You Majored in What?: Mapping Your Path From Chaos to Career

by Katharine Brooks

Has it happened yet? Have you been asked The Question? You know the one. It’s 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 you’re 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 you’ve been told about the job search. You don’t have to know where you’ll be in ten years. You don’t have to have picked the perfect major. The job-finding process doesn’t 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. You’ll be amazed at what’s waiting out there for you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Education, Professional Development, Business, Personal Development, College

337 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dr. Katharine S. Brooks is currently the Evans Family Executive Director of the Career Center at Vanderbilt University. Formerly she served as the Executive Director of the Office of Personal and Career Development at Wake Forest University, Director of Liberal Arts Career Services for The University of Texas at Austin, and Director of Career Services for Dickinson College.

She developed the "Wise Wanderings" career coaching system, outlined in her book, You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career.

Brooks has been teaching career-related courses since 1991, including a series of classes entitled “The Liberal Arts Major in the Workplace” which focused on helping students connect what they’ve studied in the classroom with the workplace. She has also taught courses in “The Liberal Arts in Management”, and several film studies courses including “The Real World: The Workplace in the Movies” and “Psychology and Cinema.”

Brooks provides career coaching training and consulting for career services professionals through "Career Coaching Intensives" she created for the National Association of Colleges & Employers.
She writes a blog on “Career Transitions” for Psychology Today.

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is out of touch. You don't have to convince English and History majors that our skills transcend our major -- it's employers that we can't convince and this book does nothing to help the new grad awash in the sea of endless online job applications navigate the reality that is faces Liberal Arts majors in a world dominated by STEM and Business grads. This book tries to make the reader feel good about our unmarketable majors.

It's not hard to sell hope to Liberal Arts majors, as we're pretty desperate bunch, but do yourself a favor and get this one from your local library.

[Meaghan]

Overall this is probably a quite helpful book (and I'll probably return to it when I actually need it) but I'm just not at the point in my educational path that I'm looking at 'starting a career' yet. This made only the beginning aspects of the book actually helpful (the sections that focus on self-discovery), since the latter sections are all very much about taking action now, whether that be researching jobs or applying for them, and that's just not where I am right now.

It also didn't help that so many of the exercises tell you to take the time and space to really work through them, but my class had so many deadlines attached to everything that I felt like I couldn't actually do them all fully. On top of that a lot of exercises tell you to leave your house to work, find a nice, new quiet space, but that's also impossible.

Overall I feel like this book has the potential to be helpful, just wasn't really helpful for me at this point in time. (Though I have to admit that the exercises at the beginning, where you figure out yourself and what you dream, were interesting/helpful, if not the chapters after).

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice and exercises that aid in career selection, but not stunningly insightful. It advises "wise wandering": learning, taking risks, trying new things, and experimenting with what interests you, regardless of its "usefulness," throughout your life. It's written to college students who are trying to choose a career path, but most of the content is relevant to non-college students. The exercises are the most valuable parts.

I skipped the sections about writing your résumé and interviewing, because they're not relevant to me at this point.

I read this because it was recommended in
I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work, which was a more helpful book than this.

Notes
Connecting The Dots: Uncovering the Power of Your Wanderings
Create Wandering Map
1. Get a big sheet of blank paper and something to write with.
2. Think about all the interesting and significant things you've done or have happened to you in your life. Think about unique jobs, unusual classes, summer experiences, what you're most proud of, hobbies, awards, honors, valuable lessons learned, knowledge you rely on, successful experiences.
3. Write your thoughts. Write what comes to mind, not just what seems career-related.
4. Don't try to organize as you go.
5. Remember key moments in your life. Think of objects you use and enjoy, life events (moments or years), jobs held (good and bad), fantastic classes, adventures/risks you've taken, family heritage/culture, hobbies, places lived or traveled, volunteer activities

Find themes and threads
1. Identify the basic categories. Make obvious connections. Draw lines to connect items that can be categorized together. Write down the list of categories. Note anything interesting or significant.
2. Dig deeper: identify themes and threads in your life. Draw lines connecting items. Make a list of basic themes.

Career tests
Career counseling tests
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Strong Interest Inventory
Campbell Interest and Skill Survey
Tests you can take on your own
Values in Action
Strengths Inventory from Now, Discover Your Strengths book

"As my life progresses, I will consider myself successful when I:"
Use my talent in …
Am in love with …
Spend my time …
Volunteer to …
Have pursued …
Do …

Why Settle For One Career When You Can Have Ten? The Wise Wanderer Explores the Future
Think about the types of people you'd like to be around every day, to think of possible colleagues or clients. Would you like to teach them, consult with them, influence them, sell to them, help them, support them? Identify careers that might help you do that.

