Photo by Vasily Koloda
What college majors offer the best chances for almost guaranteed employment after graduation? Along with the opportunity to land a job quickly, which ones offer excellent starting salaries, working conditions, fringe benefits, and career paths? The list changes every few years, but today’s leaders are a mixed bunch. They include transport management, finance & accounting, and the STEM fields. The three attract the most talented and hard-working students. Here are more details about each discipline.
Transport Fleet Management
Logistics, as the subject relates to transport fleets, was one of the top news stories of 2021 and 2022. A worldwide supply chain crisis grew from a small backlog of Asia-based ships into a massive and detrimental situation that is still ongoing as of early 2023. But even before the latest headlines, there was a serious shortage of transport fleet managers in the US and elsewhere. Students who major in business with a specialty in transport or supply chain subjects have no trouble finding employment upon graduation.
Along with accountants, engineers, and STEM grads, they comprise the most financially successful group of job hunters in the early part of the decade. What do fleet managers do? In addition to their core responsibility of making sure every delivery arrives at its destination on time, they are knee deep in routing, attending to driver issues, vehicle maintenance scheduling, and dozens of other tasks. If you choose to pursue the subject, be sure to learn how sustainability plays a central role in the job. Not only do best practices work to minimize greenhouse gases from fleet vehicles, but they keep operating costs down as well. Online resources are available for anyone who’s interested in learning about the subject of sustainable fleet transportation.
Finance & Accounting
The FinTech (financial technology) field is rapidly soaring to the top of the starting salary graph for new college grads. As recently as a generation ago, accounting was the sole choice for math-inclined, personal finance focused, graduates who wanted good pay, a solid career path, and instant employment after graduation day. Now, with the rise of IT-based solutions and services worldwide, and the massive popularity of online brokerage firms, finance majors are at last getting their share of attention from hiring agents and major banking firms.
STEM Subjects
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are the four pieces of the STEM acronym, which accounts for about one-fifth of all college graduate majors in the 2020s. What was formally called hard science has morphed into STEM during the past two decades. Grads can find work almost immediately in the public or private sector. Lots of these students head directly to university-level teaching positions when they prefer to avoid the non-academic working world.
It’s important for candidates to choose their specialty carefully because many STEM majors include an additional year of study compared to other fields. Several universities offer 5-year combined undergrad and master’s degrees in some areas, while others provide a separate semester of study for those who want to pass professional licensing examinations upon graduation. For more than a decade, there has been a severe shortage in all the STEM fields, which is one reason more students are finally electing to major in the four areas.
