or security studies.
However, as Kim also said, communications is such an integral part of the work that governments, corporations, and nonprofit organizations do every day that it is an incredibly versatile and useful degree. Even within communications you can focus more on traditional media versus social media for example. I'd suggest taking a Communications internship position within a field that you are interested in and see if this is something you want to pursue as a career and what type of field you want to do communications in. Merge your passions with communications and you'll enjoy the work even more!
Hope this helps!
-YoonJi
ELISSA NESBITT
ELISSA’s Answer
Brittany Melone
Brittany’s Answer
Elizabeth Boukis
Elizabeth’s Answer
I minored in Business Administration and found it helpful in understanding business needs when developing communications programs.
Katie Moser
Katie’s Answer
Steph Glickman
Steph’s Answer
I see a lot of parallels between communications and psychology. A lot of what we do in PR/communications is being able to understand customers' feelings/perceptions/attitudes and then appropriately reach them with messages that may influence them. Psychology can play a really strong role in that from a scientific standpoint. You might also want to consider marketing as there's a close interplay between comms and marketing roles nowadays.