Going Out of My Mind Trying to Pick Major.....

[Hunter's Moon]

I am trying to pick a major that meshes with my personality. I know I do not like having a boss hanging over me all the time. I would prefer to work for myself, honestly.

 

I don't want a lot of public interaction.

 

I do NOT want to major in IT or anything computer-y. (Using computers is fine, but I don't want a career focuses on them).

 

I really enjoy Religion and spend my spare time reading theology books and studying different religions. I fear that is not a good major, though.

 

I know I want to be a SAHM when I have children. My fiance knows this and is supportive, as long as we aren't struggling. I would like a job that I could do from home, either telecommuting or on my own.

 

I was considering majoring in Religion and being a writer, but that isn't a very reliable plan.

 

*sigh*

[Hunter's Moon]

How about bookkeeping or accounting? I have neighbors that do these jobs out of their homes, working for themselves.

 

I've been considering that, but I am not sure if I would enjoy it. I am also pretty sure there is a decent amount of public interaction.

 

I wouldn't mind interacting with people who are respectful. I am hoping if I were working with businesses they'd be respectful, but who knows.

 

I can always take a few courses and see...

[Harriet Vane]

How are your grammar skills?

 

Editing and proofreading are easy to do freelance. Even if you have a full-time, office job, it's still a LOT of hours alone with a manuscript. Lots of people start out in a publishing company full time, and then continue freelancing project-by-project once they start having babies. :)

 

If you have a knack for writing, and your grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills are decent, a little focused effort and study can put you in good shape for this.

 

I did this. I double majored in English and Rhetoric (writing). The only thing my major didn't give me was concentrated grammar et al. I had good skills from high school grammar courses, and I honed my skills both through seminars and through studying The Chicago Manual of Style.

[Hoggirl]

I don't know much about this, but ds's guidance counselor suggested something called "Strong's Interest Inventory." Wonder if there are any free versions on-line???

[Miss Marple]

It sounds as if you are looking for an education that will allow you to earn an income rather than having a career. And that is perfectly fine! I think, though, that those are 2 different paths although they may cross at some point.

 

Perhaps you could research some jobs that would enable you to earn an income from home and find one that would suit your skill level and personality. You may need to hone your skills or even acquire new ones. Many community colleges offer associate degrees that are more skill based. You might also consider jobs that allow one to have a flexible schedule which would allow you to work when your kids are with your husband (Xray tech, sonography, etc.). There are a lot of options out there that offer decent job placement, ability to return to the workforce after a break, and a decent wage.

 

If you are OK with the idea of 4 years of college and perhaps some post degree training, then I would suggest that you just begin with the usual freshman courses, take an elective or two that sounds interesting, and see where your interests go. I knew I wanted to do something medical, but had no idea what that was. I experimented with several branches that involved medicine and eventually discovered that pharmacy fit my personality, my interests, and my skills. It might take you a while to know just what you want to do, but remember that you don't have to declare a major at most universities until junior year.

 

The university that my sons attend(ed) have degree checklists. You can print those off and see what courses need to be done and when. It makes things easier to see what the majority of freshman years require. My oldest decided on a career in the early spring semester of his senior year. My second is still fine tuning his career options and desires. There is nothing wrong with taking a little extra time to mull over all your options. There is little advantage to picking something and then deciding it's the wrong path.

[Hunter's Moon]

How are your grammar skills?

 

Editing and proofreading are easy to do freelance. Even if you have a full-time, office job, it's still a LOT of hours alone with a manuscript. Lots of people start out in a publishing company full time, and then continue freelancing project-by-project once they start having babies. :)

 

If you have a knack for writing, and your grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills are decent, a little focused effort and study can put you in good shape for this.

 

I did this. I double majored in English and Rhetoric (writing). The only thing my major didn't give me was concentrated grammar et al. I had good skills from high school grammar courses, and I honed my skills both through seminars and through studying The Chicago Manual of Style.

 

I've always been great at spelling. My grammar is decent.

 

I'll consider a degree in English with a concentration on writing.

[ocelotmom]

Kind in mind that you can change later. Your fate isn't set in stone by the selection of a major.

 

:iagree:

 

You've mentioned a lot of things you don't want. Assume that, in any major you might choose, there's the possibility of jobs that will fit with your personality (or that your personality might change for the right job - mine did!). Is there anything besides religion that you DO enjoy or think you might want to do?

