A lot of students begin college with an undeclared major or go through a period when they question whether or not they have chosen the right path. While this can be a normal part of the journey, we want to minimize the time spent in limbo. What concerns me most is when a student with an undeclared major tells me that they are taking general education courses to figure out their career path. There are two major issues with this train of thought:
- General ed courses are full of English, math, history, fine arts, etc. and very little, if any, exposure to career-relevant topics or courses.
- While it sounds good to take general education courses and figure out what they want to do, many students fail to take actions during this time period that help them make that decision.
Simply put, general education courses are important but do not help students in the career planning process. So what can a student do instead? This was a question posed to me recently…
What steps can students with an undeclared major take while fulfilling general education course requirements?
There are many different things a student could do, but the main point I want to drive home is JUST TAKE ACTION! Any action is better than no action and the list of possibilities is virtually endless. I have some low-commitment, easy steps a student can take.
Need Help Choosing a Major?
How to Choose a College Major!
Three Actions to Help Undeclared Majors Find Clarity:
- Conduct an informational interview – An informational interview is one of my favorite suggestions for students. The perspective gained from having a conversation with someone who is working in a field of interest is invaluable. It is a low time commitment activity that can yield big results for students. The key to this action is properly planning the informational interview to ensure helpful information is gathered. Get my FREE Informational Interview Guide to help!
- Join a career-relevant student organization – Every major on a campus usually has a student organization available to students. Membership is usually little to no cost to students and the time commitment is also very low. Attending a monthly meeting can be helpful for a student and allow them not only gain information about a career field but develop networking skills at the same time!
- Attend Young Professional networking events – Cities across the nation and around the world have young professional networking groups! Some are sponsored by local chamber organizations while some are completely independently organized. A quick google search of “Young Professionals Networking [insert city name]” will typically yield a list of opportunities. Students can take a friend and enjoy casual conversations that will bring big perspective!
If you know a student who could benefit from career perspective or is taking classes without a real plan for his/her career, encourage them to take one of the steps above! Equally important as taking action is evaluating each experience. We learn and gain clarity through evaluated experiences!
How to Evaluate Experiences:
Reflection is a very powerful tool. Many students don’t engage in enough reflection after experiences and, thus, don’t get the clarity they are seeking after each one. Here are some questions that students to answer to help them evaluate each experience.
- Name an aspect of the experience that you like most. What made that so enjoyable?
- What was something unexpected about the experience?
- How did you feel when [insert response from the first question] happened?
- Did this experience make you more or less excited to learn more about [insert industry]? Why?
These four questions will spur deeper thought. From here, one can drill down further and begin to figure out the pros and cons of their top options for their future. This is such an important step and one that should not be skipped or rushed!
Remember, taking action is crucial. Then, evaluating those actions and experiences are what will bring clarity to students with undecided majors!
How can I help?
As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.
