Top 5 Majors With A Good Career Path
Choosing a college or university major can be a stressful task. With so many factors to evaluate, including your interests, course credits, and desired career path, picking the right major is a big decision.
In this article, we consider some of the most popular and in-demand majors at the moment to help you study better with an eye to the future.
Here are our top five recommendations of what to study as your major:
1. Is Nursing A Good Major?
Nursing is one of the most sought-after majors nowadays due to the salary, availability of jobs, and broad range of subfields.
The demand for nurses in the workforce is significant due to the current aging population and, more immediately, the increased burden on healthcare systems due to the pandemic.
Annually, there are about 1.6 million job postings for nurses which allows for a wide variety of positions and specialties including pediatrics, acute medicine, oncology, the ER, and many more.
To get into a nursing program, you first must decide if you would prefer to be a registered nurse, registered practical nurse, or nurse practitioner to determine what school is the best fit for you. Check out this article to discover the difference between each status and their potential career paths.
To study and complete a major in nursing there are a variety of courses you will need to take including but not limited to pathology, pharmacology, physiology and anatomy.
So a strong background in science may be beneficial to get accepted into your undergraduate degree in nursing.
Average salary in Canada: $71,000
Starting salary in Canada: $58,500
2. Computer Science A Good Major?
With growing advancements in technology, the number of computer science majors is increasing as is the demand for them in the workforce. With approximately 2.2 million job postings a year, finding a job with this degree should not be too challenging, especially if you have good grades and a solid CV.
Additionally, there is a wide range of career paths available for computer science majors, including app development, systems analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI).
As a computer science major, you can expect to take courses in statistics, programming, and calculus. In this case, having a high school background in math is often required or highly recommended.
Average salary in Canada: $54,000
Starting salary in Canada: $44,600
3. Is Communications A Good Major?
Similar to computer science, the growing field of technology has sparked an increase in interest in communications as a major for undergraduate students to study.
Communications offers a wide variety of job opportunities in the areas of public relations, social media management, advertising, journalism, and more. On average, there are about 1.1 million job postings annually and the field continues to grow rapidly.
In terms of pursuing a communications major, undergraduate courses of study usually include media theory, digital communications, marketing, entertainment industries, public relations and advertising, all of which require good writing skills.
Hence the most important high school course to support your communications major and that you should strive to do well in is Grade 12 English.
Average salary in Canada: $64,600
Starting salary in Canada: $47,400
4. Is Finance A Good Major?
If you’re interested in working with numbers in a field that isn’t directly related to STEM, then finance may be an interesting major for you. With 1.3 annual job postings in the finance realm, the opportunities are projected to grow in the future, suggesting that finance is another major with good job prospects.
Jobs in this field include financial analysts, bank tellers, financial advisors or planners, and accountants.
During your undergraduate studies, finance majors typically have to take courses in accounting, economics, statistics, business and math. Again, means that a strong math background from high school would be invaluable and often a requirement to get good grades and become a successful finance major.
Average salary in Canada: $44,000
Starting salary in Canada: $56,000
5. Is Engineering A Good Major?
The great part about pursuing an engineering major is the variety of opportunities offered across different streams of engineering. For example, you can study software engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or civil engineering.
Those are just a few different subsets of engineering that one can choose to major in. Each of these disciplines provides the skills needed to pursue a wide range of careers after you graduate.
For example, software engineers tend to specialize in software or app development while civil engineers focus on building infrastructures in their communities.
To pursue an engineering major, a heavy knowledge of mathematics is required and good grades in math will be critical to successfully completing your degree. First-year courses can include statistics, computer science, business, calculus, and other applied mathematics courses.
Here are just a few salary estimates for different streams of engineers:
Software Engineering:
Average salary: $91,500
Starting salary: $75,000
Mechanical Engineering:
Average salary: $65,500
Starting salary: $51,500
Electrical Engineering:
Average salary: $75,000
Starting salary: $58,500
Chemical Engineering:
Average salary: $80,000
Starting salary: $61,000
Civil Engineering:
Average salary: $62,500
Starting salary: $47,000
When it comes down to picking the right major for you, it is important to consider more than just the best major on paper but also what passions and interests you may have and how best to turn your academic skills into job skills.
Deciding on a major to study is important and can be stressful and overwhelming, so make sure you don’t rush into the decision. And also, remember that switching programs after your first year at university is common and you have the space and time to explore different courses before you make a final decision on your major.
Of course, whatever you study, we at Team Wize will be here to help you out along the way with grades, lessons learned, and generally supporting you be your best self!
Looking to study effectively? This video will help you take great notes online using Google Docs!
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