How your Minor Can Land You A Job

A minor course of study could well be the most underrated university activity. But with the job market becoming tighter and more specialized, you may find that a solid minor can land you a job. It may be that extra dimension that makes your resume and job candidacy stand out above the others.

How can a minor be important?

A Minor That Compliments Your Major

Employers are usually looking for candidates who are well-rounded. While being strong in your major is important, having a greater depth of education can be that something extra that an employer is looking for. Having a minor that complements your major can expand your job opportunities.

Related: What Kind of Degree Is Right for Me?

For example, let’s say that your major is business management, and you hope to land a position somewhere in middle management at a large firm. A minor in marketing can help to convince a prospective employer that you not only know the fundamentals of management, but also the importance – as well as the basic methodology – of generating income for the company.

Giving Your Major a Twist

A minor can give your major that something extra that an employer may be looking for. For example, let’s say that you major in education, planning to be a teacher. How would a minor in drama look alongside that major?

The drama minor will give you an appreciation for winning over an audience – something a teacher needs to do in a classroom. But it will also give you valuable training in presenting before a group. A school district may be very interested in a new graduate with that kind of background.

Helping You to Pinpoint a More Specific Career

Continuing the education major example, you can take a minor in any subject that you hope to teach. For example, it can be a minor in history, science, or mathematics. If there is a specific area of teaching that you want to go into, the minor that you take can help you get there.

A Backup Plan In Case You Can’t Find a Job in Your Major

It’s no secret, a lot of university graduates don’t find jobs in their major area of study, at least not right away. A solid minor could end up being the perfect backup plan in that situation.

For example, if you are unable to land a job in teaching, a minor in computer science may enable you to get a paying job, at least until you can find the type of teaching position you want.

Minors That Can Work With Just About Any Major

If you agree that a minor could improve your chances of landing a job at graduation, but don’t know which one to select, here are some suggestions. These are minors that could work well with just about any major your studying.

Computer science – Computers are a major factor in just about any industry or career. Adding computer science courses to your program can give you a valuable technological edge. Increasingly, players are not just looking for computer people, but rather those who can blend computer technology with their business.

Marketing – Marketing gives you a big picture view of your prospective employer’s business. Every company in the world needs to market – that’s how they get customers and clients. That’s also how they pay everyone’s salaries. Much like computer science, if you can find a way to merge marketing into your job, you will have a leg up on just about everyone else.

Communications – It’s hard to imagine a career field where communications won’t be important. At a minimum, it will help you on a personal level to have a greater impact on what’s going on in the company around you. Prospective employers may be impressed with this minor, particularly if it includes a course or two in public speaking. That alone may set you up on the fast track to management.

A Foreign Language – If you’ve ever seen job ads looking for someone with related skills and experience and the ability to speak Language X, then you can probably appreciate how this would be valuable. Many companies today have worldwide operations, or at least international customers. The fact that you can speak a foreign language even minimally could be the extra skill that enables you to land the job over the competition.

Related: Why You Should Consider a Minor in a Foreign Language

Accounting – Accounting has sometimes been referred to as the language of business. But just having the ability to know what a balance sheet or a capital asset are could be a real door opener. And much like communications, accounting is one of those skills that could set you up for a management position in the near future.

Related: Why Choose Accounting as a Major?

Diversity of skills are becoming more important in the workplace all the time. That makes the minor that you choose almost as important as your major.

Are you taking a minor right now?