Face Off: Should university graduates look for jobs based on their majors?

Furthermore, if you enter a field of work that is unrelated to your major, you will likely feel like you are struggling at your job because you lack the skill-set, knowledge, and experience required for that job, which you could’ve gained by studying a related major.

Face Off: Is university experience essential for one’s personal development?

The whole point of going to university is to prepare yourself for a future career, and your major is supposed to provide you with the skills and knowledge you need for certain jobs.

If graduates got into jobs related to their majors, their hard work at university would not be wasted, and they would be more capable at their jobs than those who did not study in related degrees. 

So, I think students need to carefully pick a major that will help them do well in the job they want after graduating, and make sure that they are studying something – and planning to work in a field – they are passionate about.

HK universities need to do more than add new programmes if they want to prepare their students for our rapidly changing world

Nemo Yu, 14, Carmel Secondary School
Yes, some jobs may require you  to have specific skills that you can  gain from specific subjects, but that doesn’t mean you should only look for jobs related to your major.

First of all, the careers related to your major will not suit every single student who takes this subject. In fact, according to The Washington Post, only 27 per cent of university graduates worked in a job that was closely related to their major.

It’s true that employers may be more keen to hire someone who majored in a field related to their business, but if you have interests in other, unrelated fields, there’s no harm in applying even if you don’t have the specific skill-set. I believe that, to enter a new field, sometimes all you need is passion and a willingness to learn.

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Furthermore, there are many successful people whose jobs now are completely unrelated to the subjects they studied in university.

Take Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group – which owns South China Morning Post – for example. He studied English Language at university, and now he is a billionaire businessman.

As long as a person works hard, I believe they can excel in any field.

In conclusion, the major or majors you take may help you get hired into certain jobs, but they should not dictate which career you go into once you graduate.