Do companies truly focus on your college major when applying for jobs?

I've been working as a professional artist for almost a decade now. It's been my experience that when you are applying for jobs in the creative field, companies don't really care about your college major. They are looking for these 3 things:

• The quality of your artwork (so focus on assembling a great portfolio!)
• Whether or not the work in your portfolio looks like the work they'd hiring you to do (For example: If you're applying for a magazine design job, you need to show them examples of magazine page layouts before they'd consider hiring you)
• Whether or not you know how to use the right computer programs (it's almost always something in the Adobe Creative Suite line of products, but the software depends on the job)

Hope that helps!

Hi Rokaria,

It largely depends on what industry you want to work in. Since you want to work in the creative arts, a strong portfolio that demonstrates your skillset can speak to your creative talents much more than a degree in a specific field can. Additionally, some employers will explicitly state what kind of degree they want a candidate to have, so you can always weed those out when job hunting. As a hiring manager I interview and screen many candidates for creative roles in filmmaking, photography, graphic design, etc who majored in something completely unrelated such as engineering or biology. The individuals who were hired even though they didn't have a degree in the arts still maintained an impressive portfolio of creative projects which they did on the side. When applying for jobs, they made sure to link to their portfolio or provide files for me to view. Even candidates who DO have a degree in the arts are often still evaluated for a role on the strength of their portfolio or CV. No matter what major is listed on someone's resume, when it comes to the arts a solid portfolio and/or CV listing your experience in the industry can often get your foot in the door during a job hunt. A good portfolio/CV shows employers that you can implement creative techniques or use specific media and software relevant to the type of art you are making. People are multifaceted and it is common for individuals to have skillsets that span a multitude of fields regardless of their major in college.

Networking is important in any field but especially for the arts, sometimes moreso than talent. It's often about who you know and what connections you have to colleagues in your preferred industry. Honestly, this can be a downer if you're not the networking type or it can work very much in your favor! Attend events geared towards your industry and make yourself known. Connecting with others via collaboration can provide access to resources you need to further bulk up your portfolio and get creative with you projects.

I recommend that you look through job openings that match the field you want to work in. You can also browse LinkedIn profiles to see what qualifications other successful people in the industry have. You will find some commonalities to focus on. You can then see what employers are asking for from candidates and determine 1) what creative field will be the best match for you and 2) what you may - keyword being MAY - need to do to be successful.

Lastly, not everyone's journey is the same, so don't get discouraged if what you're doing doesn't match up to what everyone else is doing. If you're wondering what my relevant experience is, I have a degree in art, went to a graduate program for art, worked in the art industry for a while (internships, galleries, exhibitions, freelance) and now am a Hiring Manager for a digital media company. I am also a professional artist. There are multiple ways to succeed in the arts and as you get to know yourself you'll figure out what works best for you.

From what I can observe, this seems to be a major concern for you, and you may have hit a few road bumps along the way. As an Artist myself, with a very broad range of skills that do not fit neatly into any pre-packaged job, I know what you are feeling.

Now, to get straight to the point- the answer is Yes, your employer will absolutely look at your major, and it will score points. However beyond that, the employer is even more interested that you WENT to College. Why? Because all colleges have something called a "Core Curriculum" which cover ALL major aspects of education ranging from Science and Mathematics to the Arts. Educated employers know this. That means that you yourself as an English major probably completed an Art course or two in college. Use this as a spring point for when you apply for jobs.

First thing is first, if you are interested in a field, then that means you have enough experience in that field. So if you are interested in the art field, you have some sort of experience in your favor, whether you are aware of it or not. Gather 2- 3 relevant experiences and note them down. These experiences will highlight why you love the art field, what knowledge you have gained or problems you have solved. Use these experiences to formulate your cover letter.

In addition build a portfolio. More then anything in the Art world, a portfolio is everything. Yes resumes are great, but if you are applying for a visual field I need to see your visual work. Gather 5-10 good pieces or photos of your work. Make sure they have good resolution and accurately reflect the color intensity and saturation.

Good Luck moving forward!

Hello, my name is Malcolm and I am a 5th-year student at Clarion University studying the Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Entrepreneurship Marketing Leadership. To answer your question it truly depends on the company that you are looking at!! I am currently applying for jobs in my field of study and outside my field. In my marketing courses and my professors at school are hiring people outside the business field to get a new diverse/creativities team to work for their companies/business. 

When applying for jobs you want to look over your resume and take out anything you feel that is not related to the job. Your resume can really help you when you are applying outside your field! If you have other work experience(s), organizations/activities, or volunteering work that you have done, and put that in your resume. I wanted to mention this because having information like can show a future employer that you may qualify for the job. Also when looking at job sites for opening positions it will look through their site for "keywords". Example if I go to Indeed.com and put in the search bar "English" it will show me opening positions for a whole list of openings and some jobs that seems not to be related to what I am looking for. They are showing me these jobs because in the job description or requirements it may have that word or words that are associated with it. If you find a job that you are interested in I highly recommend you applying for it. The best advice I got about applying for jobs outside my field is from my marketing advisor. He said "if you speak to their human resources department, representative, boss/manager, or whoever about the job and they question you about applying because its not your field. Tell them why you are applying for this position/company, what you can bring to the table, and make you different from the other candidates".

In my experience, your major only matters if you're going into certain professional environments. for example, if you're going into life insurance or anything financial, generally employers look at if you're majoring in economics, finance, entrepreneurship, communications, or anything similar. From what I've seen, what really matters is your transferable skills from other jobs, experiences, or school. Written communication is a big skill that employers look for, while technology literacy is one our generation (and younger) often forgets can be super essential to building yourself up. As an artist, I find that attention to detail, creativity, and emotional intelligence are transferable skills that prove to be quite useful when applying for jobs. For example, when you think about yourself in a group project, are you a person who goes with the flow and interjects when you feel needed? Or are you a person who takes the reins and steers the project in a way you think would be successful? After about 1 year out of college, people stop really caring what you studied, unless it's essential to that career.

