Friday, July 20, 2007

Why Choosing A College Major Shouldn't Be Stressful

When it comes to picking the right person for the job, yet another study confirms that it's best to pay more attention to "soft skills" (like team-building, communication, overall "likability") rather than technical skills.

These findings always remind me that, except in instances of very specialized fields (i.e. medicine, engineering, architecture, etc.), the college degree that you choose is not particularly important. Majoring in English or Psychology, Philosophy or Communication, Business or Political Science, Religion or Education - all might actually lead you to the same path.

In fact, choosing a major is not at all equivalent to choosing a career because your major might lead you to a long list of careers in completely unrelated fields.

So...choose something that fascinates you - and then work on improving your social network. Join campus organizations. Volunteer with a local shelter. Raise money for a charity fundraiser. Have coffee with your professor. Attend conferences about enhancing your communication skills. Host dinner parties.

In the end, it's who you now and how much they like you.

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