Wondering which college degrees employers are looking for? Keep reading to learn more.
In an article for Education news at Yahoo.com, Terence Loose researched the degrees that are attractive to future employers (and those that are not). He asked Susan Heathfield, the Human Resource Guide for About.com about the need for students to be practical in making degree decisions. “With the unemployment situation the way it is right now, I would be considering what degree to get more closely than any other time in history,” says Heathfield. “If you want to be employable in this economy and the future, you have to have valuable skills.”
With that in mind, Loose asked Heathfield what degrees employers might love and he also consulted Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Carnevale and his department conducted a 2012 study called “Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings.” With the subheadline “Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal,” this report studied the unemployment rates for recent (aged 22 to 26) and experienced (aged 30 to 54) college graduates in various majors. In addition, Loose used the U.S. Department of Labor’s most recent U.S. unemployment rate of 8.1 percent (April 2012) and considered unemployment rates above 8.1 percent as “bad”, and rates below 8.1 percent as “good” in evaluating the preferred degrees and career tracks for students. Loose then created a “Most Loved” and “Most Hated” ranked list of degrees.
Loved Degree #2: Communications
If there’s one thing we love to do in this age of the Internet, it’s communicate. With everything from Twitter and Facebook to chat rooms and blogs blasting us every minute of every day, a degree in communications seems relevant.
The “Hard Times” report found a 7.4 percent unemployment rate among recent grads of communications. And the unemployment rate for experienced grads was even lower at 6.3 percent.
What’s behind these strong numbers? Carnevale says communications is growing […]. He adds that “communications includes a lot of the Internet stuff and a lot of the institutional work.”
Heathfield echoes this optimism, saying that a specialization in social media could help make you marketable now and well into the future.
Ready to learn more about social media and the communications field? The College Board says communications programs typically include courses in communication and mass media research, media law and ethics, mass media and society, or global perspectives in media.
To read the full report, go to: http://education.yahoo.net/articles/loved_and_hated_degrees.htm
To find out more about Florida International University’s Communication Arts degree, go to comm-art.fiu.edu
