In my last post, I summarized the experiences of several of my friends who chose their college major largely by the classes they enjoyed in school. I won’t go into all the reasons I ended up there, but my college major was in Chemistry.
Over the course of my summer internships, I realized didn’t really want to go into research. I don’t think I ever really thought I wanted to go into research, but research was where I was able to find summer internships. (And I worked really hard to find my summer internships. It wasn’t easy.)
As I neared the end of the completion of my degree, I spent hours in my universities “career office” – which really only served the business school – but the only job I found I could apply to was research in industry. And before I could apply even to that job, I really needed a graduate degree. (There were no on-campus interviews for science majors.) For various reasons (part of it being the cost, or lack there of) I ended up with another natural sciences degree, a PhD in plant biology.
When you get a PhD in science, the job you’re most qualified to do is research. Granted, science research is a worthy and important field. But the fact is, there are a few jobs in the private sector; most of the jobs are at a college or university. Necessarily those jobs are in limited locations, and each opening has a hundred applicants or more. (I do know quite a few people who have research positions at universities. But in case you missed it, you can’t get those jobs with an undergraduate degree. It requires a PhD which takes 4-6 years past your college degree. And after you finish that, you’ll find out it also requires a post-doc of 2-4 years (at low pay), for a total of 10-14 years of education past high school.)
After graduation – trying to find a job someplace other than academic research – I took a job as a science textbook editor, at slightly less than $30K a year, with no benefits. (And I know for a fact that a computer science masters degree, with 2 fewer years of school, got a 50% higher salary at that time.)
With the cost of education, now more than ever, when picking a college major students really should be asking themselves, “What kind of job can I get with this degree?” In my next post, I’ll make some suggestions about how to answer this question.
Read Further
Both sides of a recent PhD employment debate
The Ever-Tightening Job Market for Ph.D.s – Why do so many people continue to pursue doctorates?
‘Employment crisis’ for new Ph.D.s is an illusion
The fool’s gold of Ph.D. employment data
Articles in this series, How to choose a college major
- You’re majoring in what? – How to choose a college major Part 1 Your college major is what? It’s not just English majors. Did you know you can’t get a decent job with a chemistry degree? A biology degree? A math degree?
- College Majors – How to choose a college major Part 2 Is a STEM degree in science a good choice for a college major? What jobs can you get if your college major is in science?
- Employment Numbers – How to choose a college major Part 3 How do you choose a college major? Questions for college career centers. The numbers for STEM science college degrees might surprise you.