rictus58 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 how did that happen lol? And hows accounting going? Life just happens I guess. I had a hard time out of college finding a job (thank you english lit degree), I ended up doing credit card collections for MBNA, then just job hopped from there. I don't have my CPA or anything, but numbers are my life now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVAbrendan Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I haven't read the whole thread, but here's my take. Out of high school, I didn't know what exactly what I wanted to major in. I didn't have particularly strong high school grades. I knew I wanted to do something involved with music business/entertainment. I figured the best way to succeed in this path was to network, and undergrad schooling wouldn't do too much to help achieve this without living in NY, LA, Chicago, etc... So, being a realist and assuming I wouldn't be lucky enough to have a career in that path, I chose a Marketing degree. I did this because it enabled versatility....I could work for a dog food company, a technology company, a food/beverage company...everybody has marketing needs... I helped supplement the degree by teaching myself graphic design. I was able to land a few marketing jobs with local companies. Now, I'm in sales with a very reputable musical instrument manufacturer...not really a marketing gig, but I dig it. My advice...unless you are dead set on a path, go in undeclared and get your feet wet with pre-req courses and see if anything tickles your fancy. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 My advice...unless you are dead set on a path, go in undeclared and get your feet wet with pre-req courses and see if anything tickles your fancy. Best of luck! Excellent advice. You are awarded 1st prize! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Because most people have never been introduced to becoming consciously aware their belief systems. Therefore, they are prone to unconscious living controlled by their external environment. A small percentage reach threshold and do something about it I think it may be some of that, but I think a lot of it stems from a lack of material contentment, I'm one who believes that if you cannot be content with nothing then you won't be content with everything. Our culture is filled with messages which tell us that contentment is not highly valued, so much so that we use as a cultural scorecard whether or not one generation will have a higher standard of living than their parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCSaints_fan Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 My first advice to you is to completely ignore any and all advice you receive from anyone over the age of 28 or under the age of 23. By doing this you are limiting yourself to people who have graduated during the ****ty economy and you can safely ignore the old people who could major in philosophy and still land a decent job. Those days are gone. You can try to go down that route, but it is extremely perilous and not even close to a sure thing. Getting a job right out of college in a field that utilizes skills that you learned during college is actually relatively difficult. The economy was plenty ****ty when I graduated, and I"m 33 and didn't major in liberal arts (CS major). My second advice would be to ignore liberal arts majors unless you plan on doing a masters (which costs a decent chunk of change). In my opinion, employers for entry level positions would almost always prefer a more specialized major than a liberal arts major. Want to be a financial analyst? If you're an econ major, you could be getting passed over by finance majors. Want to work in the sciences? Employers would probably prefer an engineering major than a physics major. Want to be an accountant? You can't even get an interview at most firms unless you're an accounting major. Want to be a consultant? Again, they'd probably prefer a finance or accounting major than an econ major. Totally disagree with the physics majors. I see physics majors in working in every field, even where you might not expect them like the biomedical field and the finance industry. I don't see the same with say, business or history majors. With their analytical reasoning and math skills they run circles around their colleagues when problems occur that require them. Its much easier for someone trained in physics to transition to something like engineering, software development, finance, medicine, etc. with maybe a year of getting up to speed on the particulars of that field, than it it is for other majors like business or liberal arts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warpath11 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Any quantitative science (i.e. physics, most engineering) followed by applied mathematics (statistics to be precise) followed by something to do with computers, if you can handle any of those things. These are majors that may not make you happy but you will always find a job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I think it may be some of that, but I think a lot of it stems from a lack of material contentment, I'm one who believes that if you cannot be content with nothing then you won't be content with everything. Our culture is filled with messages which tell us that contentment is not highly valued, so much so that we use as a cultural scorecard whether or not one generation will have a higher standard of living than their parents. If you don`t know what makes you happy... and don`t spend the time and effort to pursue it... then there`s plenty of other influences (ppl, corporations, etc) that will make those decisions for you -- that`s the external environment and influences I was addressing previously :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncr2h Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Totally disagree with the physics majors. I see physics majors in working in every field, even where you might not expect them like the biomedical field and the finance industry. I don't see the same with say, business or history majors. With their analytical reasoning and math skills they run circles around their colleagues when problems occur that require them. This is your 33 year-old self looking at other mid-career professionals. Physics major will get you a teaching job if you go the masters and possibly doctorate route. If you want an engineering job, you will be behind the engineering majors. If you want a consulting job, you will be behind the finance majors. If you want a CS job, you will be behind the CS majors. You are not the prototypical major for any of these positions. You might get interviews based solely off of curiosity, but the big firms in these areas know exactly what they are looking for in entry level candidates and are not trying to rock the boat. By "behind", BTW, I'm talking about your resume and the interview process as a whole. Not trying to say that you won't have the skills for these jobs because you probably will, or at least you will have a good foundation