5 things I wish I knew before getting a COMMUNICATIONS DEGREE

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” Is the full quote btw. It is not a negative quote towards talented people, people just turned it into one.

By the time I realized how important it was to get involved in school activities, clubs, school magazines and other activities I was locked down in my room in the middle of a global pandemic... And how I wished I would've gotten more involved while I had the chance to. Sadly there were no club activities that worked online or remotely that I could join, most clubs were in person and during pandemic most of them weren't functioning. Makes me feel like I didn't get to enjoy the University experience I wanted.

I think Communication Studies can be a great degree if you put in the time with internships, involvement, and choosing courses that will apply to a future career. If you just randomly choose courses that don't teach you a lot of tangible skills and try to apply for jobs you aren't going to find much.

I studied communications and cannot stress enough how much I regret not taking advantage of all the internship opportunities. Even though communications isn't a "master" of something, you can become a master of something by doing more internships. For example, a friend of mine did a lot of qualitative and quantitative programs as well as some internships related to them -- he is now working for statistics Canada. I managed to land a decent job after graduation after obtaining a high level of Chinese. But I do plan to go back for my masters and tailor my experience to something more suitable for my interests.

This video is like a godsend. I'm a graduating high school senior and I've been really torn between a marketing major + comm minor or comm major + marketing minor. Your vid really clarified some things for me. Thank you!

The most informative video I’ve watched in my life

hey yall, as a person who graduated with a communications degree, she was on POINT WITH EVERYTHING!!! its not only centered around english speaking countries too. Im currently doing a masters because degree or experience isnt enough unfortunately. HOWEVERRRR I dont regret doing my degree in comms as it really helped get a feel of a little bit of everything! and if your able to get those internships during your breaks and get more after your degree, u will get a job! Experience is truly the key!!

Great video! I was a COMM/PR major in undergrad and I got a masters in Integrated Marketing Communication. I did do social media management and SEO. I would say at least 15-20% of that job was me researching changes on social media platforms and studying SEO strategies. I graduated in the Great recession and it was sooo hard to get established. If you are interested in the job, do multiple internships, very early! Take any experience you can get because the major is growing, and the jobs are competitive. You can even double major or minor just in case you want to pivot and take on a new career. I switched to education a few years ago and I love it! Those times doing social media management were great too. All in all, be focused but also be flexible when pursing this career. Start early and network! Good luck everyone!

Getting an internship or multiple internships is key; find your niche area within the Communications field; try to seek some additional, 'technical' areas either as academic minor(s) (Info Systems, Computer Science, Statistics, etc) or better, through industry certifications to augment your academic degree.

Very good tips! I wish I had this years ago. I have been done with my undergrad since 2001, not knowing what I wanted to do. I spent over a decade in middle school teaching, and after a lot of hard work and stress, I learned it wasn't for me, and that I was in the wrong field. Copywriting, Communications, and Digital Marketing is what I should have been doing all along. I am interested in this field, and I am a super hard worker who likes to learn and apply myself and write. I didn't know writing was my best transferable skill until I was 39. Now I am in my 40s with an uphill climb ahead of me trying to get into this field. I hope that there is hope for me!

Super great video. I want to add a little more details as well. I'm majoring (senior graduating in 3 months) in Integrated Marketing Communications. Much like in the video, this degree teaches you to be a jack of all trades as opposes to a "master" in one subject. I learn how to run campaigns, conduct research/analyze data, film/edit videos, take photos/photoshop/graphic design, write for PR/news, analyze markets/conduct basic marketing/digital marketing. With that said, I've also taken electives like HTML/web design, crisis communication, political science research, stats, speech communication and more to make me more viable in the field. My degree (and my school's regular communications degree) does not require most of these extra electives. Some of these classes make ALL the difference when applying to jobs. Particularly stats/conducting research/web design. These are crucial in our big data/digital age. Also being a "jack of all trades and master of none" is actually extremely beneficial, at least from a managerial perspective. Knowing how everything works, enough that you can do it yourself, will allow you to lead people in a management role. You don't have to be the best at something but knowing what IS good and how to communicate a marketing/communications campaign to your team is extremely vital. With that said, having all these random skills also makes it extremely easy to get an internship. Because you mostly only need basic knowledge of a skill as an intern. Having such diverse skills makes you muxh much more appealing as an intern, since you'll typically be thrown around a lot. After you get your first internship getting your 2nd or 3rd is much easier, since you alresdy have that experience. Internships, like the video said, is absolutely crucial. Most schools will have an internship available to you, weather its in the newspaper, teacher assistant, local non profit or biz your school operates, etc. Another thing that's rather important is a Master's degree. You will most likely want one of these in this type of field (communications/marketing). My one summer internship paid me 16.50 an hour. Now that I'm getting my masters I'll be paid 22$ an hour per company policy, to do the same job for only having a masters degree. 5.5$ more to do the exact same job (AS AN INTERN) for just 1-1.5 more years of school. Trust me, it's worth it. However I'm more focused on marketing/strategic communications. Not so much journalism, tv/film, or any of that-- mind you. This video just painted itself more as a marketing/communications degree, which is literally what my degree is (as opposed to strictly just communications), so I thought I'd chime in too! Hope this was even more clarifying!

Hey y'all. I just want to say that I know it's a really weird time right now for everyone, including college students, and a lot of these tips won't be possible right now for college students. This is just a video I've been wanting to make for a while and I felt like posting it today lol. It's mostly intended for when things in the world get back to somewhat normal!! I feel for y'all in college.

Wow, I feel terrible :) lol.

Honestly, this video says it all! Your lucky if you watched this in time. I had exactly the same issues after graduating

Very interesting video.. am 41.. used to be PE teacher... them decided to get a masters degree to change Carrier... I did master's in information and communication (which it was really vague eventhough I got a lot of personal knowledge and education from it) and I made all the mistakes that you mentioned... I fluently speak Arabic, English, French and Spanish and been learning German for fun for the last year... never got a job in communication... I did many call center jobs(CS, tech support and fraud) I ended up doing a trade DEP and am a proud plumber now :D I would do it differently... but life happens... am still 100% sure that all the learning i carry, will get me somewhere sometime... for now am making a decent living and a family.. tnx for sharing your story.. sharing mine is an way to show you my appreciation :)

This video is confirmation that i am CLEARLY not in the right major or at least not in the right specialization love you for that ✨🙏🏻

This was sooo incredibly helpful and informative, thank you so much for taking the time to make this!! ❤️

Thank you so much for your helpful advice and tips! I am an incoming freshman in college, I was having trouble with the career path I wanted to take in my future. I appreciate you!!!!!!!

This was so helpful. I am majoring in Communications and this really cleared things up. Thank you!

I’m glad I watched this before going back to school