Career Place
This is the third post of the series “How to choose the right college major”.
You can always change
If you have a few different courses that you are unsure about, don’t panic. Just go for one of them and see if you like it. Normally it shouldn’t take long time before you realize you have done a good or a bad choice, probably the first few weeks. If your choice of course is close related to another one that you find likeable, there shouldn’t be a problem to just change to that study immediately. A short example is this: If you start with an engineering study, let’s say mechanical engineering and then finds interest in computer science, all you probably need to do is to ask for a transfer to that course and it should be fine. Just remember that you should do it before the end of the first semester as most engineering courses have more or less the same subjects the first semester.
This way of direct change works best at engineering courses, but you should be able to make a transfer no matter study as long as you do it early in the semester at the same school you’re admitted into. If you even finish the year with an unsatisfying course, you can still change the study while transferring relevant subjects. In many cases you can transfer direct to the second year of another related study as long as you are willing to take required subjects you lack from the first year. A good example could be transferring business and marketing. The possibilities vary from study to study but in most cases there is hope, so don’t admonish yourself if you find your study unfulfillable– just change it.
The money aspect
I hope I do not shock you guys when I say this, but the question of money is highly exaggerated to say the least. In my experience plenty of students base a significant amount of decision making on the dollar sign, choosing where the money is. There are few problems with this approach. First there is a great diversity in money making in almost any field or industry. For example, in the IT– industry you will find both those who make millions and those who earn less than a shopkeeper (nothing wrong with a shopkeeper by the way). You have economists that make very good money, but you also have economist that make nothing more than what is considered an average payment. With such variations in payment it should be clear that few fields guarantee great payments (perhaps except medicine).
When you are choosing a study you should know that you are deciding your future. If you know you will be working for 40+ years, it’s crucial that you work with something that gives you value, something that you care about. It’s a well documented fact that big salaries doesn’t create good workers. However, there is no doubt that interest for a field will make you a better employee. If you have passion, you will be motivated, perform better, enjoy your daily work and have a better career experience overall.
If it happens that you loves your job and the payment is equally big– then great, lucky you! Let the money work for you and not the opposite! Funny enough, in most cases the money come by itself as long as you are happy with your job!
If you really don’t agree with my above statements, there is one thing I want you to do– find some people from different industries and ask what they think (except Hollywood). Anyhow, I would be more than happy to hear your view as I have always enjoyed discussing this matter.
For now, Au Revoir!
This is the second post of this series, Part 1, part 2, part 3
The developer of this website, Abdirisak Jibril is a student of engineering and enjoys offering valuable tips on topics related to career, personal development, study-life and much more.
