Current Events > 87% of journalism majors regretted their degree choice.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/12/the-top-10-most-regretted-college-majors.html

Still, 44% of all job seekers with college degrees regret their field of study.

Journalism, sociology, communications and education all topped the list of most-regretted college majors, according to ZipRecruiters survey of more than 1,500 college graduates who were looking for a job.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/8/6/AAcZIZAAD4JC.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/8/7/AAcZIZAAD4JD.jpg

Of graduates who regretted their major, most said that, if they could go back, they would now choose computer science or business administration instead.

Funny to read this as a business analytics & info systems major.

surprised philosophy isnt up there

David1988 posted...

surprised philosophy isnt up there

Philosophy majors actually get good practical results in the job market, plus it's typically used to get to good grad school stuff like law.

Nerds win

I'm graduated with finance and do not regret it

I'm surprised to see psychology being a least regretted field o.0

Computer science master race

Because its a shit paying field with shit hours.

My first major in college was computer science. I noped out of there after 2 years ause I was struggling in calculus and had 7 more calculus level classes to take to transfer to a university. I switched to a liberal arts major and after transferring, I tried switching my major to biology, but they weren't having it. They said I had too many credits (wtf). So I stick with the liberal arts major. It was genuinely fascinating, but I needed a graduate degree to do field work and a PhD to teach and I didn't have the passion for it. The advisors were saying I could get a cushy government desk job after... But after graduating, I realized how hard it was to get a decent paying job and had so many interviews for shady places. And White collar Government jobs weren't that common and they were competitive to get into. Looking for jobs for months was soul crushing. Eventually settled for a data entry clerk job for 2 years, but went to study biotech after. My manager was cool enough to let me work part time with benefits while going to school. So I then got into a field competing with bio and chem majors.

I like the field I'm in and the work i do. It took 7 years in the industry to get where I'm at.

If I could go back, would I change it? As an older adult at least maybe I would have given computer science another try, as I am more serious about school. But I also don't want to sit in a desk job for 8 hours a day. The coding itself isn't an issue. I think I might go back and get into biotech sooner and tried staying at CC for 2-3years instead of 4.. Maybe take biotech courses at the University I transferred.. or get into it sooner after graduating from liberal arts instead of waiting 2 more years.

The problem with college is that most people enter is without having any clue of what career they want and often people enter without any clue as to what field they want to work in. That is exactly how people waste years and money. Its totally understandable to start working towards something and realize you don't like it and make a switch. But again people enter with absolutely no direction.

Everyone entering should absolutely come up with a list of careers they would want to pursue, weigh the pros and cons, and make backup options.

I don't get how people don't do their due diligence into one of the most important decisions of their lives that will, again, cost them years of their prime youth, and tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Being a "kid" or too "young" is not an excuse, I have no sympathy. I started thinking of careers since I was in MS and used HS to explore different options, so by the time I applied to college, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted. Bottom line is HS kids just don't take their future seriously enough - I blame their parents and schools for that problem.

Most of the majors in the bottom list are directly linked to jobs right out of college. Most of the majors in the top list are not. Thats the difference.

Ruvan22 posted...

I'm surprised to see psychology being a least regretted field o.0

Psychology is just the other side of the philosophy coin.

Alright, information sciences is #1!

I'm surprised things like structure engineer and architects aren't in there.

100% of gaming journalists must regret their journalism major since they didn't need it to do what they do.

Got 'em!

i regret my major

VeggetaX posted...

I'm surprised things like structure engineer and architects aren't in there.

All of them I knew absolutely hated it, but were very glad to have the degree when they were done.

Journalism is one of the biggest industries killed by the Internet.

Intresting so I have a chance to become a real marine biologist.

apocalyptic_4 posted...

Intresting so I have a chance to become a real marine biologist.

https://youtu.be/3mnEnORmwOM

Criminology is the surprise winner here, imo.

Sonic_Cannon posted...

Criminology is the surprise winner here, imo.

Probably data analysis skills being applicable to many fields

Doe posted...

Philosophy majors actually get good practical results in the job market, plus it's typically used to get to good grad school stuff like law.

who hires a philisophy major? For what?

edit - I am not attacking philosophy, it was a legit question

Questionmarktarius posted...

Psychology is just the other side of the philosophy coin.

I've heard psychology being the other side of the sociology coin - an undergrad professor said "Those who major in sociology want to fix the world, those who major in psychology want to fix themselves"

Zero surprise for those top 4 choices lol

if working and spending money weren't so important this would be less of an issue

Dan_Haren- posted...

The problem with college is that most people enter is without having any clue of what career they want and often people enter without any clue as to what field they want to work in. That is exactly how people waste years and money. Its totally understandable to start working towards something and realize you don't like it and make a switch. But again people enter with absolutely no direction.

