So you’ve made it to graduation day and you’re about to cross the stage proudly as your parents take far too many flash photos and cry tears of joy. With any luck and a few all-nighters, you’ve met your goals and are ready to join the working world, but based on your major, how likely are you to land a job once you graduate college? Check out our list of the 10 most employable majors below, and see if yours made the cut!
1. Computer Engineering
For those of you who can set up a new computer in a few minutes flat and are always fielding desperate calls from friends about their technology woes, you’re in luck. It turns out that your tech-savvy ways can be put to use even in today’s touchy economic climate. A Forbesmagazine study revealed that the average salary for a computer engineer with five or fewer years of experience is $60,500.
If you’re interested in technology and can solve problems quickly on your own or with the help of a team, computer engineering might be the major for you. In a technology-driven world, there’s always a need for someone who can make sense of a motherboard or help create the latest software program.
A computer engineering major may sound a bit obscure, but there are 313 colleges in the U.S. that offer a four-year undergraduate program.
2. Pharmacology
So you want to be a pharmacist. This will take more than a bachelor’s degree, but all that hard work will pay off, as a recent study from Georgetown University shows that pharmacology has a 100 percent employment rate. The good news is, you can start your fast-paced pharmacy career sooner than collegiettes™ in other fields.
After only two years of undergraduate work, you can take the pharmacy college admission test (PCAT) and once you pass, you can start earning your pharmacy doctorate. Don’t worry about job security or stability as a pharmacist. You may have to take a slightly different route than the average grad, but if you have a passion for the medical field, strong math and science skills and a dream to wear that white coat, pharmacy has a job for you.
3. Economics
Here at Her Campus, we like to tell it to you straight. Therefore, here’s the truth—economics is a difficult major. Don’t let that scare you off, though. With the U.S. economy deeply in debt and stories about the next economic crisis splashed across the headlines, there’s rarely been a more important or exciting time to study economics.
Business economics is among the highest-earning majors for women, with an average $64,000 salary. Not only that, but agricultural economics has a 100 percent employment rate. If you want to learn more about economics, there is a discipline for you—and a good chance at finding a successful job in the future.
4. School Student Counseling
Ever since you landed your first babysitting job during high school, you’ve loved working with kids. Not only do you enjoy building couch forts and reading bedtime stories, you also pride yourself on being a role model and may have helped a younger brother or sister tackle a tricky homework assignment or sort out which college would work best for them. Despite a troubled economy, school student counselors can proudly report a 100 percent employment rate.
So how do you become a school student counselor? Like pharmacology, becoming a licensed school student counselor will take more than the typical four-year program. Start with a psychology degree and go from there, but while you’re studying, be sure to take advantage of programs like tutoring and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
5. Mechanical Engineering
With only 10 percent of mechanical engineers being female, collegiettes in this challenging field may stand out, but they can rest knowing that the average earnings for this career is $80,000 a year. Science and math must be your close friends, and thermodynamics should not be Greek to you by the time you graduate. An admirable 95 percent of mechanical engineering majors can boast employment.
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6. Finance
You made budget spreadsheets for yourself back when you were still getting a weekly allowance form your parents. You’ve never made a late rent payment or had an overdraft fee, and you consider your personal piggy bank collection a thing of beauty. A career in finance may be right for you, and with a 94 percent employment rate, we can hardly blame you.
It’s one of the most popular majors in the U.S. today and has an average income of $65,000. We trust you’re already thinking about how that will fit into your 401(k) plans.
7. Mathematics
Crunching numbers is listed in your Facebook interests. When the bill gets to your table after a round of margaritas and plate of nachos with your girlfriends, you’re the first to help everyone figure out how much they owe and what percent they should leave for a tip. If these sound familiar, math is your calling, and you’ll be happy to know that careers in math have a 94 percent employment rate. Keep in mind that most math majors go on to graduate school to earn advanced degrees.
While the Georgetown study listed math as one of the least popular majors for American college students, its average earnings check in at $98,000. Tell that one to the boy in 3rd grade who made fun of you for being nerdy because math was your favorite subject.
8. Civil Engineering
From crafting plans for skyscrapers and suspension bridges to designing innovative ways to supply water to a community, civil engineers have a tough, but exciting task. If that doesn’t draw you in, consider that civil engineering has one of the highest average salaries for women at $62,000 a year. Also, you don’t necessarily have to earn a graduate degree. The Georgetown study showed that 65 percent of civil engineers have only a bachelor’s degree.
9. Political Science
Forget The Bachelor, you’re glued to the presidential candidate debates and have C-SPAN, not Facebook, as your homepage. You’ve been excited for 2012 for months not because it means the first movie in The Hunger Games series is coming out, but because it’s an election year. Political science is your major of choice, and luckily for you, it has a 93 percent employment rate.
Graduates with degrees in political science have an almost endless list of career options. Do you want to be a journalist? How about an international agency officer, career counselor, or CIA agent? The American Political Science Association lists these and many more for collegiettes™ with a passion for politics.
10. Marketing
Marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular majors among U.S. college students, and collegiettes™, take note—51 percent of marketing students are female. In a field once dominated by men, women are making a comeback. A career in marketing can pull in an average $58,000 a year.
If you think that marketing means dull days spent behind a desk, chained to a cubicle, think again. Careers sprouting from a business major with a marketing focus include opportunities in public relations, advertising and brand management. Here’s your chance to make bank on those great ideas you’re always coming up with.
What’s your major? Did yours make our list? Let us know below!
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