About college majors. A lot of people blame students for choosing impractical majors

[Hippo_Tron]

102. How recently have you applied for an entry level job or hired somebody for one?

I can tell you that in my field (politics), a lot of employers are not looking particularly for political science or government majors and sometimes your resume will stand out in a good way if you didn't major in it. The fact of the matter is that your theories of international relations class that you took junior year doesn't have shit to do with getting a candidate elected or working as a hill staffer and if your cover letter indicates that you think it somehow does, your file is going in the trash.

They are looking for an indication that you have an understanding of how politics and government work, but one doesn't need to have majored in poli sci to do that. Having actually volunteered on a couple of campaigns or interned for a hill office or a trade organization, is far more valuable than having majored in government. Foreign languages (particularly Spanish) are a huge plus for many employers.

My friends in the corporate world have told me that much of that holds true, there. Certainly you should minor in or at least take several classes in business, managerial studies, finance, or whatever your university offers. And you should definitely take some courses in math and statistics. But there's no reason you can't do that and still major in Philosophy.

Again, there are exceptions (some of which I mentioned above) where your undergraduate major leaves you with a particular skill set that you need to be qualified for an entry level job. Engineering, computer science, accounting, applied math (not a whole lot of jobs out there for people who want to do pure math for a living), and foreign languages (some more than others) are all good examples.

But many of today's jobs don't have any particular undergraduate major or course of study that gives you the skill set to do the job. In which case, the employer could care less about what you majored in. They're looking for high achievement and evidence that you understand the field you're getting into. And again, relevant internship or volunteer experience is crucial as well.