Everyone entering should absolutely come up with a list of careers they would want to pursue, weigh the pros and cons, and make backup options.

I don't get how people don't do their due diligence into one of the most important decisions of their lives that will, again, cost them years of their prime youth, and tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Being a "kid" or too "young" is not an excuse, I have no sympathy. I started thinking of careers since I was in MS and used HS to explore different options, so by the time I applied to college, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted. Bottom line is HS kids just don't take their future seriously enough - I blame their parents and schools for that problem.

Most of the majors in the bottom list are directly linked to jobs right out of college. Most of the majors in the top list are not. Thats the difference.

I agree that the US current system does a disservice/has a gap for teenagers, though I'm not sure using you as the metric for what should be expected is appropriate.

Ruvan22 posted...

I've heard psychology being the other side of the sociology coin - an undergrad professor said "Those who major in sociology want to fix the world, those who major in psychology want to fix themselves"

...it's a really weird coin

Marketing Management + Research really surprised me. I interned for a product manager of medical devices this summer and it was great.

Probably one of if not the most competitive job markets out there. You pretty much need to know someone. I guess you could say that about any job, but journalism for sure.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Im considering going back for a history degree in my 40s. I have tons of money just laying around and my mistake earlier in life was listening to everyone who told me to go for a business degree. I hate business despite having a good job.

It's very difficult for us to find jobs.

Scratch that.

It's very difficult for us to find good jobs. I got plenty of $12/hr offers while job hunting. They were all at papers with very few employees where I'd be doing most of the work, breaking my back and getting paid very little for it.

I ended up at local paper making $14/hr, and did that for nine months or so. In that time, 6 reporters left and it got down to two of us, and they didn't hire anyone new until right before I left.

Now I work for a business journal and make around $60k/yr and supplement that with disability from the air force, so I come out to about $70k/yr.

I'm lucky too. The good journalism jobs are very competitive, and I can't see myself staying in it for the long haul. Plenty of the PR folks I deal with now used to be CRE reporters like me though, and that's where I think I'll move next. Journalism to PR isn't an exact transferrable skillset like many think it is, but it is a lot easier if you report on a specific industry and nothing else like I do.

bump

codey posted...

It's very difficult for us to find jobs.

Scratch that.

It's very difficult for us to find good jobs. I got plenty of $12/hr offers while job hunting. They were all at papers with very few employees where I'd be doing most of the work, breaking my back and getting paid very little for it.

I ended up at local paper making $14/hr, and did that for nine months or so. In that time, 6 reporters left and it got down to two of us, and they didn't hire anyone new until right before I left.

Now I work for a business journal and make around $60k/yr and supplement that with disability from the air force, so I come out to about $70k/yr.

I'm lucky too. The good journalism jobs are very competitive, and I can't see myself staying in it for the long haul. Plenty of the PR folks I deal with now used to be CRE reporters like me though, and that's where I think I'll move next. Journalism to PR isn't an exact transferrable skillset like many think it is, but it is a lot easier if you report on a specific industry and nothing else like I do.

my international development program was kind of like that. jobs are competitive and it's not a sprawling industry where people make a ton of money, so the job market isn't really dictated by economy style principles. either way i couldn't finish the graduate program because i couldn't find an internship, lol. i needed 3 months of work and couldn't really find anything.

David1988 posted...

surprised philosophy isnt up there

My undergraduate degree was in philosophy. It opened a lot of doors and all of my friends from the course have successful careers. Im not sure where the perception that its a worthless degree comes from, as that has not been my experience.

I studied Software Engineering (so 'computer science') and work in the field now.

I wouldn't say that I regret my choice. I have a good job now that I don't mind so it's worked out for me.

However, if I had the opportunity to go back and choose something else then I probably would - nursing sounds pretty good.

Low pay is definitely an issue, but I havent seen anyone mention the fact that journalism is often really stressful. First, the deadlines can be intense. Youre trying to pump the news out as quickly as possible, but youre also trying hard not to make any mistakes. Theres only so much fact checking you can do and self-editing for grammatical errors and such, given the time constraints. Second, youve got to be aggressive and quick when it comes to approaching people, so you can either interview them or work out the logistics for whatever you need. Most people would find this very difficult because theyre introverted or have social anxiety, or just plain find it awkward to cold approach. Speaking of strangers, a lot of people either dont trust reporters or flat out dont even like them, so its often an uphill battle to get cooperation.

Maybe you could do all this, as in research fast, talk to strangers daily and produce articles and videos that are coherent and interesting. But could you do that grind everyday? Ive had a lot of different jobs and Im not saying journalism is completely terrible, but I definitely would not recommend it to most people.

I bet a bunch of those are video game journalists