The 10 Worst Majors for Finding a Good Job

[Svnla]

Business administration / management.

Criminal justice.

Drama / theater arts.

Anthropology.

Liberal arts and sciences.

History.

Psychology.

Biology.

English.

Economics.


http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/10-worst-majors-finding-good-job-121045408.html

Agree, disagree, not sure? Discuss.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed over and over

 

[surfsatwerk]

Recreational Chemistry will get you places.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm at the top of the list. Great.

 

[shortylickens]

Oh, and they are correct about economics. Unless you branch out to another field with something genuinely helpful to the government or corporations, its really just a theoretical degree.

Also History, English and Liberal Arts have been useless degrees since the dawn the industrial age. You shoudlnt even need to be told that in 2013.

 

[nageov3t]

I did well enough with my English degree.

of course, the first thing I did after graduation was run away from my schooling and get a job with an IT start-up...

 

[dighn]

sounds about right. to be honest most degrees aren't too applicable to the job market (more so for bachelor degrees).

 

[dainthomas]

I think Psychology and Biology would be tough to find a job with if you only had an undergrad degree. I would imagine most people in those fields realize that you need advanced degrees to get anywhere with them.

 

[Imp]

This gets reposted every so often (on the news sites).

Should be pretty obvious that most don't yield direct jobs and aren't direct jobs training. Must move away from "any college program" = job.

I got two engineering degrees (one's a grad) and got a job... FML every day and I'd have been happier taking anthropology or English.

 

[mmntech]

Haha, I have one of those. Double majored in history and polisci. Yep, definitely agree you can't get a job with these. That's why I took a post grad college certificate in broadcast.

 

[KlokWyze]

I did well enough with my English degree.

of course, the first thing I did after graduation was run away from my schooling and get a job with an IT start-up...

heh. sounds like a guy I work with. very smart dude.

just shows that degrees are worthless (certainly not 4 years + $120,000) and personality & experience trumps everything.

 

[Printer Bandit]

those are all great launching pad majors for grad school.

 

[nageov3t]

Haha, I have one of those. Double majored in history and polisci. Yep, definitely agree you can't get a job with these. That's why I took a post grad college certificate in broadcast.

I really wanted to major in history because I love the subject, but yeah... what job do you get with a history degree other than becoming a teacher?

at least with English, I can say it helped me become a better at expressing ideas via the written word (which is useful when 99% of my communications with clients are via email/ticket)... my original college plan was to get into editing/publishing, but print media died while I was getting my degree.

 

[Ns1]

meh, I've used my degree in every job I've had.

 

[mmntech]

I really wanted to major in history because I love the subject, but yeah... what job do you get with a history degree other than becoming a teacher?

at least with English, I can say it helped me become a better at expressing ideas via the written word (which is useful when 99% of my communications with clients are via email/ticket) and research (re: google'ing the answer to 90% of tech problems I encounter)

Contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of areas where having a history background is useful. Politics, archeology, anthropology, economics, journalism, foreign affairs/government. Though it's definitely only supplemental to other subjects unless you plan to teach/research it.

 

[silverpig]

Odd about business administration.

An MBA from a good school is almost as good as an MD for ensuring you have steady work. I guess the problem is the glut of low-quality programs flooding the market with students because there is no equivalent to the AMA.

I do agree with their point about focusing on a quantitative specialization though.

 

[Ns1]

An MBA from a good school is almost as good as an MD for ensuring you have steady work. I guess the problem is the glut of low-quality programs flooding the market with students because there is no equivalent to the AMA.

BA in Business Administration =/= MBA

 

[PenguinPower]

I think Psychology and Biology would be tough to find a job with if you only had an undergrad degree. I would imagine most people in those fields realize that you need advanced degrees to get anywhere with them.

In HR, I actually prefer to hire Psychology degrees over Business degree. HR is basically applied Psychology; all of the business stuff (payroll, benefits, etc.) can be/is being outsourced because it's so transactional and simple.

The fun stuff, the Change Management, Talent Development, Talent Acquisition...possibly even the analytics...you're going to benefit more from a Psychology degree. That being said, I would like to see some core business classes so they have a basic understanding with which to build upon.

That said, an advanced degree only helps. I/O is you want to go consulting; HRM/MBA if you want to go management.

 

[TheVrolok]

heh. sounds like a guy I work with. very smart dude.

just shows that degrees are worthless (certainly not 4 years + $120,000) and personality & experience trumps everything.

Yep, your limited anecdotal evidence certainly does mean that degrees are worthless!

 

[Worthington]

Boooo, I have a double major in two of those 10. But then, I degree'ed in studies that I found interesting and left a career to my work ethic.

 

[Murloc]

sometimes the degree is not directly applicable towards a job but it can still be useful if you're trained to use your brain or learned some soft skill (if it's from a worthless easy kindergarten university then maybe no).

 

[silverpig]

BA in Business Administration =/= MBA

Yeah I know. There's a BBA, and here in Canada we have a BCom (commerce). BComs are a great way to go if you get one from a good school.

If an MBA is like an MD, then a BCom is like a nursing degree - good job prospects, and is a good way to get into med school. You do lose out on the variety of doing something else for undergrad though.

 

[Farang]

This doesn't really mean anything. I'd guess any job that isn't direct job training is pretty close to all the listed majors in terms of career prospects. That doesn't mean you can't find a good career. It just doesn't happen the first day out of college.

Most importantly it depends on your definition of a "good job." I'm assuming the only criteria is salary, which is silly. If you hate engineering it doesn't matter if you make $50k or $150k you will be miserable 40 hours per week or more.

 

[KMFJD]

I have close relatives with 5/10 of those degrees and they are doing very well for themselves...

Business administration / management
Drama / theater arts
Anthropology
English
Economics

 

[Chaotic42]

Hey now, Mathematics is a classical liberal art...