mofo       02-08-2007, 11:43 am

Don't worry. I'm going in as a history major. I have absolutely zero career opportunities ahead of me.

JohnLenin       02-08-2007, 12:06 pm

major in Applications of Robotics in the Adult Film Industry, there's bound to be money in that.

ghostrider       02-08-2007, 12:17 pm

Don't worry about the old "end up flipping burgers" cliché. You can always build small wood boxes for people to put their weed in.

lefen       02-08-2007, 01:02 pm

I don't know how it works in your country, but over here, arts degrees are just as useless as science ones, so you'd be much better off majoring in something vocational I would have thought. Although I with someone had told me that 7 years ago :<

lownotes       02-08-2007, 01:27 pm

I graduate in May. I now realize you can get Bachelor's-degree-equivalent college education just by traveling, reading good books and taking detailed notes on both.

So, if you are going to college or plan to - get vocational training out of it.

dent       02-08-2007, 02:58 pm

I went to a vocational design school (4 years, 2 years art, 2 years academics) and went directly into the art field out of school. I've been out of school since 94' and have made a decent living. But, it all depends on what niche of the field you get into. Commercial art; drafting, silk screening, sign painting (a lost art), airbrushing, portrait work all pay decent, depending on the part of the country (mostly large cities). Computer design; packaging design, advertising agencies, corporate branding, web design all pay really well.

Of course you can do both - freelance or contract for companies. This is the best way to make a ton of money.

Put a portfolio together or your skill is worth caca.

jwalker       02-08-2007, 03:00 pm

^ those are my thoughts too - if you can get a degree in engineering (for example) then it would probably be easier to move from that later to the arts, than it would be the other way around.

dinozoa       02-08-2007, 03:45 pm

do what you love. If you decide you don't like paleontology, but you major in it anyway, you'll either spend the rest of your life doing something you don't like, or you'll be doing something you do like except it's not paleo and you wasted your college career.

LOki       02-08-2007, 04:48 pm

HAHAHAHA!

LOki = Fine art (print making) and Philosophy

Leading to Industrial/Construction Safety Consulting and Asbestos project compliance oversight.

That is the good that a liberal arts education will get you.

Congradulations to you on your choice in major ... for nothing.

wrecker       02-08-2007, 05:49 pm

Associates of Liberal Art (useless)

Working on my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. I still need to pick a minor, and I'm leaning towards either History or English.

yazirian       02-08-2007, 06:38 pm

But paleontologists are cool!

Dumbskull       02-08-2007, 07:15 pm

Change your major to anthropology become a true shovel bum and make me proud!

phlebas       02-08-2007, 07:54 pm

Dude, I started out in computer science, went to psychology, delved in education and finished in English. I work in engineering. Have fun in college and learn as much as you can.

uart       02-08-2007, 09:14 pm

Some Majors help you get a job. Those majors also lock you pretty tight into a specific career path. I changed my major four times, and now I'm going to go to Law School...

Consider just being in Liberal Arts or something until you know what you can do...

As for Graphic Arts, if you want to get a job in it, you just need to be good at it. When you interview, they will want to see a portfolio of work -- if that work is good, you'll have a job.

uart       02-08-2007, 09:18 pm

Remember though, your college major does NOT necessarily equate to a career. Two of the richest alumni from my University were English majors. One ended up running an investment bank, and the other one became the CEO of a pharmaceutical company (and later he was the ambassador to Sweden).

wrecker       02-09-2007, 05:58 am

I have about 6 friends who graduated with Graphic Arts degrees. Of those six, only one has a decent job in Graphic Arts. The rest are eaither working their asses off for shitty companies making a shitty salary and freelancing on the side, or they are not working in the field at all.

The one who actually made it had to slave his ass off for about five years before he landed his current job with Turbine (the company that brought you D&D Online and soon Lord of the Rings Online).

The competition in the Graphic Arts field is ungodly tight.

The advice to just get a Liberal Arts degree first then focus on a major is good stuff.

hellkat       02-09-2007, 08:48 am

If you keep changing your major, you won't graduate therefore you won't find a job you like... no problem. ;-)

My personal observation is that career path is often influenced by old-fashoned networking or by luck. I swore I would never work in electronics because it was being forced onto me by my father. I wound up a printed circuit designer and engineering support specialist because that is where I had experience from forced child labor and that is what they would pay me to do.

My sister studied Animal Husbandry, Equine Studies. She knows how to breed horses, train them and clean stalls. She works as a county dog catcher.

My brother has his Civil Engineering degree, and does in fact work as a civil engineer for TXDOT.

My bf has his degree in education, but works for an e-commerce company doing hardware & software support.

Good luck.

government_death_robot       02-09-2007, 09:20 am

What if I got a minor that wasn't completely worthless. Maybe computer science or something?

The only time I ever exhibit any patience is when I'm doing something related to the following:
a) art
b) music
c) math, but I don't really want to take calc. 4

government_death_robot       02-09-2007, 09:21 am

Oh, and I really don't want to keep changing majors; it would be cool to finally decide on one, and it would eliminate a lot of stress. I can't stay here 4 years wif no major. Moneys. :(

Infectionconnection       02-09-2007, 09:29 am

We do litigation consulting. We pay our graphic designers really well. If you are a proactive kind of person, in 2 or 3 years you could be pulling 60-70k or more if you don't mind working overtime and travelling alot.

