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Deciding career or major
How did you decide on the major or your career and did you ever regret it?
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Christopher’s Answer
It took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do as my major was undecided until my junior year. During this time I explored multiple different internship opportunities and I was quickly able to see the areas that I really enjoyed. My favorite subject in school was math and I enjoyed dealing with money, but I had no idea where in the financial industry would best suit me. I quickly realized that I really enjoyed working with people, so a data driven rolls like analyst or accountant were quickly eliminated. I decided on Financial advisor because it allowed me to work with the subject matter that I excelled at, while providing me with the client interactions that I really enjoyed.
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Laura’s Answer
Funnily enough, I'm one of those who regrets their major (B.A. in History) but not for the reasons Deb mentioned.
I was fortunate enough to find myself in leadership positions in my career a few times already (mostly in the Customer Experience field), but I don't really believe my degree had much to do with it. Instead, I believe it was due to 1) pure luck that opportunities to move up presented themselves, 2) I took those opportunities and used them as learning experiences to figure out what I wanted from my career, and 3) I consistently speak up at my work and share proactive feedback (and ask for it in return!) I show myself as a team player and someone truly interested in seeing the company, and employees, grow. I've been able to do really neat things like build an entire department from scratch, lead others to grab higher positions, and have made major impacts on the places I've worked.
Education is a great boon and does prep you for specific careers. But it is not the end all, be all for landing a wonderful and fulfilling job.
So, my regret for my choice of major hasn't been impacted by my career or income, but from the doubt in myself as a young person. I didn't believe that I was "good enough" or "smart enough" for the major I actually wanted to pursue. My advice to you would be to challenge yourself when that doubt comes creeping in. Actively tell yourself that you *are* good enough for the career you want to pursue.
(And the degree I originally wanted to pursue was also in the Humanities :P)
I was fortunate enough to find myself in leadership positions in my career a few times already (mostly in the Customer Experience field), but I don't really believe my degree had much to do with it. Instead, I believe it was due to 1) pure luck that opportunities to move up presented themselves, 2) I took those opportunities and used them as learning experiences to figure out what I wanted from my career, and 3) I consistently speak up at my work and share proactive feedback (and ask for it in return!) I show myself as a team player and someone truly interested in seeing the company, and employees, grow. I've been able to do really neat things like build an entire department from scratch, lead others to grab higher positions, and have made major impacts on the places I've worked.
Education is a great boon and does prep you for specific careers. But it is not the end all, be all for landing a wonderful and fulfilling job.
So, my regret for my choice of major hasn't been impacted by my career or income, but from the doubt in myself as a young person. I didn't believe that I was "good enough" or "smart enough" for the major I actually wanted to pursue. My advice to you would be to challenge yourself when that doubt comes creeping in. Actively tell yourself that you *are* good enough for the career you want to pursue.
(And the degree I originally wanted to pursue was also in the Humanities :P)
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Luke’s Answer
I was good in math & science in high school so I made a pragmatic decision to study engineering in college even if I wasn't passionate about it. A large reason why we go to college is to be employable so I wanted to increase the chances of finding a job that pays well. Engineers are always in demand so I felt comfortable getting a degree in engineering.
Even if I wasn't passionate about engineering I didn't regret it because it's still interesting work and allowed me to start my career - it's just not for me. So I made a career change and found something that suits me better.
Even if I wasn't passionate about engineering I didn't regret it because it's still interesting work and allowed me to start my career - it's just not for me. So I made a career change and found something that suits me better.
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Deb’s Answer
I always loved history and so that is what I chose to study in college. I feel like it provided me the solid reasoning and writing skills to do my job today. That being said about 50% of humanities and arts majors regret their majors according to this (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/02/college-major-regrets/) recent article. As this article points out there is a high correlation between income and regretting your major. I would recommend you consider what you want your profession to be and the amount of debt you will be taking on in order to pursue that profession.