Map your possible lives
1. On a blank sheet of paper, write your current status (job or theme) in the center. Draw a circle around it.
2. Write down Possible Lives all over paper - everything you've thought or daydreamed about. Circle each and draw a line from each to center.
Don't consider whether you have the education or talent.
Don't consider the salary (or lack).
Don't consider whether they're realistic.

Analyze Possible Lives Map for common themes or relationships among different "lives." Write them down. Circle or star top choices. Think about and write how you could start pursuing them now.

Pretend that it's tomorrow morning and you wake up and you know exactly what you want to do. Quickly now, what is it?

Review Possible Lives Map and answer these questions:
Which are strongest?
Which were most fun to dream about and create?
Can you visualize yourself in all the roles?
Do any make you anxious or uncomfortable?
Which give energy and which take away energy?

If you knew you couldn't fail, which Possible Life would you choose?

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed some "career therapy" and this book fit the bill. Going from college to grad school to a job with a group that I'd interned with, I've never had to really think about how to market myself to potential employers because things came pretty easily. And now that I am actively looking for a new opportunity, and potentially in something that will be a little bit of a career change, I needed to read about how to make my experience relevant to other employers. This gave me lots of ideas and also offered a chance for some reflection on what my skills and interests really are. I recommend it for anyone that needs some career counseling or is potentially looking to alter the trajectory of their career path. ;)

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I knew of any recent high school grads or soon to be college students, I would definitely gift them this book. The book uses chaos theory as a base to explore the often non-linear paths of careers and provide practical and helpful suggestions on how to make decisions about education and career. While the book is geared toward the college student who may still be trying to decide upon a major or set a career goal, the perspective and advice in this book could be adapted to someone at any stage of life or career who is struggling with the next step.

[Petrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! For a career guidance book, this was fantastic in guiding me to discover what I already knew about myself deep down.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mapping processes, the 'theme'ing of my life, and it was interesting to learn more about myself in this way. In the future, I will surely pick up this book again for the resume/cover letter advice section. I am not at that stage yet, but it has fantastic tips for turning your run-of-the-mill resume into one that is genuine and stands out. =)

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Need motivation and confidence to ace job interviews? Need to make sense of the mixed-bag of studies you’ve done in all your schooling so far? This guide will help you unearth your strengths and experience, and turn you into a master salesman of your professional and interpersonal abilities.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's official: I'm suffering from the common condition known as "career advice fatigue". I also graduated from college 5 years ago, and this book really isn't geared towards people in my position. But like any book of advice, you have to extract what applies to you. And I do have a degree in a liberal-arts subject that tends to be considered "useless". The only thing is, 5 years out of college, your major becomes less of an issue. That said, I gained two main things from this book:

1. Doing one of the exercises, I developed better language to talk about my major as a selling point, rather than something to be explained away or ignored. It made me feel less regretful about my major, and will probably enable me to talk about my education with greater confidence.

2. I'm a very linear thinker, and the philosophy of this book is based off of chaos theory (ie, not linear at all). Parts of this book made me realize how my linear mindset might be hindering me. It made me realize that nonlinear doesn't necessarily equal "bad", and hopefully I'll be able to remind myself of that in the future.

[Anna Jaskiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Brooks stated herself within this book, there is no way to give the perfect career advice that will work positively for every single person. Despite that challenge, within this book Brooks successfully develops a system known as “Wise Wanderings” in which she works to help college students or recent graduates discover their skills and how to apply them in search of a rewarding career. Having recently read a different career oriented book that was geared toward English major specifically, I can honestly say that this one, although more generally focused, is more helpful and beneficial. On top of the helpful career search advice Brooks provides, I also find this book simply to be both inspirational and motivational to those with non-linear college degrees. Additionally, there are numerous chapters that act as great references for resume and cover letter writing and interviewing advice. I will be referring to those chapters regularly as I continue my job search. I recommend this book to any college student who will be entering the workforce soon. I specifically recommend this book to humanities majors who need to find confidence about their degrees.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the tone and the attitude that this book presented toward the job search. It definitely made me feel better about majoring in English without giving me all the answers about what to do with such a major. And ALSO for not boxing me in to one or two professions such as "teacher" or "librarian." I really appreciated the process of creating a Wandering Map, and it's something that I'm going to be consulting as I go through my job search. Additionally, it was quick to read, and I didn't feel pressured to make decisions in one direction or another. Really a neat book.

[Cathy Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a test or a magical sorting hat that will tell you what you're supposed to "be," and thus, what to major in, don't buy this book. If you're willing to ask yourself a lot of tough questions and think and research and reflect and re-examine your dreams, then this book is perfect. Finding a meaningful career is not a linear path, and this book will make you appreciate that non-linearity--and embrace it.

Man, I wish someone had made me read this book 20 years ago.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't know where you're going with your life, READ THIS BOOK. Take it seriously-don't just dismiss it because she's asking you to draw. Actually put in some effort and some thought, and you'll be surprised how extraordinarily helpful this book can be.

