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If you don't finish college it doesn't matter whether you were "studying" liberal arts or engineering.
An engineer who doesn't finish higher education will be better of significantly than an individual who stopped halfway while studying liberal arts. Most engineers stop at a BS and never complete and have perfectly fine careers.
My major is in History with a Spanish minor that I got because I figured it would make me more marketable. I also got an associates in Business Administration as well. I figured that the combination of business+spanish+a writing major would make me more marketable, I guess not.
I was really surprised too as I thought English majors were better off than history majors. Here is the link
There is also another list where English is 10 and History is 9 that I just found on Forbes, go figure.
Eh i wouldnt say that history and english are the worst majors to graduate with (lol I graduated with an English degree and now I am back in school) but you do certinally have to work hard to find work. Make no mistake you will have to bust your butt to find work. Outside of teaching, I really have not found any job ads with "English Major needed", "Need a history major with 2 years exp". Instead what do you see: Accounting Graduate, 3 years expereince, Chemical Engineer 4 years of exp etc...
And yes people will say "what about writing jobs, internships?" , yes those who apply and get the internship at Scholoastic, Norton, Random house, they will be pretty good. But what about the 100s of english majors who don't get that internship? I guarntee for those 10 intern spots at Scholoastic there must have been a pleathora of English majors applying.
And remeber for those office jobs you will be competiting against every finance, accounting and business grad, guess who the employer is proably going to hire/interview first?
I am not saying, don't major in History, English, liberal arts. All I am saying is be prepared to work, network, really get out there for a job.
I went to go watch the debates yesterday with a buddy and some of his college friends were there and I was surprised to see a lot of them where poly sci/liberal arts majors. It got me thinking that if the economy is so bad, shouldn't people be majoring in things that are practical? I mean I'm not against the liberal arts in fact, I enjoy them, but I thought things changed after the recession or is it just me?
Can you predict what career fields will be in demand in 5, 10, 20 years? I can't. I can guess. Forty years ago typewriter repairman was an excellent field.
One of the problems states that are experiencing the natural gas boom now have is that the people with the skill set to do those jobs died out with no replacements. Therefore workers have to come from states where gas drilling didn't die out. Who knew?
It's not about the money for everyone. Some people would rather teach music for 40k a year than do other peoples tax returns for 80k a year.
40K a year? Must be nice to have your spouse earn the major income in your family. Or maybe you have an independent source of wealth stacked in your bank or investment accounts. Or you live in a house that is paid off or was bought a long time ago when mortgage payments were much lower. Or you live somewhere out in the boonies where the cost of living is much lower.
40K a year? Must be nice to have your spouse earn the major income in your family. Or maybe you have an independent source of wealth stacked in your bank or investment accounts. Or you live in a house that is paid off or was bought a long time ago when mortgage payments were much lower. Or you live somewhere out in the boonies where the cost of living is much lower.
You need to look at family income across the US, $40K is high in some places. The largest group at 26% make between $25K-$50K total family income.
That's the reality and has always been the reality.
Even when the economy is good those are bad majors. We used to call them "You want fries with that?" degrees. I know jobs aren't all about the money but you don't want to study for 4+ years and take on a massive amount of debt just to work for minimum wage when you get out.
We met with the Academic Adviser of one of my sons at the private college he is going to and the Adviser pushed a liberal arts major like crazy. He insisted that the career planning and placement office strongly believe due to research and discussions with employers that there is no link between a students major and their success at getting a good job after college. When we pushed him in disbelief he stood firm.
He INSISTED that a Political Science Major has just as good a chance to get a great job shortly after graduation than someone who majored in Electrical Engineering. He is pushing a liberal arts major to all the students and parents who are assigned to him and most follow his advance.
We met with the Academic Adviser of one of my sons at the private college he is going to and the Adviser pushed a liberal arts major like crazy. He insisted that the career planning and placement office strongly believe due to research and discussions with employers that there is no link between a students major and their success at getting a good job after college. When we pushed him in disbelief he stood firm.
He INSISTED that a Political Science Major has just as good a chance to get a great job shortly after graduation than someone who majored in Electrical Engineering. He is pushing a liberal arts major to all the students and parents who are assigned to him and most follow his advance.
So, did this 'adviser' provide any verifiable data to back up his opinion?
Here's a payscale report for undergrad degrees which shows that Poli Sci majors make $40,300 (rank #53) while EEs make $63,400 (rank #6) as a starting salary:
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