You may have received these daunting questions after graduating High School: “So, what do you want to study in College?”, or “What career field are you going into?” The response might have been, “I don’t know,” where a follow up response could have been, “Well you have to figure it out sooner rather than later.” But do you really have to make such a quick decision? Below are some testimonials of advice for choosing your major and the resources available to you as a Husky!
If you had just five minutes to brainstorm as many career and major titles as you could, you’d likely come up with more major-specific labels than career titles. This is because majors tend to be more limited in scope than career titles. However, the names of your major usually don’t have as much bearing on the career paths you can pursue.
Testimonials
Carl Dean, Assistant Director and Counselor at Student Support Services at UConn, works primarily with First-Generation and lower socio-economic students by assisting them in their transition from high school to college. He states that choosing a major aligned with your skills and interests is crucial for a student’s college success and experience. So, the question is, how do we choose a major?
Carl shares that when he was a junior in high school, he was not focused on attending college. At this time, he was first introduced to accounting after examining books on the subject matter and asking his fellow peers what the class was about. He enrolled in the class and described it as both wonderful and challenging. His love for the subject inspired him to declare it as a major at UConn. However, he realized that trying to balance academics as a student athlete was too demanding. Determined to stay in the Business realm, he switched to Finance and graduated to work in banking and lending for seven years, and finally in Higher Education. Carl’s advice to students: “There is more to a Career Path than what meets the eye, and it is important to learn how to learn.”
Yamileth Lopez-Ramos, a UConn graduate, shared her journey exploring Human Development and Family Sciences. After graduating High School, Yami was unsure of the major she wanted to pursue but knew it had to involve helping others. She did not have the resources at the time to discover other majors, so she chose to study Biology despite having no background. Halfway through her Biology course and many exams later, she decided to drop the course and declare her major undecided. After struggling for some time, she came across the course that changed her perspective: HDFS 1070 Individual and Family Development. Her deep interest in the class led her to pursue Human Development and Family Sciences and a minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studie. She continued to gain exposure as an Orientation Leader and a Peer Mentor through the Academic Achievement Center, which strengthened her vision for a future career path. These roles allowed her to fulfill her passion of helping others by providing students with mentorship. Yami stresses the importance of networking to discover different careers and gives this advice to students: “Your classes, talking to peers, clubs, and organizations can help you to determine what path you would like to pursue.”
The last testimonial comes from Daniella Green, a former UConn student, who showed interest in Communications but sought advice from a mentor who had pursued this major as well. This discussion helped her gain insight into what the major entails and what she could do with it. She shared that it can be a scary thing speaking to someone close to you when discussing your future, so it was pleasant to hear from someone who had experience in the field without any biases. Her advice is to reach out to mentors who have experience in the field because these valuable conversations can open you to a world of possibilities.
Career Exploration Resources
Not sure where to get started? Here are some resources that the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills has curated just for you:
- Meet with a Career Coach to discuss your interests and goals so you can get a start on your career journey. Already graduated? No problem! You can utilize our Career Coaching Services for up to three years post-graduation. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our office at career@uconn.edu.
- Alumni-in-Residence invites dedicated UConn alumni to partner with the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills to nurture the next generation of graduates. Through this program, students can connect with alumni to explore careers, gain insights into industry trends and the job/internship search, and receive personalized career advice. Alumni-in-Residence volunteer for one semester, dedicating time each month for virtual appointments where they offer one-on-one career conversations.
- Career & Affinity Communities Alumni Mentors who are willing to be contacted for career advice and industry insights. A great feature is they change each semester so you can gain many different perspectives. Each Alumni Mentor has their education, the campus they attended, activities they were involved in at UConn, topics they can help with, and the medium they prefer for contact. Please keep in mind that these mentors determine when and how they engage with you.
- Focus2 is a helpful platform that takes your interests into account and shows careers that align with them. These are different Self Assessments people can take, and the platform gives back recommendations. There are five assessments in total: Work Interest Assessment, Personality Assessment, Leisure Assessment, Values Assessment, and Skills Assessment. These are half an hour in total to complete. Once you have gone through all of these you can combine the Assessments so they can show you different career paths and majors at UConn your interests align with. Keep in mind this is not the answer to what you should do, but rather to provide ideas about potential areas of interest. You can always meet with a Career Coach to go over these independently.
It may be scary to have a conversation with a family member or someone close to you who may question your decision or path but that is where the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills comes in. We are here to help prepare you for those tough conversations so you feel ready when the time comes!
