According to a recent report by CNN, an estimated one-third of employers will hire a graduate despite their declared major. Granted, this assumes the graduate will even land a job in the current job crisis, but this also seems to flip university standards on its head. One would assume the path to undergraduate success lies in choosing the “right” major. And ideally, this makes a lot of sense. Specializing in a certain subject ought to set a graduate apart in the job pool. I have to assume this is the reason so many undergraduates declare a number of different majors in the course of their student careers, sometimes staying as many three semesters longer than necessary. Majors are a big deal, or so I thought. But this tiny statistic indicates declaring a major might not be as important in the job market as some would have us believe.
Most universities put quite a bit of pressure on declaring a major. Pamphlets, appointments and seminars are all set up to scare the average undergrad into making a decision. And it works. There is little doubt as to the work some students put into declaring a major. Visit the college section in any bookstore chain and you are bound to see a few volumes dedicated to the art of choosing one. And the competition is often pretty stiff. Journalism, engineering and business are just three examples of the University of Wisconsin’s departments that are flooded with a surge of applicants who are competing for a limited number of spots. There are a number of students going into their fifth year who are still vying to fulfill a university spot in some of these. But why all this trouble to declare a certain major, in a certain field, if there is no payoff?
There is evidence to suggest things will not, and certainly have not always been this way. It appears employers are responding differently to the application pool in the current job market; differently than they would have under better economic constraints. It looks as though employers are currently looking to hire for experience rather than specialization. And it’s not too hard to see why.
A 22-year-old with a fresh undergrad degree in hand does not stand up so well next to a middle-aged professional who has found themselves in the middle of the job crisis. So does this mean the bright eyed college kid who took the correct path, got into the right school and declared the right major will not land a job? No. This simply suggests there may no longer be a “right” path, and the steps that were deemed necessary to get a job maybe 10 or 20 years ago are becoming increasingly abstract.
Expertise in certain fields will always be important, and majors are not expected to become obsolete anytime soon. But this research suggests graduating as a well-rounded student will likely play to your advantage in ways that were previously unprecedented. While the university will have you complete a breadth of requirements, it might be in your favor to push this “well-rounded” activism a bit further. If this research says anything it is simply that declaring a major is no longer the end-all. It illustrates that graduates in a number of fields are being hired for their strengths rather than their “declared major” and it seems to signify the release of many major restrictions. This is great news for students who did not necessarily get into the major of their choice. The road does not necessarily have to end here. Find a major you do well in, get some experience, and push for the career of your choice. You may just as well land it. The rules of the game are changing, and as students, it’s best to stay ahead of the curve.
Emily Osborne ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.