I wouldn't call it art, but it can call for creativity sometimes.

Infectionconnection       02-09-2007, 09:32 am

i was a "liberal stdies" major. try to think of a more meaningless major.

I wound up paralegaling for law firms until about 7 years ago (total of 13 years), then hooked up with the lit consulting firm.

I found it was less important what my major was, and more important how i could twist my experience on my resume to fit the job i was seeking.

autoshoes       02-09-2007, 01:31 pm

me = Fine Arts major with a concentration in Photography

now = doing video production for the local community college, and making a decent living doing so.

how I got here: I got LUCKY. I was signed on as a temp at a place helping them get familiar with photoshop, and was there when a video guy moved to another area. They liked me and moved me into his area, and I was there for almost 5 years total. The degree DID get me in the door, but my experience (in this case in photoshop) sold my position.
I then watched the HR listings at the school, and applied whenever something appopriate popped up. BTW - I did my taxes, and noticed I'm making almost 20% more here than i was there. lesson = the best way to a raise is to change jobs. And luck, personality, and experience win over degrees (even though they help).

dinozoa       02-09-2007, 02:37 pm

I'm a math major. It's a lot of fun, but most mathematicians are assholes. You will meet a lot of people who're a lot smarter than you and who make you feel bad for being dumb. On the upside, you learn some amazing stuff and a shit ton of companies will pay you lots of money, if that's an upside.

Calculus is a crappy class. I recommend you skip it and go right to the junior/senior math classes, or at least linear algebra. You won't need calculus and if your advisor decides you fucked up you can always come back and take it later. Chances are he/she will let you take whatever you want as long as you act ambitious and look like you're going to graduate in 4 years.

LilBabyPissmouth       02-09-2007, 10:11 pm

GDR: Get back to engineering...I would say mechanical or electrical and I mean machinery and power. Four years and you'll be done. There's a HUGE brain drain happening now in both fields due to retirement and a lack of interest in the younger generations. Now is the time to get in, you'll never have a problem getting a job or being paid very, very well. Plus, when the end of the world comes, you'll know how to fix shit! Very valuable you will be, yes.

uart       02-09-2007, 11:37 pm

LBP. if all college is about is getting a job and getting paid well, then being an engineer is a good, but mediocre option. By your criteria he should double-major in Finance and Accounting. PLENTY of accounting jobs out there, and as a finance major, he should be able to get a job in Investment Banking. NOBODY gets paid more than an Investment Banker.

Except a CEO, and only a big-company's CEO.

government_death_robot       02-10-2007, 01:55 am

I dropped engineering for a few reasons; one of them is I have no desire to know how anything works. Electricity is magic and technology evolves on its own.

I went ahead today (had an advising appointment scheduled from, like, 4 days earlier) and switched to art major/computer science minor. The way the adviser talked, this was not a completely terrible idea. Maybe if I do visual communications and then the c.s., I could work for a video game company or something? I dunno.

wrecker       02-10-2007, 08:49 am

Just remember. Civil Engineers design targets. Mechanical Engineeers design the weapons to detroy those targets.

LilBabyPissmouth       02-10-2007, 01:08 pm

GDR: good luck, it's tough to decide. I also changed my major a few times...

wecker: haha

uart: college is about getting laid and partying...and also trying to figure out what the hell you'd want to spend most of your life doing and getting paid to do it. True that most people don't have a career in the major that they chose...I only suggested engineering because he had toyed with the option, at one point. I wouldn't have suggested it, had he only expressed interest in the arts. If you don't enjoy math or the sciences then pursuing an engineering degree is setting yourself up for failure or at the least, a miserable life. Engineering may be a mediocre choice for you, but personally, I love it. My job is fun and few people can say that.

Besides, when the end of the world comes, who would you rather have on your team, an engineer or an investment banker?

jwalker       02-10-2007, 10:55 pm

If you like the CS courses, there is good money and increasingly more opportunity in the programming arena.

clavis_apocalypticae       02-11-2007, 01:01 am

I thought I'd major in English Lit.

I dropped out before I finished because I realized my major doomed me to an existence of wearing corduroy elbow patches, sweating tenure, and nervously banging coeds.

Fast-forward 15 years, and I owe Uncle Sam about eight hundred large in taxes on my income for this year alone. I will somewhat grudgingly, somewhat gladly pay it.

What I do for a living has little or nothing to do with either my formal, nor my self-acquired education. It came from a fundamental need for money, the desire to get more, and the wherewithal to do it.

University teaches you how to think in ways your folks never dreamed of teaching you; don't get mired down in trying to learn anything beyond that there.

Godspeed, Okie.

dinozoa       02-12-2007, 04:37 pm

How do you keep from getting Herpes and a kid and stuff?

I guess by not givin' a shit!

Daaaamn! That answer could use some work!

Danny_Inferno       02-13-2007, 04:16 pm

i know people who studied art, and many of them became art teachers.
and at the same time some of them have international reputations and show all over the world.

they also got good at grant writing.