Choosing a college major can be a daunting task for someone fresh out of high school. It’s a big leap to make at that time in one’s life. The economic problems of the last several years have not been of any assistance, with fears of underemployment, unemployment and mounting student debt driving some away from post-secondary education entirely.
In 2013, these issues really hit home for Los Angeles, Cal. resident Janice Partyka when her son was faced with the decision of what major to choose despite not knowing many people who had graduated with the majors he was considering. In an effort to help her son, as well as every other soon-to-be college student in the same predicament, Partyka created the website MajorsToCareers.com.
“[MajorsToCareers.com] is the first social media site focussed on majors,” Partyka said.
Partyka is an entrepreneur who has been involved with a number of different industries at different points in her life. After realizing her son’s issues, Partyka contracted a development crew and, along with her son, proceeded to create the website and “chunk the data” she deemed necessary for students to know.
“[MajorsToCareers.com] became my passion when I noticed my kids and their friends were having to pick their majors without knowing [where they would lead],” Partyka said.
In a world where Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have dominated the social media scene, the trait that sets MajorsToCareers.com apart is its focus on helping students fresh out of high school with choosing a career by linking them with former college students who have graduated and successfully joined the workforce with a job within their field of study. It also provides statistics regarding median and starting pay for over 100 occupations taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are also brief descriptions of day-to-day tasks for each career option.
“Some things in the data are surprising,” Partyka said. “I was surprised to find that biology majors have a low employment rate.”
Partyka feels that this type of information is essential to students when they are browsing majors. The free-to-use service also connects users with graduates from around the country, a majority of whom welcome questions and are open to giving advice according to Partyka.
“My kids reached out to their friends, they reached out to other people. It just spread,” Partyka said.
According to a recent study out of Georgetown University, only 40 percent of Liberal Arts graduates currently hold a job related to their degree while 75 percent of engineers hold jobs in their related field.
Getting in touch with graduates in the field as well as students who are currently enrolled and completing the requirements of these majors allows potential students to get an idea of where a specific major will lead to out of school rather than going in blindly.