The Recessions Effect on College Majors

Economy forces some students to choose payroll over passion


PHOENIX
- Brittney Timm, 21, had b
een passionate about photography since taking classes for it in high school. She decided to major in photography at Arizona State University. A year later, Timm saw how the economy was not getting any better 
so she decided to
study communications 
instead.
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“It’s super competitive and not very many people get good paying jobs with it so I decided to just focus more on photography as a hobby,” Timm said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, photographers held about 152,000 jobs in 2008, and more than half were self-employed. The job outlook says photographers should expect “keen competition for job openings because the work is attractive to many people.” In May 2008, the median annual salary was $29,440 with the middle 50 percent earning between $20,620 and $43,530.

Timm, now a senior, said she would have liked to study business but choosing that major would not have allowed her to graduate in four years. Timm decided to major in communications her junior year because she believed it was broader than photography and would provide more variety in her career choice. “With communications you can do anything from marketing, to public relations, to non-profit, to media, to business,” Timm said. “It gives you more options, I think.”

Timm said she talked to her parents about her decision to change majors. “My dad owns his own business and we talked about how communication skills are key in business and everyday life so it seemed like the right decision,” Timm said. “They would have supported me if I did photography but I felt to make myself more marketable, communications would be a better major to go with.”

For communications majors, an internship is not required but Timm is planning on getting one for next semester. She has begun working on her cover letters and fixing up her resume to submit to potential employers. Timm said ASU provides a Blackboard listing of internship opportunities for communications majors. “There’s actually like over 100 options for different internships so my chances are pretty good at getting something,” Timm said. “I’ve been excited looking through them, just all the different opportunities and I want to gain that work experience.

Timm believed that her decision to study communications made her more marketable than if she had continued to study photography. She also stressed how it’s important for her to find a good job that can pay for bills and other expenses. “I figured communications was just more realistic,” Timm said.

Hortencia Gutierrez is a career advisor at ASU’s Downtown campus. As part of her job she gives advice to many students from a variety of majors every day. Gutierrez said she’s noticed that students studying liberal arts are usually the first to change their majors in a weakened economy. She said students begin to study business or social work instead. 

“Another thing that we are seeing is students are looking at going to the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, those kinds of careers because they find themselves in a catch-22,” Gutierrez said. “It’s hard to find jobs so they’re kind of riding the wave until the economy picks up. There is a definite change in the way students are looking at careers.”
Gutierrez admits that it is tough for students trying to find jobs with the economy the way it is. However, she believes that no matter what field students want to get into, they have a decent shot at getting a good job if they put in the time and effort and do a whole lot of networking. 

“They have to do that networking and do those internships and get their foot in the door because that is how they’re going to get those jobs,” Gutierrez said. “Even in photography, if they were to pursue that avenue, start making contacts because that is how you’re going to do it and I don’t care what field you get into.”
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Many students, like Brittney Timm (not shown), continue to pursue their passions, like photography, even though they made the decision to change their major.
photo by: ctwirler12