It took me awhile to figure out my major. I am now doing a double major in Psychology and Economics, plus a minor in Statistics. I am pretty satisfied with my choice, and I think it prepares me well for a career in business, which I am interested in after graduation. I’ll talk about how I ended up in this combination, and the decisions I’ve made along the way.
I entered college in Hong Kong with a major in Media, which was an entire different path compared with what I am doing now. The time in Media was full of fun, but soon I found that wasn’t something I wanted, I just don’t have the passion to start a career in the media industry. Besides, the pay for jobs in the media industry is pretty low, which further confirmed my decision to change major. Switching major was possible, but it wasn’t that flexible as it is here in the US, and I didn’t really have the chance to explore different majors. I knew I didn’t want Media, but what major I want to get in? I don’t know. So at the end of my freshman year, I decided to transfer to the US.
I was accepted by U of I as a sophomore, and soon I found my interest in Psychology. I love studying the mind and behavior of people and fell in love with it immediately. Psychology is also a subject that could be applied to various different fields. I was glad I figured out something I’m interested in, but on the other hand I also need to plan for my future and land myself a job with a relative good income. At first, being a counselling psychologist was the job I wanted the most. I found myself enjoy helping people and I gain true happiness through it, and I believe it’s a job that could help me realize self-worth. But I didn’t choose that path because I knew I won’t be able to afford myself for a long time after entering counselling. Language and cultural background are critical for counselling psychologists, so as an international student I will definitely choose to go back to my home country for a counselling career. I am from mainland China, and unfortunately the psychology counselling industry in China isn’t as mature as the US. Psychology is still only in the beginning stages in China, and counselling is a career that requires a significant amount of time and money input in the beginning years. The income isn’t that rewarding in the beginning, and you will be able to only afford yourself after 3-5 years in the industry. Meanwhile, others might have already accumulated some wealth. Not to mention whether I will be good at it or not, it’s just too risky for me. I’m sure my parents will be willing to support me, but I feel bad relying on them for such a long time.
So I thought of other fields that psychology could be applied, and business came to my mind. I’ve always been interested in business, and it’s a career with pretty good reward. For me, while a counseling career means high interest, high risk, and low income (at least in the short-term), a business career means relative high interest, although not as high as counseling, but low risk, and relative high income. So it’s a good balance for me. HR and HR Consulting are safe choices for me. There is an area in Psyc that specifically studies how Psyc is applied to the workplace, and HR Consulting is very similar with what Industrial/Organizational Psychologists do in their research. I prepared myself by doing two internships in HR and research in I/O labs. My second choice in business would be Marketing Research and Consumer Behavior Research, which is also in business, and where I could utilize my psychology knowledge to study and predict consumer behaviors. I did a marketing internship in my sophomore year and also gained a closer look to the field by working as a research assistant in the Cultural Psychology and Marketing Lab in the business school. Even if I’m not able to do counselling right now, I’m glad that I love my second choices, business seem to be an exciting area for me. Besides all these, I declared my second major in Economics, a major that could be well applied to business. And also a minor in Statistics, to gain analytical and quantitative skills that are necessary for a business career. I believe a liberal arts degree will benefit me more than a specified degree in business, because I believe everything will be connected in the end and contribute to one’s career and life. And I will still be able to do graduate school in business to gain the essential business skills.
If possible, I still plan to go into psychology counselling maybe in my 40s, when I have enough economic strength to afford and pay for staring a counseling career. There are people succeeded this way, but I’m not sure if that’s realistic for me at that time. But for now, I would pursue a career in business, which I have a passion in, and exposes me to lower risk.
I don’t have siblings, and I’m the only one in my family studying abroad, so their experiences are not very applicable for me. But I did learn something from friends who studied in the US. International students face the choice of going back to their home country or looking for a job in the US right after graduation. Many people have said that, either is fine, but as soon as you’ve made your choice you should stick and work hard for it, and do not be halfhearted. The ones who thinks about the two paths at same time and wants both are always the ones who fail. One’s time and energy is limited, so to gain something, you have to focus and give up something else.
What you wrote about in the last paragraph seems to me the most interesting (more than the field you will going into afterward) because it seems broadly applicable - so many students at the U of I have to make such a choice. I would have liked to see you work through that decision further.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue I would have liked to see you talk about is whether you should continue with some graduate education immediately after the undergraduate or not. On the first issue, if international students are competing with domestic students for a job in the U.S., you might think the international students would be at some disadvantage for some jobs, all else equal, because of differences in cultural background. I don't know that is correct, but it seems to me a reasonable assumption to make. Thus, one might want want to create an offsetting advantage. Perhaps more education would do that.
The, regarding tying this to previous posts, you have talked about doing internships with Dow. Have you considered trying to work for Dow in the U.S.? That seems like another possible connection to consider.
My thoughts have always been changing since college. I’ve had different plans before, but for now, my plan is to work for a few years in the U.S. and then go back home. A degree and a few years’ work experience will be considered true global experience, which have a much higher value. Besides, entry level jobs in the U.S. have a much higher pay, so I will be able to save some money and at least cover the tuition I’ve paid.
DeleteI choose doing graduate school immediately after graduation is because getting a job with a bachelor’s degree is extremely difficult for international students. 95% of my friends continue with graduate school right after their undergrad. A master’s degree in a specified area largely increases the opportunity to be hired, and a lot of programs have very good employment rate for international students. If I have unrestricted legal working status, I would definitely go to work first, I’m sure I’ll be able to gain much more after a few years of work experience, but that’s not the case for me. The cost for hiring international students is just too high for an employer, so higher level of education and specialized skills are preferred. For most jobs, I think the biggest disadvantage for international students is not language or cultural background, but visa restrictions. A H1B visa is required for working in the U.S., which is sponsored by an employer. The cost of sponsoring an international student is way much higher than hiring an American. And the issuance of H1B visa is by lottery but not by talent… This is pure luck, which means even if you’ve gone through all the difficulties and you have an employer that is willing to sponsor you at a high cost, you still have to leave if you were not chosen, and this is a huge loss for an employer, and that’s why employers prefer domestic candidates. The lottery success rate is about 27% for bachelor’s degree and 50-60% for master’s degree. And master’s degree could get into the visa lottery for 2 times. For all these reasons, an advanced degree is a rational choice.
Yes, I thought of that at first. But unfortunately, Dow does not sponsor international students. U.S. citizen/U.S. permanent resident is the minimum requirement to apply for jobs at Dow in the U.S. And this is the situation for most companies, they state this on their job description page. But I think the connection here is that the experience is still applicable. Working experience in an U.S. firm will still help me in when I look for internship/jobs in the U.S. in the future. Looking back, I think I’m going step by step, so that it won’t be too overwhelming for me. I think an internship in an U.S. firm like Dow in my home country is a good preparation for an internship in the U.S., which I plan to do in my following summers.