If you have just started college, you have realized that there are so many career options.
Going into college, your parents may want you to obtain a certain degree, or maybe you are not interested in one specific career. There are so many avenues you can take to finding the right career.
This post is here to help you narrow down a career if you are changing your college major.
When I started college, I wanted to be a nurse because my parents always said it was a great career. Though that is very true, I was not sure what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I went with it. I knew that they had my best interest, but I really needed to explore my interests, talents, and maybe a few jobs to figure out where I was supposed to be.
I volunteered in a hospital to help build my resume. Meanwhile, in college, I took the required prerequisites. However, I could not pass physiology and college algebra!
So, I kept searching. I knew that I loved helping people, but I was not sure what I was meant to do. Then, I made the decision that I was changing my college major.
If you are changing your college major, just know that it IS OKAY.
Many people change their college major because they feel forced into a career, or realize that they like the career hands-on but do not want to do what it takes to get there. Others do well in the classes, and did not do enough reasearch on their career to see if they would like it.
For example, for me, being a nurse sounded great, but the courses were so difficult and if I could not pass the classes, how could I have become a nurse?
When can you switch your major in college? Is changing your major a big deal?
The best time to change your college major is when you are working towards your prerequisites. You are still early in your career, and you haven’t started working towards courses that focus on your degree yet.
If you are working towards your associate’s degree, you can choose to get the degree so that you have it under your belt. If not, you can see what courses you can count as prerequisites and continue looking for a bachelor’s degree that catches your interest.
When working toward your bachelor’s degree, you will take courses that focus on one major. You will want to make sure that you like the courses and the career when you choose what you want to major in.
Do not stress if you are already into your upper divison courses, you can pivot at any point even if you have a bachelor’s degree that you are not satisifed with.
If you are struggling to decide what you want to major in, you will want to move forward thinking about:
- what you will learn
- your interest and what you love doing or learning about
- different careers you can have once you graduate
- avenues you can take with your major
- what is it you do and do not like to do
- the setting you want to work in
- what kind of people you do or do not want to work with
- if you like the job duties listed for that career
- figure out the starting salary and benefits offered
- think about if you can do this for the rest of your life
Looking into different college majors
You can start by looking into different college websites that you want to attend. College websites have a list of different college majors that you can look at and figure out what is available to you at those colleges.
It is important that you consider your interests and what you love to do.
If you do not plan on going far from home, take a look at community colleges or universities near you. Once you see what those colleges are offering, you can make a list of different majors that might work best for you.
It can be hard to tell right away what interests you because you have to research everything about the potential “right career” for you to know what to major in.
What to do when finding your college major
There are two pieces of figuring out a college major that will get you through school. The first part is the coursework. The second is what you will be doing once you are out in the field.
It is important to make sure that you consider both because this is the job you will most likely have for the rest of your life. If you like change, just make sure you choose a major that allows you to advance. Once you have your degree, no one can take it away from you.
If you think your major is a stepping stone for something different, then you will need to make sure that you at least like what you are learning about and can complete the coursework to get you the degree.
Get information on what you will learn about in the courses for the majors that have your interest in the course description.
Then, ask yourself, “Do the majority of these courses keep me interested enough to get the degree and to keep learning the material?”
Make sure you like the majority of the things that you will be learning for your major. Otherwise, you will not be motivated in completing the coursework or finishing your degree.
For example, you may want to major in psychology to be a forensic psychologist. However, you may not want to take courses such a statistics because you have failed it to times in a row and then will wnat to change your major again.
I chose a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations because I held many interests and loved to write. The courses for public relations were a combination of business, marketing, journalism. I liked that there was a wide variety so that it kept my mind busy so that I did not get bored.
Each course should have a course description that you can read more about so that you get the details on each course.
Things to Consider When Changing Your College Major
What do you love to learn about?
Think about what you love to learn about. Do you enjoy learning about children, the mind, communication, math, or foreign language?
Is there anything that you have learned so far in college that you liked? What about a class that you did well in because you liked what you were learning? Maybe you can find a major that allows you to take more classes in that area.
You can reflect on times or experiences that you have had.
When you think about yourself and your learning, this will help find the right career. Someone that likes working with children may want to be a teacher, school counselor, or somewhere in the school setting. However, someone that likes math may want to be an accountant or teach math.
What are different career options once you graduate?
Consider different careers you can have when you graduate.
If you get a bachelor of science in nursing, then you know that you can work in different departments within the hospital. Some majors may have limited career options.
Knowing your career options will be helpful for someone who likes to change your career often and keep growing using that degree.
Find out the different avenues you can take with your major.
If you get a bachelor’s in psychology, you will want to see the different careers you can have once you graduate. Some careers with a psychology major may include a social worker or behavior technician. However, you may find that you want to get a teaching credential or move into getting your master’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree in psychology also sets the foundation for a master’s degree in school counseling, school psychology, forensic psychology, or counseling psychology.
What do you like to do and do not like to do?
When changing college majors, you will want to narrow down what you do and do not like.
Do you want to sit down all day? Or, are you someone that wants to move around all day?
Would you like to work alone or with a team?
Are you someone who likes kids? Do you like helping others?
Do you have a family? Are you wanting to spend more time away from them to make a lot of money, or are you hoping to spend more time with them?
Do you have good people skills? Can you sell a product to someone?
Would you rather work inside with air conditioning or outside in the heat?
Are you an auditory learner, visual learner, or hands-on learner?
It’s important to think about the type of setting you to want to work in and the kinds of people you want to work with.
Asking yourself these questions will make you think more about where you see yourself and how you can find a college major and career that fits you.
These are all questions to answer in your mind or to write down on paper so that you can start weaving out who you are and what kind of career you should have. This is your career, so think about yourself.
Look up the job duties listed for the careers that you can have with your college major
So many college students go to college just to get a career but are not sure what they will be doing out in the field.
Take time to look up these careers on indeed.com and their listed job duties. This is when you can see if you not only like the classes, the major, but the career in itself.
You can take time to see what careers you will like doing based on its listed job duties!
For example, you may be great at science and math, so you’ll want to be a nurse. What if you don’t like changing diapers or seeing people take their last breath?
It is more than just a duty this is a career where you’re dealing with people’s lives in your hands.
Figure out the salary and benefits that are offered
Once you narrow down some college majors and careers that you are interested in, take a look at the salary and if there are benefits offered to you.
Hoping into a career for the money is the wrong idea. If you do not like what you’re doing, then the money will not matter.
However, when you are thinking long-term about being a husband, wife, and parent, you will want to find a career that you do not love and are passionate about, but something that puts food on the table.
Take a look if there are benefits offered to you.
Once you have a family, or if you do, you will know how expensive insurance is without having a career that can cover some or all of the cost for you.
If you, your spouse, or your kids get hurt you will need insurance to cover those costs.
Some careers you find will help you pay into retirement, pay you for vacation or time off, and pay your health insurance.
Of course, this is not always the case, but it’s something to hope for and to keep in mind.
Can you have this career and be happy for the ret of your life?
When you think about your career and what you are majoring in, ask yourself, “can I see myself doing this for the rest of my life?”
It is never anyone’s intention to start a career and hate it. Now is a good time to decide what field you should go into and if it is the right field for you.
This is YOUR career, and you want to be happy. Ultimately, you are the one making the money in this career. You do not want to be stuck in a field that you are not making money, and you just got a degree to say, “I have a degree.”
I hope this helps when changing your college major to be successful and find the right career for you!
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