Seems to me, outside of one's passion, the ideal scenario in a poor economy is to be working where there is a workforce shortage and high demand. And where it is likely that demand will remain high. I see those field as being Medical ( Physician, Nursing, Public Health ), Information Systems, and Engineering ( Electrical, Nuclear and Petroleum, Computer ) . A combination of 2 of the the three is very forward thinking, which is why I see Bio-Engineering as the place to be. Or Bio-Information Systems, or Health Technology. That's where I think the future graduates will want to be for the next 15-30 years. Prevention and Security being two driving factors in both the technology and health fields in the future. Biotechnology never really hit like I think most thought it would, but it's on the horizon. Environmental engineering is taking off, but think it will be competitive because young folks are looking to make a difference for the first time, and are less concerned about making money, and this is a field that has momentum and makes a difference. I think 50 years from now you will see the emergence again of aerospace engineering with Bio-engineering and Health still going strong. One area were there is a major workforce shortage is in Addiction Medicine, growing momentum for legalization of many drugs, and boundaries falling, and yet no real treatment available. The need is already substantial. And growing. And Treatments will be delivered.
I think either an English based curriculum or a Math based curriculum is the way to go. If you major in English, you really do have a solid background for business. Also, most colleges require you to have a certain dabbling in science, history, liberal arts and communication. You can supplement that core courses with some business courses, if you want to start a business, the same way that you would in a purely math related field such as chemistry, meteorology, etc.. I just think the base of any 4 year college education should be either heavily math-based or English-based.
I'm about to try to attempt to transfer to UT for the fall 2014 semester. I've been thinking engineering but have been debating what type. EE, ME, or PEtro. Any of you guys have insight on any of these majors? Also, I don't plan on just engineering I'm looking more for the business side after graduating. Maybe get some experience for couple years then go back to school part time. Trying to make over 6 digits easy lol
I'm slowly researching grad school. I've been with my company for over a year now and they will pay for me to go back. Undergrad was poli sci (extremely stupid). The dream was law school, but after my internship I decided that was not what I wanted to do. I work for a major Foodservice company, currently in sales. Quite a few options to look at. I love my job and the company, so why not take advantage of free tuition if it's offered.
Where do you work? Are you guys hiring? I have a cousin who is a Nutrition major from UT, with 2 year experience in sales. He is really looking for a job with better pay.
I work with various types of engineers (though mostly petroleum) and from what they tell me, mechanical engineering is the most versatile and is what they recommend their children major in. Take that for what it's worth, but figured I'd share.
I honestly can't think of two less valuable degrees in the workforce than English or Math ... unless you want to teach English or Math. And, despite their relatively poor pay, teaching jobs are even difficult to secure any more. This. I have a petroleum engineering degree and have been lucky to have never experienced a bust the likes of which hit the industry routinely in the 80s and 90s. A mechanical or chemical degree allows a person to work in the petroleum industry, which is a great place to be when times are good, but if commodity prices head south, gives the flexibility to move to another, more stable, sector.
if you hid behind a degree you might get by on an entry-level job. That doesn't mean you know anything about the field you are in. If you have talent, than a pure degree in applied mathematics or english is all you need. Your career starts AFTER college, not while you are in college. If i wanted a vocation, then I'd go to a degree program that specialize in my field in interest. Hell, even computer science (as a 4 year to degree) is worthless. I'd rather spend that 4 years getting my microsoft certification. Going for an engineering degree (without any kind of focus) to say you are an "engineer" is laughable. It's like an MBA degree used to be.
I highly disagree. With the exception of certain jobs and industries, most of what you know will come from on-the-job training. For these non-technical positions, college majors only get you through half of the first day (as one boss jokingly told me). As long as you maintain a high GPA from a decent college, live in a city with a healthy economy, have several internships from freshman to senior year, and know how to socialize and recruit well, you can secure a good job even with a major like English or Communications. This isn't purely anecdotal; several hiring managers and headhunters mostly agree with this. I suggest anyone on the fence for major selection to visit their career services office. After brainstorming a list of fields according to your personality and passions, cross-reference those fields for future job prospects. Then try to meet people who work in those fields. If you like them, intern first. On Math, you have to be kidding me. I know three Math majors who work in the financial services industry, and they are making good money. In fact, they can't get enough math people from the US so they hire from China, Russia, etc. They also take people with astrophysics and engineering degrees because they have a good math background. No, math is very essential for these technical roles and it would be a great major choice.
(1) any major that teaches you how to create a tradeable skill or product (2) preferably something you enjoy doing, because you'll be doing it for a long time (3) add a business minor or MBA, so you can learn how to turn (1) into $$$. people will buy anything.
The only thing that makes sense in this comment is that an education begins after college. But you honestly think an English degree is going to get you in the door easier than an engineering degree?
This is quite possibly the worst advice I have ever heard. Everybody I know that has either an english or math degree, even from the top schools in the country, (don't know why on earth someone would do this considering majoring in physics gives you a math major automatically..) isn't doing anything. You are right about the technical skills being gained on the job, but chances are if you don't have the right connections you won't get something that pays well. If it is your passion..that is something ENTIRELY different and you should pursue it based on that. It really depends on what you want to do OP. I HIGHLY suggest you do something related to science, you always have good flexibility. Engineering is great, I think back and realize that after med school I have to a couple of years of residency before I get my first actual pay check. I like medicine, so I'm glad I chose it but a lot of my friends never put the length and commitment into perspective. I want to echo what another poster said about accounting, it is probably the most broad when it comes to majors and gives you an avenue into something with a higher ceiling. I majored in Biomedical Science and loved it during undergrad but realized that I could have actually gotten a lot out of undergrad since you can pretty much major in anything and take your pre-med pre-reqs. If I could do it over again I would do: Biomedical Engineering + MBA / or Accounting during undergrad (since you might as well get something out of it) and Med School after that as well.
No way, it won't. I think anybody can tell you that, but "what" is the resident troll on this site and majored in english or something,so he is quite defensive.
