What's the best major/career for me?
I have been trying to find a major/career that suits me for a while, but nothing seems to stick because I have so many interests. I recently graduated from Clayton State University with my Associate of Arts in Integrative Studies and I will be graduating from high school in May. I plan to enroll in college in August, but the college I choose strongly depends on my major. My interests include: Mathematics (Statistics and Algebra), Science (Biology and Human anatomy), Healthcare, Office work, Education (Teaching/children), Mental health/ Counseling, Handling money, and Management/Business Administration/ Human resources. My goals for my career include: helping others , having a salary that allows me to live comfortably, having a good work-life balance, and being happy with my career. I would love to find a major/career that includes most, if not all, of my interests and goals. I would also like to be able to start working after I obtain my bachelor's or master's degree (if needed). Can you please provide me with any majors, careers, and colleges that could possibly be a good fit?
#career #business #healthcare #management #education #college #mentalhealth #science #math
16 answers
Malisa’s Answer
Management / Business Administration and Human resources skills are always needed in any type of leadership role for *any* field. Your handling money interest can be solved by handling your own funds and investments. You mentioned Education - add the research piece, how much do you really like teaching? Is it the act of sharing knowledge or really creating the curricula and helping children learn? Spend some time in classrooms, talk to some teachers to really understand what they do. Teaching can happen anytime / anywhere. In my role I teach people all the time. I coach people all the time. This fulfills my teaching drive I have held since I was young. Science and Mathematics really can play off of each other well and then add into Healthcare.
A good work-life balance is on you and how you manage your time and schedule. No job is going to offer that to you. Also being happy is a personal feeling. I would ask you think about happy verses fulfilled. Helping others - define what this means to you. Is it the physical act of healthcare or is it doing work that as a whole helps others do that they need in their life. Salary is a key consideration of course but it is not the only way for you to be able to gain funds to live the life you want. Consider that you will need to work up in any field to get where you are wanting to be.
I hope this helps you. In short -
- Self reflection: Ask the hard questions and be honest with yourself. What gets me excited verses what sounds like fun
- Do the research: What skills will be fulfilled per interest (see leadership comment above)
- Dip your toes: Go to the library and get some of the top books in the areas, read about it - all of it (good the bad and the ugly)
- Remember: Life is about choice and change. You can always change things up as experience and opportunities present themselves
Doc’s Answer
Hospital administrators may act as the go-between for department heads and medical personnel. Their other duties include budgeting and fundraising, hiring doctors and other medical staff, developing hospital policies, guiding public relations efforts and evaluating employees. While smaller healthcare facilities may have only one administrator, large hospitals often have multiple hospital administrators to oversee specific areas, such as medical records and nursing. A hospital administrator coordinates and manages a wide variety of tasks and personnel. A master's degree in health administration is a must, although practicing doctors may come to the field by obtaining a master's in business administration as well. An internship can help you learn to apply your skills in a working healthcare environment.
HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Hospital administrators are typically required to hold a master's degree. There are a number of Master of Healthcare Administration or Master of Health Services Administration programs that adequately prepare graduates for a career in hospital administration. These programs combine business administration and public health training, covering topics such as human resources management, biostatistics, health organization management, healthcare financial theory, epidemiology, healthcare policy development, financial management and public health administration. Health services or healthcare administration programs also typically require that students complete an extensive internship at a local healthcare center.
SALARY INFORMATION AND EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) delineates statistics for medical and health services managers, a category that includes hospital administrators. The average Hospital Administrator salary in the United States is $92,500 as of November 25, 2020, but the range typically falls between $84,000 and $150,500. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession. The BLS expects job opportunities for medical and health services managers to increase by 18% during the 2020-2030 decade.
Hope this was helpful Ramsey
Doc recommends the following next steps:
Erin’s Answer
-What do you like doing that makes you actually happy.
(Do you feel like your in your natural environment when, working with children, or working with computers, in an office space, outside, in a kitchen, in a garage)
The environment and what you are doing is extremely important. If I had a time machine I would swap my Paralegal and Prelaw B.A. Degree for a restaurant management degree. Why is this? Because in the end when your not doing what you love work really is draining your life and your time. If your not building up who you are and who you want to be then why are you pushing forward. We all want to live comfortable and have money, but it also sounds like you have an interest in helping people which unfortunately comes with the issue that jobs in this industry just are not high paying. Be prepaid to begin out of college making 32,000-45,000 a year if you go into customer service or childcare and education.