 

What are your interests? Don't look at it as degrees - just throw your interests out there and maybe someone will come up with something you haven't thought of. (I ended up in a field that was very much in line with my strong interests in high school, but the actual degree never crossed my mind until I was well into adulthood).

 

Strong written and verbal communication skills will never hurt, regardless of what field you go into.

Edited September 21, 2012 by ocelotmom

[aggieamy]

I am trying to pick a major that meshes with my personality. I know I do not like having a boss hanging over me all the time. I would prefer to work for myself, honestly.

 

I don't want a lot of public interaction.

 

I do NOT want to major in IT or anything computer-y. (Using computers is fine, but I don't want a career focuses on them).

 

I really enjoy Religion and spend my spare time reading theology books and studying different religions. I fear that is not a good major, though.

 

I know I want to be a SAHM when I have children. My fiance knows this and is supportive, as long as we aren't struggling. I would like a job that I could do from home, either telecommuting or on my own.

 

I was considering majoring in Religion and being a writer, but that isn't a very reliable plan.

 

*sigh*

 

I'm going to try to do this gently but I'm going to give you the same advice my father gave me when I was going into college and this will be the same advice I give DD.

 

Major in something that will allow you to find a job quickly that will support you and your future children. I don't think women do that enough and it's heartbreaking to hear some of the posts on this board from women without any marketable skills who now have to be the primary breadwinners. There's a lot that can happen and I'm not just talking about divorce - DH's can become seriously disabled or die and I can't imagine dealing not only with the grief but also the panic of not knowing how to support a family.

 

I went a very stable route - I'm an engineer. I know that's not for everyone but I know that I will always be able to get a job and I know that I will always make enough to support a family on it. It has given me the freedom to have my own company and work from home so that I have all kinds of flexibility with DD and my family. Lots of my friends have taken similar routes and now have jobs that allow a lot of flexibility or work from home:

 

One friend is a technical writer and writes instructional manuals for training employees on corporate software. She works from home, owns her own business, and makes excellent money.

 

Another friend is a labor and delivery nurse. It's not from home but she makes great money, can work part-time, and is able to schedule her work so she and her DH don't need childcare.

 

Jobs that don't work with people are hard, if not impossible to find. No matter what field you choose you'll have to work with people either in clients, coworkers, boss, or the public. Having the goal to work for yourself is great but usually you need to get experience in the field first working someplace. I'll use myself as an example - I'm my own boss and in engineering you rarely have to work with the public but I still have to work with people a lot. Yesterday I talked to a city manager, the project manager for the city I'm trying to get another project in, the CAD technician for a company I'm teaming with on another project, and my accountant. Sometimes those people are awesome and I like dealing with them and some of them are huge jerks and I dread talking to them. I don't know that's there's any field where you don't have to deal with people on some level.

 

My recommendations to you would be to look seriously at accounting, engineering, and nursing.

[Hunter's Moon]

I'm going to try to do this gently but I'm going to give you the same advice my father gave me when I was going into college and this will be the same advice I give DD.

 

Major in something that will allow you to find a job quickly that will support you and your future children. I don't think women do that enough and it's heartbreaking to hear some of the posts on this board from women without any marketable skills who now have to be the primary breadwinners. There's a lot that can happen and I'm not just talking about divorce - DH's can become seriously disabled or die and I can't imagine dealing not only with the grief but also the panic of not knowing how to support a family.

 

I went a very stable route - I'm an engineer. I know that's not for everyone but I know that I will always be able to get a job and I know that I will always make enough to support a family on it. It has given me the freedom to have my own company and work from home so that I have all kinds of flexibility with DD and my family. Lots of my friends have taken similar routes and now have jobs that allow a lot of flexibility or work from home:

 

One friend is a technical writer and writes instructional manuals for training employees on corporate software. She works from home, owns her own business, and makes excellent money.

 

Another friend is a labor and delivery nurse. It's not from home but she makes great money, can work part-time, and is able to schedule her work so she and her DH don't need childcare.

 

Jobs that don't work with people are hard, if not impossible to find. No matter what field you choose you'll have to work with people either in clients, coworkers, boss, or the public. Having the goal to work for yourself is great but usually you need to get experience in the field first working someplace. I'll use myself as an example - I'm my own boss and in engineering you rarely have to work with the public but I still have to work with people a lot. Yesterday I talked to a city manager, the project manager for the city I'm trying to get another project in, the CAD technician for a company I'm teaming with on another project, and my accountant. Sometimes those people are awesome and I like dealing with them and some of them are huge jerks and I dread talking to them. I don't know that's there's any field where you don't have to deal with people on some level.

