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will a minor in university help me get a job?

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by FuelsMySong, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. FuelsMySong

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    hello all,

    I am a psychology major and am two semesters away from graduating. Recently, i went to a conference talking about what you can do after getting your BA in psychology. The speakers there were both psychology majors/counselling minors. They both had jobs a few months after graduation. However, one of them got the job because his girlfriend's relative offered him a job and the other one has been working at the same place since undergrad and just happen to apply to a different position for the same organization. so, i don't know if they are necessarily the best examples or if they were just lucky people. I am really anxious about not getting a job after graduation especially with a BA. I want to work in either teaching, social work or social services, or counselling but am also open to human resources, writing/editing, and any other job that will take me basically. I was just wondering if it would be worth it to pursue a counselling minor. I know to be a counsellor where I live you need at least a master's degree so it won't be useful for that. However, I wonder if it will be useful for getting a job in things like social work or social services. I am so close to graduating and adding/declaring a minor would delay that by about two semesters. I am also planning to travel in the next two years and I don't know how that's going to affect my decision. The only reason i am thinking of doing a minor is because these two speakers at the conference were counselling minors and got jobs but i don't know if having a minor will have the same effect for me. any advice?
     
  2. ThatOneK1d

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    Getting the minor would help a little but you should weigh whether it's financially sensible to stay in school another 2 semesters. I personally wouldn't do it. For getting a job in general, experience looks MUCH better than education.

    To land the job you want, unless you need certs or licenses, all you really need is a REALLY good cover letter and resume with education relating to the field. I once got a finance internship with Morgan Stanley with a 2.2 GPA but great cover letter and resume. If I could get that, you could get anything.
     
  3. Aspen

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    At this point, I don't think having to stay an extra year would be worth it. Do you have an academic advisor that you could talk to about what you want to do and the best way to get there?

    Consider instead using the time to build up your resume in other ways--a job, a club or two, volunteer opportunities, internships. Psychology is a popular major and there aren't a lot of jobs in the field for bachelors. There is a lot of luck in job hunting but there's also a lot of just plain having the kind of experience that an employer happens to be looking for.