-Pay
It will not be as high as you expect. Jobs will try to cut corners and skimp you. I have worked for one of the most famous law firms where I was hired and paid only as a legal secretary but the company would not hire an assistant or paralegal for the attorney, so I had to be an office secretary, legal assistant, and paralegal, all at the same time while only being paid the lowest position wage. Know your worth and know your boundaries, if your employers are taking advantage of your work ethic find a place where you can work for less stress for equal or more pay.
-Tenure
I find a really important thing to looking for when looking for a degree is where you would like to stay and have tenure and know you can easily do so. The most important thing for your career, especially starting out is having a couple of years or at least over a year with good references you can use. Having time and management that can support you being a loyal and hard worker is extremely import once you get out of college with your degree. This will also help with job security keeping to a better work-life balance and mental health.
In the end, do what you love. Right now before you spend all the money on the degree, figure out what you are naturally good at first, what makes you happy, what are you willing to afford and live with. Figure out who you really are before you spend time forcing yourself into something.
Cathy’s Answer
Priscilla’s Answer
It sounds like you have diversified yourself well and will have a lot of options. My advice is, try new roles while you are young and exploring. Look into internships to test out what you like and don't like. Also, create a linked in profile and reach out to people in the fields you find interesting. Linked In is great for networking and people are on there generally to meet others and also talk about what they like about their careers. As a people person you can try out different corporate jobs, sales jobs, management roles to help others, and more. Human Resources sounds like it is on the top of your list with the interests that you have, or consider a role like chief of staff. This is where you can learn about expectations from a leader and help others navigate their own career goals. Good luck with your journey, if you have more questions you can always linked in me and we can speak directly.
Priscilla recommends the following next steps:
Rav’s Answer
first make a list that interests you the most, in above.. In every profession I mentioned above you will definitely have work and life balance, not exactly sure about Medical professional.
In all these areas you would be getting pretty decent salaries on an avg 40,000-50,000, in the beginning of your career.
In every profession ,in the beginning there will be challenges - you will learn a lot from those.
if you are an expert in arts and crafts you can start earning money for your college by doing some online classes for little kids by teaching ,drawing or dance..etc, or help kids virtually with their home work.
If you would like to volunteer for any opportunities you can find out info about them in local libraries or church.
Brian’s Answer
Based on your interests I would suggest looking into Healthcare Technology. Specifically in a "product" role.
Example Companies:
Optum, Change Healthcare, Inovalon
While others jump to the idea of "hospital admin" there is also a completely different side of healthcare that hits on lmost all of your interests - and that is on the technology side.
Jobs usually pay well and provide great skills for the future.
Just something to think about - you may not want to focus on the typical answer as the healthcare world is huge and the people who will make the biggest change are those innovating the technology.
Brittany’s Answer
Cheryl’s Answer
Cheryl recommends the following next steps:
Natalie’s Answer
You can also use the alumni networks at your school to find people that have jobs in those fields. Many of them will be willing to speak to you about what they do, how they got into it, and what they like / don't like about their jobs.
I wouldn't worry too much about picking just one career now, when you have so many interests. You can change careers multiple times in your life!
Mike’s Answer
I would recommend joining civic institutions and expanding your network of relationships.
Edmund Burke, of 18th Century England, advised the reader, "To be attached to the subdivision, to love the little platoon we belong to in society, is the first principle (the germ as it were) of public affections. It is the first link in the series by which we proceed towards a love to our country, and to mankind. "
Why are the "little platoons," important? They require us to recognize our duties and responsibilities to the community, which provides us with the prerequisites for flourishing.
This is a long way of saying you aren't alone in this journey. Lean on family, neighborhood, community, church, sports leagues, civic associations and other entities to help guide you.
Spend more time cultivating relationships than on credentials.
Kristen’s Answer
Kristen recommends the following next steps:
Simeon’s Answer
Larissa’s Answer
Going off of what some others have stated, your major does not have to be your career choice, unless you want to do something very specific like Education or Healthcare.
If helping people is one of your interests, majoring in something like psychology or human services is a good background for several different careers, not just those related to mental health.
As far as being happy, that is up to you and how you feel about your career. You can have a job where you are directly helping people and feel stressed rather than fulfilled.
My advice, always, is to make less money while you still can. What I mean by that is a lot of jobs that you may really enjoy start off on a lower pay scale. There will always be room to move up. We often look for a job that will pay us a lot of money, and end up extremely unsatisfied in that job. Once you are in that position, it is so much harder to take a pay cut especially if you are a little older and have purchased a home or car.
Also, another thing to thing about... if you are interested in areas such as Human Resources, business, finance or management but also interested in human services and mental health, consider something such as working in finance or Human Resources at a non-profit organization.