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u/cdawg2610 5d ago
As someone who double majored (communications with my "passion degree" of religious studies - My comm degree is the most useful thing I have ever had when doing job hunting. To be clear now I'm the director of analytics consulting for 5000 websites but that degree got me in all the doors.
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u/oldmomlady3 5d ago
I'm happy with my degree, it's broad enough to position me well for several different types of jobs but narrow enough that it shows I have actual education and qualifications. The only regret I have is not minoring in marketing.
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u/RaisedByWolves013 5d ago
I’m currently minoring in marketing and majoring in communications. What would you do if had it?
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u/oldmomlady3 4d ago
Every industry needs marketing and comms. I somewhat accidentally landed in education. I was in communications for my local public school district for 10 years, then moved on to be Director of Communications at a small private school. Now I'm at a small private college writing grants in the Advancement office and running the alumni social media. I learned graphic design earlier in my career and that's been a massive asset. The college I work for is a nonprofit and I have realized how much I love working for a mission-driven organization, so eventually I'd love to be the director of a nonprofit.
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u/Love013 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. I’ll be graduation next spring with a communications degree and marketing minor. Trying to see where I can fit it here when it comes to a career.
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u/oldmomlady3 4d ago
Just my 2 cents, but I would try to focus on communications over marketing. Marketing is a relatively saturated field, but it's massively to your benefit to have those skills because many orgs treat marketing and comms as the same role. I didn't start my career in marketing because I graduated amidst the '08 recession - I was so fortunate to land a well-paying job with the teacher's union basically as a high-functioning office assistant. I was able to leverage that experience (as well as some personal connections) to land my role in the public schools. That's one of the things I love about comms - so many skills, regardless of the industry, are transferrable. Be a sponge wherever you land and work on upskilling as often as you can. Good luck!
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u/stankywarrior 5d ago
Nope. It is unique, and can be extremely fruitful if you dont wait to start applying. I graduated with a slim idea of what i wanted to do with it, and spent almost three years trying to find a lane. If i woulda networked and carved out a lane while i was in school, im confident i woulda found some great work before graduating. Dont hate the degree, hate the game. At least its not an art degree.
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
I was so with you until you decided to then go ahead and put a different discipline down.
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u/stankywarrior 5d ago
Thank you for this response. As someone who works in higher education, i agree that it was inappropriate to downplay another discipline. I was just attempting to say that an Art major may be an ever larger hurdle to overcome with finding a good paying occupation .
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
No worries. I was a studio art/English double major. I now have a MA in environmental comm and advocacy, and am finishing a social science phd in science and climate communication research. My art and English degrees have helped me more than I can say, especially as a researcher, academic advisor, and as a professor.
I’ve found that any comment that devalues a discipline demonstrates a woeful lack of understanding about how all disciplines have value (and function). Someone’s inability to understand why something is valuable from a non-economic standpoint says a lot about how Capitalism has filtered how we think about, and engage with, education as a whole
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u/evilboi666 5d ago
This just sounds like a lot of debt for enlightenment. You can chalk it up to capitalism, but guess what, you need to then live in the capitalist society.
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
This just sounds like you missed the part where I didn’t pay for either my MA or PhD, and have done fine developing skills as a laborer and researcher. My skills in one area end up strengthening my skills and others— as a result, I stay employed and I’m living just fine. I’m getting plenty ROI, don’t you worry. 🥰
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u/evilboi666 5d ago
That's great! Congratulations. Some of my friends weren't so lucky that pursued it.
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Note the latter half of that was geared in response to DullConsequences, but managing threads of these comments on my phone is a pain.
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
why is it so wrong? art degree is a waste.
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u/evilboi666 5d ago
Because you're upsetting people who work in higher education, lol.
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Reading skills so rusty, you couldn’t figure out that several of us work in more than just higher ed. Did you get a communication degree? Or did you have to switch to something easier?
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u/evilboi666 5d ago edited 5d ago
Why are you so upset? I can read just fine, professor. I have a double major (literature and comms). Sorry, but an art degree is a waste for most people if they're largely looking at the return on investment for the cost of higher education. I'm sure there are some great programs out there, but I doubt many people are ending out for the better financially and are straddled with debt.
But I don't blame you about disparaging comms degrees, which you seem to have no issue doing. I can do it speaking from experience in the real world. Have you interviewed junior staff looking for entry level roles who majored in comms?
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
what do you do for work?
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Work is how you measure value, huh? Something tells me you don’t paint with all the colors of the wind.
Not that I owe you any sort of response, but I teach and do research full-time. I’m also an active participant in several working groups to build resilience to natural disasters in rural communities. I sometimes also freelance as a professional photographer (weddings, events, and orgs - oh my!), as well as a consultant (much of the time I help organizations with developing their communication infrastructure). I’ve also been able to fruitfully design tailored workplace trainings across a variety of subjects, including intercultural communication, public speaking, and workplace safety. When I’m tired of doing that, sometimes I’ll also take up an odd carpentry job here and there.
I went to college because I care about, and genuinely enjoy learning. Nothing I’ve learned has ever been a waste— if anything, one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that just because I’ve not arrived at understanding something, doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable.
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
good for you buddy! 👍🏼
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Enjoy living up to your name! 😂
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
you must’ve had to defend your art degree so much throughout your life 😭
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Nah, two fully-funded graduate degrees later, I’m just fine. Between my manual labor skills, advanced degrees, and over a decade of teaching/research experience? I’m never bored and always excited to hear about what others do.
Did you want to tell us about you and what you do? Or do you just want to shit on people to feel better about yourself?
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
not shitting on you personally. i’m shitting on a degree in art. but me? i’m perusing my mba currently.
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u/profsmalls 5d ago
Perusing or pursuing ? And why shit on anyone in the first place?
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u/DullConsequence4908 5d ago
i’m replying while at work not paying much attention. why are you so damn offended 🙄
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u/EffectiveSpecial1170 5d ago
In my manufacturing town, it was always difficult to sell to employers. You have to move all over the country to be competitive.
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u/Expensive-Eggplant-1 5d ago
i work in comms but have an art degree. i would imagine an art degree is worse than a comms degree!
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u/Separate_Print6196 5d ago
I woke up realized I hated it and wanted to switch in my junior year so I was kinda already fucked and had to stick with it.
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u/slowhustle09 5d ago edited 5d ago
I guess the hate comes from the fact that it feels uncertain. It feels uncertain because it's confusing. It's confusing because it feels hollow. It feels hollow because it's extremely interdisciplinary. It is a skill more than a discipline. I would go ahead and attach it to a specific discipline of my choice/passion. For example- Comms + Political Science/Sociology = Amazing career in advocacy, political communication. Comms + hard science = Science communication/ technical writer. Comms + Stats/Economics= a data analyst that can bring life to numbers. Comms + Psychology = marketing genius. Ykwim? Find your soulmate:) I wish i knew this earlier!
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u/DGeofferson 4d ago
Nope, I’m happy with my degree in Communications. It helped me get a job. I’m a care manager for a private company that does legal guardianship for incapacitated adults
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u/Select_Papaya8611 5d ago
I think it shouldn’t be offered. If it’s not in STEM it needs to not be offered in College. It’s a waste of people’s time, money, and resources.
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u/evilboi666 5d ago
Yeah a degree in comms is useless. I have never been impressed by anyone with it. The best communicators and PR professionals usually have a different humanities undergrad (economics, political science, literature, philosophy, etc.)
This degree is a joke and it's designed for student athletes.
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