If you have a hard time giving yourself credit for anything, like me, asking friends or family what you're good at can give you a direction. When you ask enough people, patterns start to emerge.

It's not an absolute, just a start.

No, The first thing a company looks for will be the link to your online portfolio, which must be clearly legible from the top of your resume as an embedded link. Then the first 3 images seen on your portfolio must be your strongest and enough to capture more attentions, clicks and a full read of your resume there after. With the amount of applicants per jobs, most hiring managers have between 10 to 20 seconds to understand your capacities and review someone . As Visual artist the art presented must be strong to expend that time and give you a short at the next step.

I am a college graduate with a major in philosophy and mathematics! The first job I applied for and accepted was a Data Entry Clerk. I believe the bachelors degree helped differentiate me from other candidates with similar skills. The job I received at the time was not specialized. Specialized positions such as a Lawyer and doctor often require college degrees.

As I moved up in the company I work for; I had the privilege of hiring and or promoting people into management positions. Many of the job advertisements include a college degree requirement; but in my hiring experience I considered the college degree as one of many other individual qualities and strengths and weighed them all together in deciding on the best job candidate. Earning a college degree requires self discipline and persistence which are qualities of a good employee. Other qualities I looked for that are important are integrity, leadership, positive attitude, great verbal and written communication, and creativity.

A potential employer certainly looks at your major and how it relates to the position in question, because the manager needs to fit your knowledge with the company's requirements. However and as it relates to an entry-level position, I believe the manager is more interested in the kind of individual you are, your aptitude and adaptability. A new hire with the right "dynamics" can fit in and do well as he/she progresses through the training phase.

most of the time yet i'm my purpose to be fullfilled because was born an artist

As a former hiring manager for an operational unit of J.P.Morgan Chase, I would have to say that work experience and the right attitude out-weight the degree or major that the potential employee holds. During the interview process, I usually ask questions that will provoke answers to how one will employ their skills and knowledge from previous work experiences to a new job. I want to know what can we benefit from hiring someone like you. What are you bringing to the company? How do you get along with co-workers especially when there are differing opinions in completing a task or project?

Companies normally do not focus on your major, it’s more about your experience.

Depends on experience and what work you've done on the side to make a name for yourself as well.

Hi, Rokaria. I broke down artistic and creative employment into two categories, non-technical and technical. Artistic and creative employment encompasses a large variety of employment that is too diverse to give a single answer that fits every possibility, but generalizing and simplifying the problem can be helpful, especially when we're getting started. The main thing is just to recognize that there are different expectations depending on what you want to do, but there's also different ways to meet those expectations.

First, non-technical art/design. This typically excludes a necessity for STEM related advanced education. Some of the best examples would be illustrator, concept artist, sculptor, and creative writer. Typically, your college major is considered very little and the portfolio is king. However, the line between non-technical and technical can get blurry, even in these employments. For example, a concept artist designing on a particular line of products may need to know manufacturing and materials limitations.

Which brings me to the next category: technical art/design. Many of the common employment opportunities for technical art/design, like industrial designers, furniture design, and lighting/set design usually will weigh your college major heavily to ensure that you have the technical foundations necessary to do the job. Even employment seemingly as fun as toy design will often require an applicant to be knowledgeable of material properties and manufacturing processes that are a part of a degree in industrial design (see Hasbro).

For employment in technical art/design, you can learn the necessary requirements on your own, but you need to demonstrate your knowledge by applying it to real-world projects. A hiring manager looking to add an industrial designer can look at the application of a graduate with high marks in the applicable major and be confident that they are competent with the technical requirements of the job; convincing that same hiring manager without the same degree by only using real-world projects to demonstrate competency can be more of a challenge, but still possible.

You can get a lot of really good advice from a lot of great and generous people, but it's up to you to filter through it and figure out how and what applies to your journey. For the sake of context, here's where I'm coming from: I have been hired in 2 art studios and a my undergraduate degree is in History. Demonstrating the strength of my relevant work was the most important (probably the only) factor for each. I've been designing and sculpting manufactured products for 12 years and I've learned enough of the manufacturing and production side that I can do a lot of engineering myself, but I'm not an engineer. I've reached a point where I can take a product about %80 of the way through production, but there is an amount of technical knowledge the engineers have that is simply hard to get without formal education on the subject. So, in my case, even though I've been able to accomplish a lot without a relevant degree, further education (i.e. industrial design or related degree) would bridge that extra %20 that I'd like to have.

It depends on the philosophy of the employer. I learned from my scientist uncle who hired people with a degree in any subject because it represented the ability to make the effort to complete something difficult. In the creative world, people have skills in creative problem solving which is an asset in all areas. Showcase your creative problem solving skills with examples and also highlight the skills learned while completing your college degree, such as following instructions and meeting deadlines.

There is nothing wrong with being broad, call it versatility, but your going to have to package yourself differently for each employer. It really comes down to what you emphasis to an employer in attendance with their preference. If you have work experience in A and B, but want to do C, you are going to have to harness that during your free time. It has to be able to compete with someone who has professionally done C.

I am learning this as we speak because I just graduated and I’m summarising all the feedback from my interviews.

Still, tough egg to crack, I’ll tell you.

It honestly depends on the job and the company. I want to say no. I majored in media arts and animation but worked as a photo retoucher for over 8 years. The most important part is your portfolio and who you know.