Before any young person heads off to college, they have a very big decision to make: what to major in? It’s one of the most significant decisions of anyone’s life, and it can shape your entire future in more ways than one.
The major you choose will affect your career prospects, your future income, lifestyle, and much more besides, which is why it’s so important to give this decision the care and consideration it really deserves.
There are literally thousands of different majors you can choose between, and if you find yourself hesitating, know that you’re not alone. Countless college applicants struggle with this decision, and many are unsure if they’ll ever be able to decide one way or another.
In the end, one of the best ways to define your major is to think about your own passions and interests, along with your abilities, values, and your aspirations for the future.
Those who are good with numbers, interested in business, and eager to find a major that provides value, versatility, challenges, and great prospects should absolutely consider a finance major, and here are a few key reasons why.
Flexibility
One of the best things about majoring in finance is that it can open a lot of different doors. The world of finance is immensely broad, with countless different roles and jobs you might be able to get into later on from accounting to analysis to advisor roles and more.
This is so important, especially for people who aren’t quite sure about their future and what they want to do just yet. Not everyone is able to know the exact profession they want to head into, but choosing finance gives you more time to discover more about yourself and gradually decide on the sort of role you want to move into.
Something for Everyone
Many people try to choose a major based on finding a future career that suits their personality. Someone who is very outgoing and sociable, for example, might opt for a major that leads to roles in which they do a lot of talking and interacting with others.
One of the benefits of finance is that it’s so versatile and varied, you can find all kinds of roles, later on, no matter what sort of person you happen to be. If you’re an introvert, you can find jobs in accounting, for instance, that allow you to mostly work alone, in quiet and calm conditions. If you’re more extroverted, you can head into work as a financial advisor.
Financial Prospects
Fittingly, one of the best benefits of choosing finance is that you can give your own finances a serious boost if you enjoy success in this field. Finance majors can end up in some very lucrative positions, earning impressive salaries with great benefits and terrific prospects for the future.
Statistics show that, on average, finance majors earn in excess of $60,000, but that’s only half the story. In many cases, majors in this particular subject can bring up six-figure salaries, especially if they head into roles in the corporate sector or start working for high-end financial planning and advice firms.
Challenging and Rewarding
Many people make the mistake of assuming that financial careers are all about math, crunching numbers, and understanding bookkeeping, but there’s often a lot more to take into account when it comes to financial roles and careers.
You can require all kinds of skills and deep levels of knowledge to succeed in this industry, and you’ll learn all kinds of things at college too, with subjects that may surprise and intrigue you. This is another reason why finance is so appealing; it can be a very challenging yet rewarding line of study and work, and students who love to solve problems and feel challenged will have a lot of fun with it.
A Growing Field
Another thing you have to take into account when it comes to choosing a major is job security. After all, you want to make sure that whatever you’re studying now will lead to a secure and reliable career later on.
This is why it’s worth looking at growth rates in your chosen industry to see if positions are becoming more frequent and businesses are getting bigger, or if the industry is struggling to survive. When it comes to financing, growth rates and estimates are very positive, meaning that jobs will always be available and salaries have high chances of rising in the years to come.
Final Word
As we can clearly see, a career in finance can be immensely rewarding in more ways than one, so if you’re hesitating about your major and want something interesting, challenging, and reliable, finance may be the answer.