Options by Major

One of the most common questions we get from CLA students (and their families) is: 

What can I do with a major in ___?

In reality, your liberal arts major — and the Core Career Competencies you build through it — can lead you to a career in almost any field. 

In our Career Path Guides, you’ll find extensive career information organized as it relates to each of CLA’s majors. Among other things, you’ll learn about:

• An overview of the major and the key skills (in addition to the Core Career Competencies) that students develop in the major.
• Internship and job search websites geared toward students in the major.
• Student groups and professional organizations connected to the major.
• Examples of CLA alumni from the major and their job titles and employers organized by career field.

• R (Realistic)—Technically and athletically inclined people who have mechanical ingenuity and prefer to work on their own, using their hands and tools to build, repair, grow, or make things, often outdoors.
• I (Investigative)—Abstract problem solvers who prefer to work on their own, using their minds to observe, learn, investigate, research, and solve abstract problems, frequently in a scientifically related area.
• A (Artistic)—Idea creators who prefer working with little supervision and enjoy innovating, imaginative problem solving, artistic expression, and creating, sometimes in the performing, visual, or literary arts.
• S (Social)—People helpers who like to work with people to inform, enlighten, train, develop, or cure them.
• E (Enterprising)—People influencers who like to work with people, actively influencing, leading, or managing them toward organizational goals. Comfortable in business settings.
• C (Conventional)—Data and detail people who prefer to work with data (words and numbers), carrying out detailed instructions or following a prescribed plan.