5 Questions To Ask Yourself When Choosing A College Major

July 1 2020 - What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a question everyone gets asked at some point.

Some have a great epiphany that they want to be a doctor at a very young age. Other people struggle with how to figure out what to major in. The problem is that there are literally thousands of majors, and settling on just one can be daunting.

If you’re getting ready to apply to colleges - or even in college already but haven’t declared a major yet - we’ve put together this guide with 5 questions to ask yourself.

1. What Are Your Strengths?

Your strengths are those things in which you excel. What skills do you possess? If you can identify these strengths and skills, you can at least begin to eliminate majors that are not a good fit.

Make a list with your 10 best strengths. Feel free to ask your friends and family if you can’t come up with 10 on your own.

2. What Are Your Passions?

What are you passionate about? What are your values and beliefs? Is there a cause or issue that drives you? Then think about a major (and subsequent career) that will help you fight for it.

Choosing a major (and a career) is really about finding something you love...and then finding a way to do it.

3. What Are Your Interests?

It’s easy to equate your "passions" with your "interests", but they can be different things. Passions are aligned with your core beliefs. Interests are things that you might simply enjoy doing.

Do you enjoy shopping? Perhaps you can become a fashion merchandiser?

Do you love computer games? Maybe you can become a game designer?

4. What Jobs Will Be In Demand?

Choosing a major may have come down to a practical choice. Of course, you want to do something you enjoy. However, a major should prepare you for a career.

You’re going to be spending a lot of money on a college degree. If you get a student loan, you’ll have to pay it off at some point. In order to do that, you’ll need a job.

Do some research into the careers of the future to see what fields will be in demand. You also want to pay attention to how much you can expect to make in certain fields.

STEM jobs (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are expected to be strong for many years to come. We know careers that involve almost anything with computers will be in demand. So will careers in medical fields, such as nursing.

Thinking about future job prospects should be an important part of your decision.

5. What Kind of Degree Is Required?

Fields like psychology, medicine, law, science, and even business, often require at least a master's degree or med/law school.

You also want to think about other costs such as expensive textbooks and fees, on top of tuition.

Choose Your Major and Choose Your Future

Deciding what you want to do with your life is a big decision. Use these tips on how to figure out what to major in help you narrow down your choice and decide your future.

Check out our site to learn more about careers in human resources.

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