 

My recommendations to you would be to look seriously at accounting, engineering, and nursing.

 

I totally understand and appreciate this advice. The only kind of engineering I could see myself doing is environmental. That is worth a look.

[regentrude]

What are you interested in, and good at?

All you say is you don't want to work with people - but I would not base the choice of major on wanting or not wanting to work with people: for any degree, there are different employment opportunities, some that involve more people contact, some less. (For example, I am a physicist and have switched from research, which is a pretty lonely business, to teaching, which gives me the people contact I love and enjoy)

Take an inventory of your interests and think about what subjects besides religion would interest you. What can you imagine doing daily for many hours for possibly many years? (Yes, I know that you want to be a SAHM, but you do not know how soon that is going to happen.) I can think of hardly anything worse than being stuck in a job that I am not interested in.

[Hunter's Moon]

What are you interested in, and good at?

All you say is you don't want to work with people - but I would not base the choice of major on wanting or not wanting to work with people: for any degree, there are different employment opportunities, some that involve more people contact, some less. (For example, I am a physicist and have switched from research, which is a pretty lonely business, to teaching, which gives me the people contact I love and enjoy)

Take an inventory of your interests and think about what subjects besides religion would interest you. What can you imagine doing daily for many hours for possibly many years? (Yes, I know that you want to be a SAHM, but you do not know how soon that is going to happen.) I can think of hardly anything worse than being stuck in a job that I am not interested in.

 

I completely agree that being interested in what I will be doing is very important.

 

I read theology books for fun. I enjoy reading self-help books as well and learning ways to better myself.

 

I enjoy typing and entering information into spreadsheets. I don't know if I would be a good accountant though because I second guess myself in situations like that (entering specific information) to the point of insanity.

 

I enjoy making schedules. I enjoy concentrating on my work with little to no interruptions.

 

I enjoy being able to set my own schedule and work in the way I feel will be best for me. I strongly dislike someone telling me how to organize my stuff or time.

 

I need to know exactly what is needed of me. I don't like ambiguity of any kind.

 

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

ETA: I am told I am good at explaining things to others.

Edited September 21, 2012 by BeatleMania

[regentrude]

I enjoy typing and entering information into spreadsheets.

I enjoy making schedules.

I enjoy concentrating on my work with little to no interruptions.

I enjoy being able to set my own schedule and work in the way I feel will be best for me. I strongly dislike someone telling me how to organize my stuff or time.

I need to know exactly what is needed of me. I don't like ambiguity of any kind.

I am told I am good at explaining things to others.

 

Much of this is about HOW you like to work. Aside from theology, what CONTENT are you interested in?

In many different fields, one can enter data, explain things, work without interruptions, set one's own schedule, know what is needed - that's more about the HOW. But what about the WHAT?

 

WHAT do you want to explain? (Can you imagine yourself as a teacher?)

WHAT do you want to enter into spreadsheets? (Does it not matter - would you be happy entering numbers for several hours each day?)

I think once you pinpoint the what and get a degree, you will be able to crave out your niche and find a way to satisfy the how.

[Hunter's Moon]

Much of this is about HOW you like to work. Aside from theology, what CONTENT are you interested in?

In many different fields, one can enter data, explain things, work without interruptions, set one's own schedule, know what is needed - that's more about the HOW. But what about the WHAT?

 

WHAT do you want to explain? (Can you imagine yourself as a teacher?)

WHAT do you want to enter into spreadsheets? (Does it not matter - would you be happy entering numbers for several hours each day?)

I think once you pinpoint the what and get a degree, you will be able to crave out your niche and find a way to satisfy the how.

 

I'll have to think on the what.

[Bluegoat]

Well, for writing there is technical writing or journalism. If you are interested in journalism as a four year degree you would want to do a double major so you have some area of expertise to write about - say, political science or maybe your religious interests could be useful. Or, you can learn a trade, like say cooking, and then do a one year journalism degree and become something like a food writer. Or journalism can be done at a vocational school.

 

But based on what you've said, I wonder if you might like library work? Not so much the people oriented side, but the technical services side. So, things like cataloging, vetting and ordering books, keeping track of journals, that kind of thing. They can involve data entry, and computer work but not programming, and often working in your own way at your own pace. If you like books you get to work in a ver appealing environment.

 

There are different levels you can get training in - librarians typically have masters degrees, but they are also typically managers. University librarians need that degree plus a masters in some other area of study (sometimes they might get away with a bachelor's degree). But a lot of the more hands on work is done by people with diplomas.