[David Magill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for English and humanities majors to use as a reference.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked.. parts of it. This would be a great book for someone in high school or college trying to decide what to do with their lives. As someone 5 years out of school, the mapping at the beginning of the book was most useful, but the rest I just quickly scanned over.

[Kelley Jansson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The messages in the first few pages of this book are worth the price of admission: 1. Careers are NOT linear, and 2. Random events matter. I also appreciated the example of a student's interest in working with the homeless and the opportunities that would exist at school, local, regional, state, and international levels. It makes sense that the more thinking students put into their careers the more likely they'll find what they're seeking. The wanderings exercises seemed much more suitable for a workshop than a book, but still the message had value. Students are already wandering, so it's important that we guide them to see the patterns in their lives. My only issue with the book is that it is definitely geared toward liberal arts majors and anthropology was mentioned at least half a dozen times. Anyone who monitors higher ed knows that anthropology is consistently ranked one of the top WORST majors with respect to employment prospects. We should encourage students to explore their interests, but let's make sure they can still put food on the table.

[Adrienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is thought provoking; drawing conclusions; weighing evidence by writing notes on what works and doesn't. we have to adapt to change and not be defeated with a resilient career strategy. the author suggests to make a wandering map that involves reflective thinking; look at skills and talents; look in past to find your future. picture living your possible life and take actions to these scenarios; willing to go far into the future as you can.

get into fields of study that'll expel your mind and develop new connections.

encouraged storytelling for interview process or has influence, control or manipulate behaviors.

will try the map to focus on strength; weakness; threats and opportunities. brainstorming too. haven't done since high school via career but brainstorm with writing novels.

2.75

[Isabella G · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was looking for a book to read I couldn't find one that I really wanted to read. So, my brother suggested this book to read. He read this book in a college class a couple years back. Just from the title alone I was intrigued. I have learned a lot from this book and I think it has helped me try and figure what I am going to do with the rest of mine life. Every chapter of the book they talked about something different. From finding the right major to how you should be writing once you get the job. I think that anyone who is having a tough time figuring out what they want to do should check out this book and see if maybe they can find any answer to their questions here. And if this book doesn't help them check out another book because I know the next book I'll be reading will be about college too!!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's OK, but a bit early for the boys. It's also quite like What Color is your Parachute as in it's a guide, complete with worksheets, for mapping a career. I like how it applies Chaos Theory to the career path, and stresses making the most of yourself and your classes whether they are required or not. Might be worth taking another look when the boys are closer to college in a few years. Points out obvious stuff that it's worth being reminded about - follow your interests and all your life experiences, etc.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be more of a how to market yourself guide for English majors like me. Alas, it is not. It is more of the traditional job guide book: how to write an amazing resume, cover letter, etc., but with one caveat: she uses the Chaos Theory as a metaphor throughout. I'm not sure I'm really buying that. However, the last chapter made the book worth it, as it is filled with uplifting advice on how not to give up on the job search. I think we could all use a little more of that.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved how Brooks used the mapping concept to get students (and me!) to sort through their interests to help them identify careers and other important things. I used this book to help generate ideas for a Liberal Arts 101 course, and found it to be very helpful. I'd recommend to other career and academic advisors, especially for Liberal Arts Students.

[Liz Delf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of creative exploratory exercises to find the career path for you: making "wandering maps," considering "mindset" strengths and weaknesses, etc. Excellent no-nonsense, fun-to-read chapters on resumes and cover letters. A little dense, but worth a good skim. Totally focused on choosing a path; less room here for just wandering into it.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

i quit my job and am currently in the process of figuring out what to do with my life. my friend, kris, loaned me this book that helped him when he was in a similar situation. i'm hoping it gives me some direction...

[Aga Artka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a descent guide to thinking openly about one's career options. Careers are nonlinear. They are often chaotic and unpredictable. The books gives a reader many chances to stop and ponder on their example. It encourages to mind map, which I absolutely loved.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the content. If there is one thing I took away from this, it's to embrace the chaos, especially when it comes to planning. Each chapter was well thought out and seemed very real and considerate of a broad range of circumstances.

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the advice in this book is really helpful - I went online and found pdf worksheets for those parts I can use with my freshman advisees; most of it seems either too touchy-feely and pie in the sky or busywork-like to me.

[Marlena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding a career is not a linear process. Loved the text in this book. I laughed out loud many times. It's so real and so true!

[Rachel Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get through the whole book and I don't plan on making it through this whole book, but it's a great way to get serious about your potential career path and draw a visual for yourself.

[Delia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super helpful for my first job application drive post graduation

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really finish it, but while it's great to pump up the mood, I was never one to go through exercises.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book for anyone trying to figure out what they want to do with their life. Love the Wandering Map and Possible Lives activities.