How to Match Your Career Choice with a College Degree

Explore different college departments.

Determine under what general category your career falls. There are several general categories of degrees, including: Business Administration. A degree in business administration is good for anyone looking to work in marketing, management, financial services, human resources, or start his or her own business. Medical. Various medical degrees are available for those who want to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant (“CNA”), Registered Nurse (“RN”), healthcare administration, medical billing, or health insurance underwriter. Education. If you want to teach anything, a degree in education may be exactly what you want. Education degrees are also good for those who plan to go into school administration. Social Services. The social services category, sometimes referred to as human services, covers degrees in areas such as social work, psychology, counseling, and social work administration. Social Service degrees are good for those who seek a job helping others through difficult times and situations. Computer Science. Networking, web design, e-commerce, information technologies, and social media careers all fall under the computer science category. Political Science. If you are interested in a career working with the police, department of corrections, or Courts, you will likely find the degree for you in the Law and Criminal Justice degree category. Liberal Arts. Liberal Arts degrees can be in English, history, or one of the many sciences, such as geology or anthropology. Engineering. Engineers design, build, test, and repair things. There are many different types of engineers and engineering degrees, including civil, mechanical, electrical, computer hardware, biomedical and aerospace. If you love to design and build, you may want to pursue an engineering degree.

Focus on a job title or field.

Narrow it down to a job category or title. You can use a degree to career matching service to do this. Many universities and organizations offer online career-matching services, which provide users with a way of narrowing down a general category of degrees into job titles and possible employers. Some career matching services you may find useful include: Match a major to an occupation using Florida State University’s Match Majors to Occupations tool. Try Kent University’s Choosing a Career page for help matching your career choice to a degree. Maricopa University’s Match Careers to your Major tool can be very helpful to those wondering what degree they need, or what job they can get with a degree they already have.

Learn where colleges are located.

Locate information on recommended degree programs. Locate schools offering the degrees recommended by the online degree to career matching services. To locate schools offering a specific degree or category of degree you can: Use a college and university directory found online. Run a search using your favorite search engine. If you are looking for liberal arts programs, search for ‘liberal arts degrees’ or if looking for a library science degree, search ‘library science degrees’.

Investigate college websites.

Learn about the various degree programs you locate. Visit the school or program’s website and read about each type of degree. Most schools will provide information about the career outlook for those graduating from each program offered. Look for programs whose graduates obtain jobs identical or similar to the one you want.

Reach out to college career services.

Use your college or university's career services. Check with your college or university for career counseling, job placement, and other career development services that may help you determine what degree is best for the career you have chosen. See if they have any self-assessments you can take, like Myers-Briggs, CliftonStrengths, or Career Explorer. A lot of universities now offer connections with an alumni network. This way, you can connect and learn from people that have years of experience in the industry that you may be interested in, helping you choose which way to follow.

Look at job postings for degree requirements.

Look at the help wanted ads. Check the help wanted ads in the classified section of the local newspaper or run a search on a job site such as Monster, Career Builder, or Indeed. Look at open positions similar to the one you want and see what degrees employers are looking for.

Talk to people in your dream job.

Talk to people in the field. Find out what degrees those already working in the field have obtained. Talk to people who are in the field or industry you wish to enter about their degree and their colleagues’ degrees.