The astronomical cost of college today makes finding an appropriate major even more important. Making the most of your college education is vital to your career success. While finding something you love is a blessing, being open-minded about the job market and employment opportunities is mandatory.
With student loan debt rising every year, our college students need to be very careful how they spend their money for education. Your ultimate goal upon graduation is to find a career and job that makes you happy and allows you to make a decent living.
Parents need to help their high school students investigate the career opportunities that will be available after they graduate. Before making your final decision on which college major to pursue, you need to evaluate the pros and cons of your desired field of study. The end result is that students will make better decisions about what their future holds.
Here are six college majors with limited opportunity for employment upon graduation:
1. Religion: Traditional colleges are not the road to take if you are looking to devote your life to religion. Most religious careers have low-income potential and provide great self-satisfaction rewards for the right candidate. If this is the career path that you want to pursue, speak with your local priests, bishops, ministers or rabbi. They can steer you along a path that will most likely cost nothing and provide the guidance that you are looking for.
2. English Literature: While literature is a wonderful way to enjoy your free time, it may not be the best career path in today’s job market. It can help you build some great skills, but in the real world, you will be overlooked for others with a more diverse set of business, computer or technical training. Careers in this area are very low paying and would not help pay your student loans that were incurred during your education.
3. Anthropology: Very few opportunities exist for recent graduates in this field and over the coming years, there will be even less. While this may be an interesting and enjoyable hobby form many individuals, it is not a promising career alternative. Something in the medical sciences would be a better alternative and provide many different avenues for career advancement.
4. Fine Arts or Photography: Being an artist or photographer is a wonderful talent and can be enjoyable to envision your final work. But the reality is that careers in this area are not very profitable or plentiful. With the advent of great cell phone cameras and sophisticated, easy to use editing programs, digital arts and photography have become simple for the average person to get great results.
5. Music: If you are talented and focused, you will be successful. Normally that is true, but careers in music are very hard to come by. They success rates are similar to those of professional athletes. Many great voices, many great musical minds are left behind as only the top 1% actually make a reasonable living in this field. It can be a great side job or hobby, but if you are planning to make it a career, it will be a bumpy road.
6. Exercise Science: For those considering this major, please re-consider. Your employment opportunities are no better than if you were an athlete in high school looking for a job at a gym or being a personal trainer. Pay scale is generally low and there are no specific jobs that require this degree for employment.
Summary: These six majors offer less than desirable potential for jobs upon graduation. Be mindful of your need to earn a living as well as pursue a passion. Unless you are independently wealthy and do not need to work, the cost of your education would be better spent building an enjoyable and prosperous career
