Our guest blog post today is by Susan Posluszny, the founder of OPTIONS for Career & Life Planning, specializing in unique programs and services to support students with college major and career planning. Susan is a Master Career Counselor with over 25 years of career counseling experience including 18 years as a college career center director. She is the author of In Search of a College Major & Career Direction, an interactive program designed to support teens and young adults with choosing a college major and career path.Her career counseling and coaching practice is located in New Boston, NH. Subscribe to Susan’s e-newsletter, Career Options, at www.collegesandmajors.com

As I looked over an issue of a local town newspaper last June, I came upon an article covering the area high school’s 2009 class of graduates.  As you might expect, the article included comments from graduating students and proud parents along with other graduation event details.  While reading the article, I was struck by a comment made by one soon to be graduate who said that the current recession had led him to change his college major from political science to engineering.

Naturally, the career counselor in me kicked in and, if I had known this student, I would have asked him the following questions:

• What was it that drew you to your original college major choice of political science?
• What kind of work were you thinking of getting into related to political science and did you ever speak with anyone employed in this area of interest?
• How do those who work in political science careers deal with the instability that comes with unpredictable voting outcomes and job market fluctuations?
• If you can’t answer this last question, how might you get answers from those who are ‘in the know’?
• How long have you considered engineering as a major?
• What do you know about engineering career options?
• Have you ever spoken with anyone who works in an engineering related career?
• Have you ever job shadowed workers in either political science or engineering careers?

I would ask these questions not because I’m opposed to this graduate’s decision to shift from a major in political science to engineering.  Rather, my intention would be to see if this decision was made based on accurate career information and reflection about personal priorities or based on a knee jerk reaction to current economic conditions.  Job market fluctuations are a reality and, yes, the current job market is a challenging one.  Yet, that does not mean students need to ignore their career aspirations.

If I were coaching this student, my advice would depend on his answers to the questions above.  If he were not informed, I would guide him to make sure his assumptions are accurate.  I would also encourage him to consider scenarios that support exploration of these two interest areas over time.  For example, one option might be to major in engineering while taking as many political science courses as possible (maybe even leading to a minor in political science).  A major in engineering could also be combined with volunteer work related to his political science interests.

Bottom line…watch out for knee jerk fear based decisions based on an unusually tight job market. If employment security is a concern, do your homework and learn about things you can do to create your own sense of security while doing work that you enjoy.

Copyright, Susan B. Posluszny, OPTIONS for Career & Life Planning LLC

If you would like to contact Susan or find out more information about the services she provides, you can contact her at:

Her websites: www.careeroptions4me.com and www.collegesandmajors.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanposluszny

Email:  susan@careeroptions4me.com