by Michael Pacitti

Second guessing your college major? Worrying if you’ll ever find a job in your field of study? Don’t worry- you’re not alone. If you’re like me, you didn’t have the slightest clue about what major to choose when entering college. As it turns out, a new study shows that your choice of major doesn’t necessarily result in a job in that desired field. CareerBuilder surveyed over 2,000 American workers with college degrees and found that 47% did not find a first job related to their college major. On top of that, 32% had never found a job in their major-specific field in their career!

However, just because these workers did not find a job in their field of study does not mean that they aren’t successful or happy. In fact, this same study showed that 64% are happy with their choice in major even if they weren’t employed in that field, and 61% were optimistic about finding their dream job.

Another study performed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that only 27.3% of college graduates surveyed were working in their college major field. These alarmingly low percentages raise the question, “why bother stressing over a college major?” We select our major based on our interests and where we see ourselves going in the future, but the sad truth is that nearly half of us won’t even work in that selected field. Sometimes our interests change, sometimes it’s the surroundings that determine where we end up, and sometimes we simply have no control over where our careers will take us. The key is to find what you do love and pursue it.