Shortly after graduating college, it becomes clear that the working world is not all black and white. The jobs that you think correspond with your major might not necessarily interest you, and there may not be jobs available in the fields that do get you going. Now that the economy has lost so many jobs, all bets are off in formulaic thinking that your major will guide you to employment.
It takes creativity to create opportunities for yourself these days, and Katharine Brooks takes this reality to another level in her book, You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career ($26). She uses the mathematical chaos theory to map career plans that will eventually get readers to their final professional destination.
The author told Time that the majority of people she knows have ended up in jobs that have nothing to do with their college majors. She added, "The saddest thing to me is seeing someone take a job just because it pays well, and then spend all that money on toys to cheer them up for being miserable in their job. People who are doing what they love hardly feel they're working at all, just living."
This seems like it could be an interesting read for those who could use some help figuring out where to go with their careers. Check your local library or order it online.
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I graduate from university 10 weeks from tomorrow (not that I'm counting!) so this is perfect. Thanks for the reading suggestion.
1This might be nice. I'm about to go to grad school, but I'm still apprehensive about what comes afterward b/c it's not in my undergrad major field. I know most people get jobs in some different areas, and what I want to do is COMPLETELY different from my major...but I just don't know how to get there!
2Interesting...
3Neat.
4That's interesting. My uncle was an anthropology major and now he's an insurance claims adjuster, which is definitely NOT what he would have done if he had more options. My husband and I both have jobs in our field of study, which is probably why we both actually like our jobs, but I know a LOT of science majors in my city that never found jobs in their field and they now work in retail or the restaurant industry or something like that. This sounds like a really cool book.
5"People who are doing what they love hardly feel they're working at all, just living."
So true! I can't imagine having a job that I didn't love...must make getting up in the morning a LOT tougher.
6i'd like to read this. i'm not working in the field that i studied in college... it does get tiresome in job interviews to hear "you majored in what?! music technology?"
7I gave up my lifelong dream of being a physician because, once I actually got to college and started working through the classes, I knew there was no way in hell I would ever be happy with a biology or chemistry degree (the necessary evil, or so it would seem, to get into medical school), and then have medicine not work out for me. Luckily, I figured out how to turn studying what I love into a job I know I will love that I never would have thought of.
8I majored in Rhetoric (creative writing) hoping to be a poet or something. Now I work in a library, so it not too far of a leap.
9I'm definitely checking this book out. I need it!
10Lukin, I was in that same boat!
Even so, you don't have to have a bio or chem degree to get into med school. As long as you've done the prereqs [which I absolutely HATED chemistry, couldn't get through the LAST class I need for a bio major] and get good MCATs, and do some research, it's all good. I remember a study that came out a few years ago that said that HISTORY majors who applied to med school actually got accepted at a higher rate than the hard sciences. I know a guy who's going to med school next fall; he majored in studio arts!
I just can't deal with people like that. More power to the MDs here!
11I majored in government and literature, am getting a masters in trade policy and nonproliferation .... and all i really want to be is a writer!
12Great topic! I will be picking this up. I majored in recreation with a concentration in touirsm and events management. I love my field, but I do sometimes wish I did something a little more traditional like Poly Sci. I love solving puzzles, so something like codebreaking would be a dream job!
13I think that to myself sometimes. "I'm majoring in WHAT?!"
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