The 10 Worst Majors for Finding a Good Job

[marvdmartian]

There are exceptions to any rule. In the bigger picture, however, many people with those degrees end up finding work in fields that have nothing to do with their degrees. Another reason why schools should be pushing kids, from day one, to look more toward degrees in math, science and engineering, and less toward the "easy" (less strenuous) degree programs. 🙄

 

[shortylickens]

There are exceptions to any rule. In the bigger picture, however, many people with those degrees end up finding work in fields that have nothing to do with their degrees. Another reason why schools should be pushing kids, from day one, to look more toward degrees in math, science and engineering, and less toward the "easy" (less strenuous) degree programs. 🙄

You should read a little better for someone who thinks he's so smart.

No one said it was a rule. The results were from a survey of people who were not in their desired field. Those were the 10 most common results.

 

[Bateluer]

BA in Business Administration =/= MBA

I came in here to question why MBAs were on that list, oops. 😛

My brother has a Bachelors in Phsyics, and he's been pulling weeds since he graduated. Told him when he started that program too that he'd have trouble finding a job after. He insisted he was going to get a government research job easily right after graduation . . . I think he might have swallowed the recruiters sales pitch.

 

[jagec]

Liberal arts and sciences.

What is a "liberal science", exactly?

Climatology?:sneaky:

 

[Slew Foot]

Pretty much any non engineering degree is useless for directly getting a job.

 

[shortylickens]

Pretty much any non engineering degree is useless for directly getting a job.

I did two engineering jobs without a degree!

:awe:

 

[Six]

Believing stuff you read on Yahoo? Yahoo is a joke, because its articles cannot provide any hard numbers to back anything up. It relies on stories, and those stories often contradict each other. Today it'll say a business degree is worthless. Tomorrow, it'll say a business degree in HR or Info Systems is hot.

 

[shortylickens]

Believing stuff you read on Yahoo? Yahoo is a joke, because its articles cannot provide any hard numbers to back anything up. It relies on stories, and those stories often contradict each other. Today it'll say a business degree is worthless. Tomorrow, it'll say a business degree in HR or Info Systems is hot.

They didnt say it was worthless. They said they conducted interviews of people not in their desired professions and found many of them had business degrees.

Also, MOST of the stuff on that list is on about a thousand other lists of degrees not getting people employed.

 

[Zeze]

No music? I had few friends who majored in MUSIC in a non-music general state university. I think he majored in drums, lol. We had some brilliant kids majoring in SRT (sound recording tech). That's an actual tangible skill... but going to school just to play instrument - LOL.

Also nothing about Fine Art? Worthless- paying money to be a starving artist.

 

[Worthington]

1000 anecdotal stories on what degree is or is not worthless.

 

[Mixolydian]

No music? I had few friends who majored in MUSIC in a non-music general state university. I think he majored in drums, lol. We had some brilliant kids majoring in SRT (sound recording tech). That's an actual tangible skill... but going to school just to play instrument - LOL.

Also nothing about Fine Art? Worthless- paying money to be a starving artist.

:thumbsup:

 

[CPA]

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.

Whenever I have an accountant position open I can expect half of the resumes will be from people with economics or finance degrees. Sorry, I need an accountant, not an economist.

 

[shortylickens]

accounting is like prostitution. Relatively easy, pays well, no one wants to do it.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I came in here to question why MBAs were on that list, oops. 😛

My brother has a Bachelors in Phsyics, and he's been pulling weeds since he graduated. Told him when he started that program too that he'd have trouble finding a job after. He insisted he was going to get a government research job easily right after graduation . . . I think he might have swallowed the recruiters sales pitch.

So none of the sciences are hiring? This article said bio was useless, I know from experience that chem is super difficult to get a job in, maybe as a BS it isn't too bad, MS is fairly easy, and PhD is practically impossible. I thought physics would have been the easiest of the bunch.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You should read a little better for someone who thinks he's so smart.

No one said it was a rule. The results were from a survey of people who were not in their desired field. Those were the 10 most common results.

One has to wonder what the "desired field" is for liberal arts majors. Is "have a rich husband" a field because it's hard to see how that degree is useful for any other profession on earth?

 

[DrPizza]

A lot of those psychology majors think, "I'm going to go to grad school!" Then, after 4 years, if they don't have internships or major research, good GRE scores, and a 3.5gpa, they discover, "I'm not getting into grad school." At which point, it's "ding, fries are done" else, "would you like one pump or two pumps in your latte?"

 

[Svnla]

accounting is like prostitution. Relatively easy, pays well, no one wants to do it.

LOL. I will tell my boss, a CPA, about your post.

 

[Zeze]

A lot of those psychology majors think, "I'm going to go to grad school!" Then, after 4 years, if they don't have internships or major research, good GRE scores, and a 3.5gpa, they discover, "I'm not getting into grad school." At which point, it's "ding, fries are done" else, "would you like one pump or two pumps in your latte?"

My friend went to BU doing psychology. Then he became a preschool teacher (basically babysitting). Then a realtor. Now he works at phone support.

He's doing okay for himself with a family and home since he's frugal and good with money.

 

[SsupernovaE]

So none of the sciences are hiring? This article said bio was useless, I know from experience that chem is super difficult to get a job in, maybe as a BS it isn't too bad, MS is fairly easy, and PhD is practically impossible. I thought physics would have been the easiest of the bunch.

A BS in Physics is only useful as a stepping stone to grad school or teaching high school physics (although more and more high schools prefer Masters and some elites want phds).

A masters or phd has many options. If not research or engineering, then the financial sector. I have several colleagues from grad school that work in Wall Street.

But just a BS? Good luck.

 

[Exterous]

I call BS on any list that does not include Architecture. It had the highest unemployment rate of any degree for 9 straight years and was only finally eclipsed at the Bachelors level by the newest fluff degree, Information systems, this year. It still has the highest Master's unemployment rate (9.6%) and I can't remember the last time the BS in A was below 12.5%. Then you throw in the low salary ($36k), long hours and education training involved....

 

[yhelothar]

Article needs more data

 

[shortylickens]

One has to wonder what the "desired field" is for liberal arts majors. Is "have a rich husband" a field because it's hard to see how that degree is useful for any other profession on earth?

Liberal arts is best for rich kids or beautiful women who plan on shacking up with a successful man.

I would not respect a school that has a majority of grads in liberal arts, art, art history, or philosophy.

 

[silverpig]

A BS in Physics is only useful as a stepping stone to grad school or teaching high school physics (although more and more high schools prefer Masters and some elites want phds).

A masters or phd has many options. If not research or engineering, then the financial sector. I have several colleagues from grad school that work in Wall Street.

But just a BS? Good luck.

Pretty much true.

My wife and I did undergrads in physics/astro. I went and did an MBA after, she went to teaching school and teaches high school.

That being said, I learned a lot of very valuable problem solving skills and would do it over again in a heartbeat.

 

[Fritzo]

One of my best friends growing up has a Masters in Theater Arts. He works as a stock manager for a plumbing supply company. Your choices for that degree are pretty much:

1) A job that requires a nameplate on your chest
2) A job teaching others to get a Theater Arts degree

Some people have a delusion that it will get them on Broadway or something, when in fact getting gigs like that is pretty much a mixture of natural talent and pure luck.

 

[ViviTheMage]

my GF just graduated with her degree in Child Psych ... got a pretty awesome job too!