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Regular
Posts: 94
| I am having second thoughts about what career path to take. I have been planning on Agribusiness since the school I want to go to has a great program for that. I've been told its a strong field in my area (Midwest.)T But also that it is a "vague" degree, so it is hard for me to know exactly what I would do with the degree and what salary I would have. I would try and get an internship with a good company. But another option in the back of my mind, completely different path, is dental hygienist...which would require me to go to one of my less "preferred" schools. But I like the hours of both these options (no weekends, nights, etc) Anyone have advice?  |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
   
Location: Kansas | nursing is high demand right now |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6443
Location: Montana | Dental hygienists make good money and only require a 2 year degree. I have a couple of cousins that are/were doing well in that field...at least before they had families. it isn't a job I'd want (the mouth thing grosses me out), but it's lucrative enough and has good hours. |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | The banking industry is in dire need of ag loan officers. They just can't find any people that have any idea of what farming is about since there are so few young people coming from farm backgrounds. You would be making six figure income in a very short time. No holidays no weekends no nights. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Nursing. Employable nationwide.
Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management. (Texas A&M and University of Wyoming). All the range majors I know have a great paying job, either with federal government ($60,000 and up), or private sector ($150,000 and up). They're employable nationwide. |
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 Loves to compete
Posts: 5760
Location: Oakdale, CA | my suggestion is nursing, accounting, finance and public speaking. Reasons are in demand in all states if you decide to move and covers a wide variety of things........ |
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Veteran
Posts: 276
| My advice is unless you are going to a large school known for that certain program that can get you an "in" with companies looking for recent graduates, then go into something that is much easier to get placed in a position, such as teaching, nursing or other healthcare, or a technology field. I have a Master's degree, but it is also in a vague field and I have struggled to find good positions in my rural area. It's frustrating. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Dental hygienists really make good money. There must be a shortage because mine works for two different dentists in two different towns. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Ok, listen up :)
1. Very few people know what they want to be when leaving for college.
2. Very few people are actually doing what their degree is in.
3. Most college degrees are vague to the real world application of them
4. The degree that you actually will posses is often of little importance
5. (The Most Important) - The degree you get will have limited amount of influence on how much you eventually make. This is discounting teaching degrees and similar type occupations.
My advice for what you describe. Get an Agribusiness degree or a General Business degree. Stay away from liberal arts type stuff. Your eventual career path and earning potential will be determined more by your work ethic and skills learned "on the job" than anything they will teach you in school. With either one of the degrees above, you can do most anything in life. 
Edited by Tdove 2015-11-25 10:28 AM
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 Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | My advice would be to find something you are interested in not just for the money or hours. Money is good but if you hate your job it wont last long. I went in thinking Business Management was what I wanted to do but after 2 1/2 years of that I have great income with a great company but I'm not happy. I'm currently back in school to be a paramedic. Less pay(which doesn't make sense) and crazy hours but it's my passion and what I want to do. Whatever you choose makes sure its because of your passion for it not just money. Now, could you find a career that is your passion and makes great money, of course! That would be ideal.
Good luck! |
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Veteran
Posts: 152
| I have an animal science/ag business degree... Super hard to know what I want to do with it. It is vague and covers a broad range. Right now I'm a barn manager in Oklahoma (job searching now to get back to MN). Job searching beyond this has proven difficult. You either have to have a specified "career" in mind and aim for it, or have an "in" with a company you can grow with. Network a lot. I should have done more, but didn't live on campus.
Right now, I think I'm switching things up completely and going back to school to be a chiropractor? Looked into that years ago, and now wish I would have just done it.
The ag business jobs I have found so far don't pay enough to make me want to take them. Maybe aim yourself in college towards sales. Or crop science. My friends doing those things make good money. |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | No matter what you do -- having a business degree will be helpful. Business is business is business. And it will help you with your personal finances, too. In today's world, accounting/business with CPA is in demand and will continue to be in demand. If you do a double in Agbus + Accounting and get your CPA you should have some very good options with the possibility of high pay for great performance. |
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Sideways Riding Expert
Posts: 11371
Location: ND--it snows, it floods, it snows, it floods | If you stay in the Ag Business sector take some Agronomy courses. You can go into Ag banking, chemical Sales, insurance, Agronomy sales, ect.I can tell you that if you go into Agronomy sales you will be starting at about $45,000 to $50,000 starting salary and that does not include benefits or bonuses.
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 Veteran
Posts: 100
Location: Oklahoma | Large animal Vet. or Vet. Tech... Schools long for the Vet but a blink of an eye as far as Life goes!!! Theres a shortage of large animal Vets!!! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 729
Location: south central usa | i have an ag business degree and did pretty decent in the classes... hindsight - I would have been better off to major in accounting, finance or "regular" business if I would have wanted to stay in that same line of majors. knowing what I know today - I would have majored in engineering (probably mechanical or electrical).
I've worked as an ag loan officer and those jobs are not as glamorous as some seem to make them out to be - keep in mind also that these type of jobs are few and far between (there are probably more RNs at your local hospital than there are ag loan officers in the entire state - pick any state but TX)
agree with others - for some jobs/careers a degree opens the door, but the doors that are opened by an ag business degree could probably be opened with just about any degree.
the exception would be if you want to stay in the ag industry and want to specialize.
If I was going to give general advice to a college student debating on degrees, I would say to make sure you have a "computer" influence within your classes (not saying that you need to be programming, but any job will require you to be proficient in numerous types of software)
I also had a minor in accounting and that is what opened the door to my current job more than my actual degree....
I could go on and on...good and bad....good luck with your decision |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | My degrees are in biology and I ended up doing accounting. Some how the skills needed for science and accounting are about the same: attention to detail, no errors allowed, etc. I am very happy working on books in this job. Anything in the health feild is also a good choice.
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  Color My World
Posts: 4940
Location: My perfect world bubble | Supply Chain, Logistics or Engineering are great, high pay, high demand fields. I would strongly recommend against a general business degree or a marketing degree unless it's from a big name school. To be frank, those degrees are a dime a dozen and jobs are much easier to come by from something more specific such as those listed above, accounting or finance.
Job market in TX is good but just having a degree isn't enough anymore. Make sure you get a good internship and start networking now. Having an "in" with someone when you graduate will make things easier.
Don't know anything about dental hygienists so can't comment there. Good luck! |
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