The 10 Worst Majors for Finding a Good Job

[JM Aggie08]

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

Buddy's wife graduated with a BBA in MGT, and got hired on as a store director for a large grocery chain @ 65k. Don't feel down!

 

[Uppsala9496]

Hmmmm, have a history degree and a political science degree. Have been working for the most part for 15+ years (laid off 3 times at various companies but always found another position in the same field within a month).

 

[JTsyo]

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

as a decoration for you walls?

 

[Black Octagon]

My uncle is CFO to a large insurance multinational, and he swears to me that (except for some very specialised and technical vacancies) he doesn't give a hoot what subject an applicant studied at university. He looks for applicants with outstanding grades, from renowned universities, and possibly those who also did a Masters. The only reason all this is relevant to him as an interviewer is that it helps him identify applicants who are capable intellectually, and capable in terms of completing work on-time and to a high standard.

Beyond that, educational background simply ain't on his list of priorities. He looks just as much if not more at other factors, e.g., languages, experience abroad, how the person presents and delivers themself during the interview, co-curricular activities, a clear sense of personal goals and how they match up with the company's own vision, etc.

(The choice of degree might, however, play a role in determining which applicants actually get an interview...)

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Economics is one of the highest paying degrees at my school. Although its probably because some people get insane salaries while most get nothing.

 

[Daedalus685]

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.

Not that I'm a guy with a physics degree working for a government R&D lab or anything

But you are correct that the job prospects are not plentiful unless you look for them or get lucky.

I'd have surely made more money by now if I had become an engineer but I am happy and actually get to do hands on lab work instead of paper work, and I make 'good enough' money. Certainly more than most new MSc Physics I know my age, but I understand I was exceptionally lucky in my falling ass first into the jobs I've had.

With a H.BSc (even a masters if you want to work in your field and not just get a well paying job) in a traditional science you need to build up practical skills (electronics, instrumentation, etc.) before you can work in the field and have a nice job. Unless you get a post grad applied diploma this means working a stupid job for a little while or being lucky. If it is all about money a degree is a degree and just take what offers the most. If you want a job you enjoy in the field you chose because you enjoy it one just needs to keep at it. With a little experience there are lots of opportunities out there and many high tech firms hire low paying technologists to give you just that experience.

I do NDE, where the vast majority of physics/mathematics degree holders end up if they want to still work in their field and avoid 100% report writing jobs (ultrasonic, optics, and eddy current). Though I should mention when I worked manufacturing military optics I think I found where all the physics degree holding folk ended up as I was one of 12 or so with such a degree doing everything from coating R&D to lens polishing.

 

[evident]

i have a few friends who have been under employed for a while with a bus. management degree that cant find anything decent.

i've never heard of a degree in liberal arts and sciences...

 

[OlafSicky]

Perhaps people's expectations are just too high when they graduate. Everyone wants to make $200k and sit on Facebook all that or to do super fun projects. The world is not like that sometimes you day consists just digging through trash or fixing someone's stupid mistakes.

 

[Ayrahvon]

I have a Master's by Research in Anthropology. Naturally I feel like I'm qualified for a multitude of positions. Currently I'm applying for work without much luck at market research firms and the like. There are a lot of skills acquired through a degree like Anthropology that are applicable to the work force, it's more a matter of convincing employers that is the case.

Granted, I feel way too much emphasis is now placed on how much work you can get with the degree you have.

 

[Eug]

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.

? I'm not sure why you think a nursing degree is a good way to get in to med school.

My uncle is CFO to a large insurance multinational, and he swears to me that (except for some very specialised and technical vacancies) he doesn't give a hoot what subject an applicant studied at university.

Well, that does make sense for that type of company, but if he was CFO of Microsoft, he'd probably have a very different view since much of the company is "very specialized and technical".

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.

Well, my friend went to an arts and drama oriented school. He then changed subjects but a lot of his ex-classmates now have steady acting jobs, including a few that have been in national primetime TV shows, etc. If that's what you want to do, and are willing to give it a shot, then by all means.

Then again, there's Masi Oka, who cut his teeth coding for Industrial Light and Magic, and then became an actor.

Yeah, I realize these are exceptions to the rule, but I do think that if you have realistic expectations, it's fine. The problem IMO are those who go into say acting, and then don't get anything, and continue bussing tables or whatever in LA for 10 years, hoping to land that blockbuster. It seems most of the ones that do succeed are able to work their way up, because they've got the sk1llz. If you're never working much as an actor/artist/whatever, and are just bussing tables for 10 years, there's a good chance you don't have what it takes.

 

[silverpig]

? I'm not sure why you think a nursing degree is a good way to get in to med school.

