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What are some commonly chosen minors to go with a chemistry major?

Hello,
I am an incoming freshman for the fall semester of 2018 and well, this is stressful time. I am trying to figure out what I want to do and how to go about it and all that fun jazz. I really enjoy studying chemistry and so I am probably going to be majoring in it. I would really like some recommendations on what are some commonly chosen minors that go along with a field such as a chemistry. Also, what are some career options?

Thank you! #minors #career #freshmanincollege #chemistry

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Ken’s Answer

Choosing a major and a minor is very important and can be somewhat confusing, but it is very important. During my years of college recruiting, I encountered too many students who skipped some step about getting to know themselves and getting to know fully about the application of their major and ended up in a situation that was very uncomfortable for them.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. OR, here are some exercises that might help with your decision. ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/14-free-personality-tests-thatll-help-you-figure-yourself-out ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-secret-formula-to-answering-whats-your-dream-job-in-an-interview?bsft_eid=5914c5c8-4c4a-4e15-bf07-4f9aa8f0b3ac&bsft_pid=5d37e0d1-09f8-409e-8d81-b739471f7d3f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171117&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171117&bsft_clkid=f7a2216c-68d9-458e-8169-d9eddc31c365&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=4c50dc0d-c410-425a-8aa1-262ff18b098c&bsft_pp=3 ##
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. You can do this during the summer as you have time available and the atmosphere around the workplaces is more relaxed and friendly and you will find people willing and able to talk with you about your career choices. Many have tried this and have found that they were able to form a supportive networking base. This should be done on a face to face basis allowing for dialogue - and not on the computer which allows for only one way disjointed communication. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Here are some very interesting and informative links relating to engineering in general and also talk about the application of chemistry in chemical engineering. Chemistry might be used in other applications, but this is a good start on your road to learning more about its application. Although one appears to be aimed at girls, it is the most comprehensive presentation of the career of engineering which I have encountered. ## https://www.engineergirl.org/ ## ## http://www.futureengineers.org/ ## ## https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43zVcmTJSKM ## ## http://stemtosteam.org/ ##
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much! This was very helpful! Jeffy
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edmond’s Answer

Personally I would minor in computer science. This will give you a good foundational ground in case you decide to move into computational chemistry or bioinformatics.

It can be a natural progression to a wider field especially in computational chemistry where computations are intense and require scaled architectures (running on lots of CPUs).
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