3 Reasons to Encourage Your Child to Change Their Major FAST

John went to Florida State University to get his accounting degree. By the end of his sophomore-year he knew he did not want to be an accountant. He hated his classes, and they were hard. By the end of his senior-year he was trying to muscle his way through. John went on to work in finance and accounting jobs for six years after graduating. He was unhappy in his work but he felt too far into his career to make a change.

Sound familiar? The fact is, 70% of people in the U.S. workforce are not engaged in their work*. That is a lot of people muscling through their work week!

What did John do wrong?

He did not change his major fast enough. Even worse, he did not change it at all. He knew it was a bad choice and stayed with it.

How do we help our college students know if they are in the wrong major?

Here are three reasons you should encourage your child to switch majors:

1.     The work is hard – Are they struggling to do the course work. Does it make them feel drained and frustrated? If so, it may be time to reevaluate their choice of majors.

When you are doing something that interests you and that you are good at, the work should not be draining. The learning process should be energizing.

Now, this does not mean if your child encounters a class that challenges them they should jump ship. But every class should not be a drudgery or frustrating.

John looked at what it would take to go back and get his psychology degree six years into his career. He realized it wasn’t worth spending an extra 2 years getting a new degree. Plus, he would make less being a psychologist than he was currently making in his accounting job. So, he gave up on changing his career and kept trying to find something to like about his work.

Changing majors cost real dollars. You can figure about $10,000 on average each time your child decides to make a change.

As a parent, I’m sure you are seeing the dollars signs flashing through your brain! For John, as a sophomore, it may have meant another full semester of schooling. For John as a college graduate, it added two full years onto his schooling.

Would you rather take a one semester hit, or see your child struggle through a career that isn’t right for them?

2.     The work is not rewarding

Sometimes the work is hard, but the rewards far outweigh the work to get there. If this is the case, encourage your child to think about the parts of the coursework they like.

Which parts are not rewarding? Maybe they have to memorize the body parts before they can dissect the frog. If the reward is dissecting the frog, it’s worth it.

If not, help them make a quick but educated decision to adjust or change their major.

John found a way to adjust his career and still take advantage of his accounting knowledge. He transitioned his career by taking advantage of an opportunity. John had great communication skills. He was often put into rolls where he translated finance lingo to other department heads.

One day, John was presented with a new opportunity. He was asked to teach his peers how to better communicate with people outside of the finance world. And a new path presented itself to John and he gladly jumped on the opportunity.

This felt right to John, he was able to take advantage of talents that felt natural to him. His work was finally rewarding!

John went out on his own and created a business, he is now teaching communication skills to financial professionals.

3. The major does not have a clear connection to a job or career path

If your child is having a hard time connecting their major to a career path, they need to dig deeper. They need to think about why they chose that major. If they are enjoying the classes but don’t know what career they are aiming for, it may turn into heartache later.

For instance, what type of work can you get with a history major? If your child wants to be a librarian, work in a museum or become a lawyer, they are good to go. If not, you will need to have a talk about what they want for their future.

Can a history major get a job in marketing? Sure, they can, but it won’t give them the head start they would have if they actually studied marketing.

The point is, a college education is the vehicle to prepare a student for a career. Having a career path in mind is important. You don’t want your child graduating with a piece of paper and not knowing where to start their career journey.

You don’t want your child falling into a career because the job presented itself.  You want them to aim for a career that will fulfill them and make them happy.

The fact is, 70% of people in the U.S. workforce are not engaged in their work*.

Your child has an opportunity to be one of the 30%. They can do that with guidance and some personal insight. It’s well worth their time.

*Gallup Research regarding employee engagement

Upcoming dates for “Pick the RIGHT Major” group class