 

It's not a job where you can easily be self-employed, though it isn't impossible - you could have a company that does ad hoc records management jobs for example. There are often part-time opportunities. Related work is in archives (you can get specialized degrees in that too) or records management and librarians and library techs work in those fields.

 

Or, on the other hand, if you really would like to be self-employed, a trade might be a better bet than a university degree. In that case there are all kinds of things, from hairstyling to welding to landscaping.

[Lori D.]

Totally agree with previous posters -- the best way to figure out the career field (for degree major), is to figure out specific kinds of jobs that are a match with YOUR work interests and personality. And the best way to figure out your work interests and personality is to do some career testing.

 

Your college may offer free career testing and career exploration resources. And there are library books and free tests online. But to get the most accurate and specific help is to be willing to invest in a career counselor, who will give you several tests (Meyers-Briggs Personality Inventory, and a career interest test, such as the Strong Interest Inventory, or the Campbell Interest Survey), and who will interpret your tests and give you good, detailed, SPECIFIC information on specific jobs that are a match for YOU.

 

In this past thread, I linked to a lot of free career resources.

 

 

My completely non-expert assessment :tongue_smilie:, based solely from the few likes and dislikes you listed in your post, suggests that you match up in the interest area below (based on the 6 interest areas of the Holland Code. Yes, some of the jobs DO have more interaction with people than others -- but for the bulk of the time, the majority of these jobs are done without supervision and minimal interaction with others. The Investigative occupations have less "social/talking" time with people -- for example, in the medical field, surgeon is listed; a surgeon works on an unconscious patient (not a lot of interaction there). A college professor has much less one-on-one time with a student and more solo research time than a kindergarten teacher.

 

And finally, don't be so quick to dismiss whole occupational fields thinking you don't connect with them -- do some reading/research at the Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook to see what types of skills are really used in different fields, and then what actually you DO for specific jobs in those fields. BEST of luck in your career assessments, and in your college journey! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

INVESTIGATIVE (the "thinker")

analytical, intellectual, scientific, explorative

 

The Investigative type is task oriented. They are not particularly interested in working around other people. They enjoy solving abstract problems, and they have a great need to understand the physical world. They prefer to think through problems rather than act them out. They enjoy ambiguous challenges and do not like highly structured situations with many rules. They frequently are original and creative, especially in scientific and statistical (numbers) areas.

 

• personality = analytical, intellectual, reserved, independent, scholarly

• abilities = working with abstract ideas and intellectual problems

• preferred activities = analytical, intellectual activities

• preferred interactions = things and ideas

 

 

INVESTIGATIVE Occupations

 

SCIENCE

• Physicist

• Geologist

• Chemist

• Oceanographer

• Forensic Science Technician

• Meteorologist

• Research Laboratory Worker

• Sociologist

• Environmental Scientist

 

ENGINEERING

• Civil Engineer

• Design or Computer Engineer

• Industrial Engineer

• Aerospace Engineer

• Chemical Engineer

• Mechanical or Electrical Engineer

• Nuclear Engineer

 

MEDICAL/HEALTH

• Surgeon

• Physical (or other type) Therapist

• Chiropractor

• Optometrist

• Dentist

• Nurse

• Dietician

• Psychologist

• Psychiatrist

• Radiologic Technician

• Medical Technician

 

TECHNOLOGY

• Electronic Drafting

• Desktop Publishing

• Computer Science

• Computer Programmer

• Systems Analyst

• Technical Writer

• Audio-Visual Technician

• Tool and Die Maker

• Model Maker

Landscape Architect

 

STATISTICS/DATA

• Actuary

• Economist

• Finance

• Mathematician

 

EDUCATION

• College Professor

• Math/Science Teacher

Edited September 22, 2012 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Not the most exciting job, but can be done at home with virtually no contact with others: Medical Transcription. It usually requires just a 1-year certificate, or 2-year Associate's degree for training.

 

Here and here are articles on high paying jobs with little interaction with people.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Lori D.

[Candid]

Cal Newport of Study Hacks has a new book out that might help you begin to wrap your mind around your possibilities.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2B8KRGVVWDA80&coliid=I1LNN5X4D1HUDO

 

I heard him interviewed about the book and it sounds like a good beginning place for someone like you who isn't sure. Basically: learn your strengths but then investigate the general area to pick a specific area and expertise that will make you a desirable employee.

[claire up north]

How about library science? You can still pursue your interest in theology...perhaps working in a seminary's library or working for a publisher of theological materials.