to learn them. Its much easier for someone trained in physics to transition to something like engineering, software development, finance, medicine, etc. with maybe a year of getting up to speed on the particulars of that field, than it it is for other majors like business or liberal arts. ^This I agree with completely. But I don't think this is what's going through the mind of recruiters at big firms. They're looking for people like themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMP Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 This is your 33 year-old self looking at other mid-career professionals.Physics major will get you a teaching job if you go the masters and possibly doctorate route. If you want an engineering job, you will be behind the engineering majors. If you want a consulting job, you will be behind the finance majors. If you want a CS job, you will be behind the CS majors. You are not the prototypical major for any of these positions. You might get interviews based solely off of curiosity, but the big firms in these areas know exactly what they are looking for in entry level candidates and are not trying to rock the boat. But those 33 year olds got there, and it isn't like finance and computer sciences are really new majors. I'm 40 and when I did my undergrad at a small state school there was a computer science major and finance is even older. Those people got there through a process. I have a brother that was a physics major. He originally got his job because they wanted somebody that could do some programming and he'd taken some programming classes, but also wanted people that could do electronic stuff in terms of basic up keep and repair of equipment that most physics majors get. From there, he transitioned mostly into the programming, and from there into costumer support and from there into management. And today in reality his undergrad degree doesn't matter or really how he started, but I'm pretty sure the place he works are still looking for people that are smart and have combinations of skills. Obvioiusly, if you want to do pure finance or pure programming, then you should major in them. But there are lot's of entry level jobs where it is a little of this and a little of that and from there you can grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yank Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I went with the only subject I got an A in for my first semester (Computer Science). Must have tripped my trigger or something but I have never regretted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakinaiken Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Where do the babes go? Atmospheric science.. never been more popular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Atmospheric science.. never been more popular Well, let's dip into the appropriate cheese vat. "It may be a corny song title, but when I think about you, I can see how a person really can be the wind beneath someone's wings." "You have something in common with my favorite Motown artists, the Temptations. You put me on Cloud Nine." "We may share a study of precipitation, but it's someone like you that inspires people to write poems about the rain." "You are truly a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day." "If you had a nickname it should be 'snowflake ' because you are both unique and beautiful." "You give new meaning to 'global warming'." "I love the storm in your eyes, the thunder in my heart, and the lightning we make together." "I think you're responsible for the turbulence in my pants." "I think I'd like to just spend the day stroking your cumulus and sucking on your nimbus." I got a million of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Went into class for 2 weeks, was waiting in the lobby for the class before us to let out, overheard people saying "This class is already the toughest class I have, I can't even follow what we're doing"I was 2 chapters ahead out of just curiosity and boredom... It was common sense to me... Class? Microeconomics... Future job: Data Scientist (Major: Economics (Econometrics) Minor: Information Systems/Operations Management) Micro was the first math-like class that even attempted to teach it right. Start with the answer, show me why I want to know the answer and then work the problem back to the question, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinswillwin06 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Went into class for 2 weeks, was waiting in the lobby for the class before us to let out, overheard people saying "This class is already the toughest class I have, I can't even follow what we're doing"I was 2 chapters ahead out of just curiosity and boredom... It was common sense to me... Class? Microeconomics... Future job: Data Scientist (Major: Economics (Econometrics) Minor: Information Systems/Operations Management) That sounds like an awesome job. What exactly do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 About 10% of college is actually about education, the remaining 90% is about signalling to a potential employer that you got smarts to learn the work and the characteristics needed in a worker (like being a follower who wont just leave when you learn how to do the work). ---------- Post added December-14th-2012 at 07:04 PM ---------- The economy was plenty ****ty when I graduated, and I"m 33 and didn't major in liberal arts (CS major). Totally disagree with the physics majors. I see physics majors in working in every field, even where you might not expect them like the biomedical field and the finance industry. I don't see the same with say, business or history majors. With their analytical reasoning and math skills they run circles around their colleagues when problems occur that require them. Its much easier for someone trained in physics to transition to something like engineering, software development, finance, medicine, etc. with maybe a year of getting up to speed on the particulars of that field, than it it is for other majors like business or liberal arts. As a physicist friend of mine once said: "Anything less than a PHD means you will at best be only tangentially involved in physics and may not be doing physics at all." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconTheVillain Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 It took me a long time and I thought and thought about what I wanted to major in. So philosophy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 It took me a long time and I thought and thought about what I wanted to major in.So philosophy So you chose to be a hippie :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCSaints_fan Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 As a physicist friend of mine once said: "Anything less than a PHD means you will at best be only tangentially involved in physics and may not be doing physics at all." And majoring in physics will give you that opportunity. Plus lots of others. Majoring in just about anything else, won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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