How to Pick a Major

When picking a course, major, or education path, it’s important to start at the end goal and work your way forward. A 2017 McKinsey report estimates that 73 million U.S. jobs (half of the jobs today) will be lost to automation by 2030. A 2017 Dell Report estimated that 85% of jobs in 2030 don’t exist yet. This to say that the labor market is moving faster than ever, and it’s important to set yourself up for success when choosing what to study.

Understand Your Future World. Take into consideration that peak earning years is between 40 – 55 years old. So, for a 15-year old high school student, you will often experience 30+ years of learning before bringing in the big bucks. With that in mind, imagine what the world will look like in 30 years. What are the problems in this world? What organizations will be leading in this world? Which jobs will be most stable? How will industries shift? What jobs will pay the most? Listen to government, business, and scientific leaders to get a feel for your answer to these questions.

Understand Yourself. People learn and grow immensely over a lifetime. But the sooner you learn key things about yourself, the more you will be ahead of the game. What are your interests, and how will they likely evolve? What are your skills, and how will they likely evolve? Do you want to optimize for money, status, stability or impact? How do you define success? What does future successful you look like? Who are your idols? All of these questions will guide you to a better understanding of your current and future self.

Connect the Dots. Finally, connect your understanding of the future world with your understanding of yourself. What are the knowledge and experience requirements for career paths that are strong matches for you? What coursework, majors, and educational paths best help you acquire the knowledge requirements? And what coffee dates, job shadowing, internships, and apprenticeships can you do help you gain the experience requirements?

Need help answering these questions? That’s what Guided Compass is here to help you do. Download our iOS or Android app today!

Sincerely,

Creighton Taylor,CFA

Founder of Guided Compass