I guess I should have said it's a good way to get experience in the field.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Have a BS in MGT.

Was hired by current employer in 2003. Doing okay.

I would not put a lot of credence in such headline-generating lists. A successful career has a lot more to do with work ethic, people skills, initiative, and the overall "package of talent" you sell yourself as than any individual degree. Entering the job market in 2013 is also a completely different story than 2003.

 

[Murloc]

Granted, I feel way too much emphasis is now placed on how much work you can get with the degree you have.

it's an investment (money and time) and people want to see a return, I don't think that's bad.

 

[Josh123]

Applied Physics should be up there. My wife majored in it and has been getting turned down left and right. Unless you continue on to get your Masters or PhD then it's useless.

 

[CPA]

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

Yeah, not as easy as you think, however, what I see are folks getting Finance degrees because it's easier in terms of class schedule. then they think they have enough education to be an accountant. sorry, no you don't.

 

[Daedalus685]

Applied Physics should be up there. My wife majored in it and has been getting turned down left and right. Unless you continue on to get your Masters or PhD then it's useless.

As with all things in life, YMMV.

Jobs that actually involve applies physics that are not actually looking for an engineer tend to be very isolated and in rather specialty fields, or require a lot of experience in highly skilled things on top of the degree (like electronics or programming).

If you hunt hard and are willing to move there are good jobs (nuclear, the few optics manufacturing places around, or a national lab the one time in ten years they hire ). Too many people go into physics and assume the world will hire them as engineers. You may know enough but employers will not treat you as such.

As with all school, there will be disagreement on whether its best to do what you want and fight for a job in that field or do what the workforce wants and unhappily make the moneys.

 

[Eug]

 

[surfsatwerk]

Far Side is always spot on.

 

[sactoking]

I think most people look at college the wrong way; they view a degree as job training. Articles like this only serve to reinforce that.

WHen I was going to school in the UC system it was fairly widely known that there were two differences between UC and CSU: the admissions requirements (duh) and the focus of the curriculum. UC was intended to be a theory-based curriculum and CSU was intended to be a practice-based curriculum. That's why at my alma mater, UC Davis, there were no programs for things like accountancy or teaching. Those programs are practice-based; you teach someone the rules of accounting and they become an accountant. At the UC schools the curriculum was more theory-based and focused on critical thinking; you teach someone the theory of finance and critical thinking and they can devise a financial system that the accountants then adapt to.

Many degrees, even from practice-based institutions, are really critical thinking degrees. I mean, seriously, who goes into philosophy thinking that they will get a job sitting around and philosophising all day? No, it's more about the critical thinking skills you learn while studying philosophy that are important and it's up to the student to apply them to the career field that interests them.

 

[Insomniator]

Maybe its the person not their major.

Just sayin'

 

[Ayrahvon]

it's an investment (money and time) and people want to see a return, I don't think that's bad.

This is not wall street. They made an investment towards further knowledge, not future job prospects. Presumably they got their return on their money with their education. If they did not then it is on their hands for either being lazy at school, or picking a school that provided an insufficient education.

 

[Farang]

I think most people look at college the wrong way; they view a degree as job training. Articles like this only serve to reinforce that.

WHen I was going to school in the UC system it was fairly widely known that there were two differences between UC and CSU: the admissions requirements (duh) and the focus of the curriculum. UC was intended to be a theory-based curriculum and CSU was intended to be a practice-based curriculum. That's why at my alma mater, UC Davis, there were no programs for things like accountancy or teaching. Those programs are practice-based; you teach someone the rules of accounting and they become an accountant. At the UC schools the curriculum was more theory-based and focused on critical thinking; you teach someone the theory of finance and critical thinking and they can devise a financial system that the accountants then adapt to.

Many degrees, even from practice-based institutions, are really critical thinking degrees. I mean, seriously, who goes into philosophy thinking that they will get a job sitting around and philosophising all day? No, it's more about the critical thinking skills you learn while studying philosophy that are important and it's up to the student to apply them to the career field that interests them.

I don't get why people are hating on liberal arts so much. I work in sales and I think my liberal arts education helps me more than a business education would have. To put it in its simplest terms, being able to jump in another persons head and understand their thoughts/motivations/concerns and analyze them is basically what a liberal arts education is.. history, philosophy, economics, all have to do with this.

It doesn't surprise me that something like architecture would be the worst. I know some of the sciences have it bad as well. It seems like it could be the worst of both worlds in that it is practical skills training without a job market to support it.. much more like 'underwater basket weaving' than a liberal arts degree. Not hating on other majors but I was initially surprised to hear science majors had a hard time finding work

 

[OutHouse]

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

passing the CPA test is easy?