Career QT Newsletter, Introducing the Missing Major

 

Did you know? To some extent a student's academic success hinges on how and when he/she chooses a major. Students who choose a college major generally have better direction and better retention rates than students who are undeclared. Helping students focus and identify their areas of career interest is one of the biggest challenges to our CCC Career Center Staff. To facilitate this process and provide some initial direction, The California Community College Chancellor Office Career Advisory Committee and MonsterTRAK have designed a new interactive website to take the mystery out of finding a major. The MissingMajor.com site is fast, fun and free and will give students information and next steps to take in identifying some major possibilities. The Missing Major site is not designed to deliver a comprehensive career assessment, but rather to grab students' attention and lead them to their college's career resources to get the help they need. You will receive ideas on marketing, using, and growing your career center business using MissingMajor.com, in the fall. For now, we want you and your team to try out the site, give us some feedback, and consider ways you can use it.

 

Try this:

 

• Go to the Missing Major Site register and gather your 5 Clues.
  
• Print your Profile Sheet to see how your information is entered and displayed.
  
• Exchange Profile sheets with another person on your Career Center Staff.
  
• With your partner, role play a student meeting- take turns playing the student and the career counselor using your respective Profile Sheets.
  
• Share questions you would ask a student and next steps you would suggest to students who bring in their Profile Sheets.
  
• List two and three ways you will promote and use the MissingMajor.com site during the summer session.

 

Want More? Review the Major Myths section on the MissingMajor.com site. Check out the additional resources and activities outlined in the Explore the Possibilities, Get Experience, and Overcome Obstacles on the MissingMajor.com home page. When looking for next steps to take with students, consider using some of these Career Decision Tip Sheets from USC's Career Center.

 

Quick Quote: Despite the importance of choosing a major, the vast majority of students still make the decision haphazardly.