You Majored in What? : Designing Your Path From College to Career

Fully revised and updated in 2017, the revolutionary career guide for a new generation of job-seekers, from one of the U.S.’s top career counselors “So what are you going to do with your major?” It’s an innocent question that can haunt students from high school to graduate school and beyond. Relax. Your major is just the starting point for designing a meaningful future. In this indispensable guide, Dr. Katharine Brooks shows you a creative, fun, and intelligent way to figure out what you want to do and how to get it—no matter what you studied in college. You will learn to map your experiences for insights into your strengths and passions, design possible lives, and create goals destined to take you wherever you want to go. Using techniques and ideas that have guided thousands of college students to successful careers, Dr. Brooks will teach you to outsmart and outperform your competition, with more Wisdom Builders and an easily applied career development process. No matter what career you aspire to, You Majored in What? offers a practical, creative, and successful approach to finding your path to career fulfillment. Has it happened yet? Have you been asked The Question? You know the one. Its the question that haunts you from your early undergrad days to months, even years, after you graduate What are you going to do with that major? Inevitably this unleashes waves of anxiety, whether youre a liberal arts student unsure what your degree has prepared you for, someone with a practical major whose career field is oversaturated (or just unappealing), or a recent grad still searching for inspiration. But take heart The Question is fundamentally flawed. Your major does not equal your job!In You Majored In What?, nationally known career counselor Dr. Katharine Brooks dispels the myths and the old-fashioned thinking that can make your transition to the real world so daunting and chaotic. Developed from more than twenty years of teaching and guiding students to successful careers, her Wise Wanderings career coaching system helps you mine your academic and life experiences for career gold through creative yet practical techniques including visual mapping, storytelling, and experimenting. Thanks to the Wise Wanderings system, you can forget what youve been told about the job search. You dont have to know where youll be in ten years. You dont have to have picked the perfect major. The job-finding process doesnt have to be one more burden on your already overburdened schedule. All you have to do is pay attention. Embrace the chaos. Think. Create maps. Construct small experiments. Celebrate your education. Consider possible lives. Tell stories. And start wandering. Wisely, of course. Youll be amazed at whats waiting out there for you. ABOUT THE AUTHOR PRAISE FOR You Majored in What? TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION CONTENTS FOREWORD CHAPTER 1: MOVING FROM COLLEGE TO CAREER: Making Sense of the Chaos PART ONE: DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS CHAPTER 2: THE POWER OF YOU: Creating a Network of Possible Wanderings CHAPTER 3: MENTAL WANDERINGS: Your Mind and Major Will Take You Everywhere PART TWO: DEVELOP YOUR VISION CHAPTER 4: WHY SETTLE FOR ONE CAREER WHEN YOU CAN HAVE TEN?: Creating Your Possible Lives CHAPTER 5: SHARPENING YOUR VISION: Testing the Waters before You Take the Plunge PART THREE: DESIGN YOUR PATH CHAPTER 6: EVEN WANDERERS MAKE PLANS: Where Are You Now and Where Do You Want to Go? CHAPTER 7: WORKING AS A KRACKEL BAR: Storytelling, Marketing, and Social Media CHAPTER 8: YOUR WANDERINGS ON ONE PAGE: Writing Your Résumé CHAPTER 9: MAKING THE EMPLOYER CARE: Cover Letters That Will Get You the Interview CHAPTER 10: WORDS CREATE WORLDS: Storytelling through Interviewing and Networking PART FOUR: DELIVER YOUR TALENTS CHAPTER 11: WANDERERS GO EVERYWHERE: Designing Your Go-to-Market Strategy FINAL THOUGHTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS REFERENCES AND RESOURCES INDEX

Read Katharine Brooks's posts on the Penguin Blog.

As revolutionary as What Color Is Your Parachute?, this career guide for a new generation of job- seekers, from one of America's top college career counselors

With the job market in flux, young people face The Question: what are you going to do with that major?

In this indispensable guide, Dr. Katharine Brooks provides a road map for twenty-somethings, replacing obsolete thinking that "major = career," and instead using positive psychology, mapping techniques, and experimental wanderings to help job seekers reframe their skills. Brooks provides effective strategies to help readers mine their academic and life experiences for new insights into landing jobs with the best employers, and finding alternatives when the situation calls for a Plan B.

You Majored in What? offers a practical and proven approach to reframing experiences, discovering overlooked opportunities, and finding a true calling, regardless of your undergraduate major or the state of the job market.

**Fully revised and updated in 2017, the revolutionary career guide for a new generation of job-seekers, from one of the U.S.’s top career counselors**__You Majored in What__